Official Luthiers Forum!

Hi Rick, I run a very busy repair shop in NYC and I just wanted to say that the angled aluminum stock fret leveling tip you posted is just genius. I am a huge fan of time saving and inexpensive solutions and this pretty much nails it. It has worked perfectly over a dozen times so far so I am convinced. Please keep sharing these type of things when you think of it.
    I also want to thank David Collins(his name did not fit in the space provided for this topic) for his photos of his amazing jigs and tools. Keep it up!
Best, Evan

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http://www.NewYorkGuitarRepair.com

As someone who has played an instrument set up by Evan, I can say that if Evan likes the leveling tip referred to, it must really work well. Evan's set up work is tip top notch.

Nice to see these tips being shared. Cheers.

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"Building guitars looks hard, but it's actually much harder than it looks." Tom Buck

Evan -- how are you bud? I've been away so much the past two months I am way behind on my reading here. Any chance you could provide a link to Rick's post!

BTW: I submitted all of my photos to Bill Moll from ASIA 2007 -- there are some great ones of you that you would approve of.

Evan, thanks!   Isn't that the cheapest and best tool on the planet?   That has cut the time to do minor fret levels in half for me, and the way it allows working specific areas and knowing that it's right is just killer.

Rick
Its ludicrous, it is very rare that I call my wife into my shop and say "You have to see this!!". I think with a $2.00
motor we could make a Plek machine out of it . How will I ever raise my prices again?
BTW Rick can I reprint your description of it from the Acoustic Guitar Forum here? You go into it with a bit more depth than the thread on the OLF.
Best, Evan

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http://www.NewYorkGuitarRepair.com

Thanks Steve for the kind words. Hope you are well, when are you coming back th NYC?
Anthony how are you? Is Bill ever going to post photos from ASIA? Or are they all too ummm... "unpostable"
Best, Evan

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http://www.NewYorkGuitarRepair.com

Evan--Anthony's photos may be unpostable but he is unstoppable.

Right on, Evan!!!

Rick...Thanks for that and other cranium-slapping-duh-tips you have unleashed duting your short time on the forum...

Most of all...thanks for having the thickened skin to withstand the slings and arrows from those who would otherwise have you play elsewhere.

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JJ
Napa, CA
http://www.DonohueGuitars.com

Evan, post away. It's public domain from my point of view.

JJ, thanks. I've had quite a few PM's of thanks, too. I know I can rub some the wrong way, but I try to deliver the truth as I know it from over four decades into this profession. I've done a lot of extracurricular work to know what I know, and frankly, I expect no less of others who would call themselves "luthiers".

Great Rick thanks!
Here is what Rick wrote

"Buy a 36" length of simple aluminum angle iron, 1/2" on a side or 3/4" on a side with about a 1/16" wall thickness. Cut different lengths and smooth the ends and round them a bit. Get some of the 3M self stick 220, 320, and 400 sand paper rolls. Stick it on lengths of the aluminum angle.

Now work under the strings without loosening them or taking them off! Level the frets under real string tension. Chase down any problem spots, play the guitar while you're doing this. Move from under one string to the next to the next.

There is nothing like leveling frets with the strings on and up to tension for getting it right. Forget the Stew Mac neck jig. Forget taking the strings off unless you're dealing with a refret. Once you learn this technique, you can work relief just where you want it, and you'll work faster than you ever thought possible.

When the guitar plays well, loosen the strings and crown the frets with a Stew Mac diamond concave fret crowning file. Then work from 400 grit up to about 1200 across and lengthwise. Then go to gray, then white Scotch Brite, and if you must, mask off the fingerboard and buff on a wheel charged with Tripoli compound.

If it takes you more than a half an hour or forty five minutes to do this then you're doing something wrong."

Try this it works great, I am doing an old Kay semi hollow right after I type this period...... There its done already
Best, Evan

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http://www.NewYorkGuitarRepair.com

Rick many thanks for the great tip!    Evan thanks for re-posting...this one is a keeper. Very much appreciated fellas!

BTW: Evan all the photos sent to Bill are postable ...promise

Hesh wrote:
IMHO building guitars is the perfect medium to provide countless opportunities for all of us to think for ourselves. To me the best luthiers will have the skills, knowledge, theory, AND the innate ability to think for themselves.

Anthony wrote:
??????

One addition: one assumes you level out the neck with the truss rod as best as possible before levelling....

Evan, I'm honored to be thanked in the same post as Rick - I knew his
name as a 25-30 year established veteran when I fist got in to this trade.
Depending on the company I'm with, I often still consider myself a
newcomer. It's nice to feel I'm at a point where I'm able to contribute
more often to the general trade.

One of the most important things that I discovered and loved about this
trade early on is that openness and enthusiasm to share information is a
common trait. There seems to be very little guarding of trade secrets that
I associate (perhaps entirely unjustified) with trades having a more direct
lineage from historical European guild cultures. Even the most master
artisans seem ever eager to freely share many of their techniques.
Perhaps it's that by some twist in the evolution of our trade, people often
seem to see each other as colleagues rather than competitors. Perhaps it
just that we're all still a bunch of kids who love to play with guitars, tools,
wood, electronics, and just can't help getting excited and talking about it.

The Northwoods seminars we put on at Bryan's were really what
ingrained this philosophy in my mind. With some of the best in their
fields, from pickups to restorations, to building or finish chemistry,
everyone came to share their information without trying to sell it. The
obvious end to this was that everyone who brought some secret to give
up walked out with a few dozen tricks up their sleeves that they may not
have found otherwise. It's really a beautiful thing.

Internet forums weren't around at that point, but they have become a
wonderful new resource. It's still not the same as talking shop over lunch
or getting a few drinks after a trade show, but it's a welcome addition to
the resources and networking. With the addition of enthusiasts from
other fields we can often find ideas that may otherwise never have been
thought of. Dentists, chemists, electrical engineers, lawyers, toolmakers,
computer techs, physics majors, you name it - it's a new resource for
insight that was harder to come by in the past.

There are still of course exceptions to sharing. Occasionally a technique
or more often a resource is shared in confidentiality, which of course I
would never break. There are also times of course when the knowledge is
fruit of heavy investment and research toward a salable end product, in
which case some proprietary knowledge has to be kept to recoup and pay
the bills. These things are relatively few and far between however, and I'll
keep sharing whatever tricks I have laying around for quite a while. I sure
have gotten enough from others, and will certainly continue to for quite a
while.

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Eschew obfuscation, espouse elucidation.

Well said David,

You and the others who share so freely really are presenting an incredible gift. Being that I live on the outer crust of the most isolated capitol city in the world makes me especially appreciative of Internet forums like the OLF and very grateful to all those who share the knowledge, yes even you Rick .

Quite frankly, in this part of the world, the Internet has opened a door to this craft which otherwise would have remained closed, it really is that simple.

Cheers all

Kim

David, I like to think its this

"Perhaps it
just that we're all still a bunch of kids who love to play with guitars, tools,
wood, electronics, and just can't help getting excited and talking about it."

Well said. When I was a kid I used to build models, planes, ships, rockets, etc. I always feel guitar repair is an extension of that.... but now I get paid to do it

Thanks again David,
Best, Evan

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http://www.NewYorkGuitarRepair.com

I just got back up from the shop. Having just created an arsenal of these little L angle fret levelers.

I used Mirka 6 inch peel and Stick abrasives, because It's all I had. The longer ones just are two piece. May not work but I thought I'd try it.

I tried putting adhesive on two angles but the slight overlap from the opposite side got in the way. These are so cheap too, that I just made individual levelers with each grit 220 and 320, because it's what I had.

I also took my pencil engraver and put 220 and 320 on the inside of the angles. I have 8 now, from four inches to ten inches long. No doubt in my mind that these babies will improve the business end of my guitars.

Again... thanks Rick for sharing it and Evan for trumpeting it loud enough that those of us that are a bit hard-of-hearing could grab on to it as well!

Long live the OLF!

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http://www.dickeyguitars.com

Way to go Bruce! I use mine several times a day now and love them.
Thanks again Rick.
Best, Evan

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http://www.NewYorkGuitarRepair.com

First thing I'm gonna do when I get the shop moved! Thanks Rick!

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http://www.presnallguitars.com