Hi

me again.

Sorry to keep harping on about my strat neck problems but i think there is another option.

With regards to the strat. I have a fender 60's custom shop strat but i'm not getting along with the neck.

I find it have to play and bend in most areas, and it frets out higher up.

The neck is 7.5 radius and has got vintage frets. c shape neck and setup with 10's

Would it be worth changing the frets to taller ones like 6105?

Any other options? Or would you recommend just a good set up? or sell up and move on?

I just typed a detailed and careful reply to this, clicked "submit" - and got the "sorry, we're experiencing technical difficulties" page. Which means I lost everything I typed.

Then I punched the wall in frustration and hurt my hand.

I'm not going to type it all over again just this moment: too peeved. If someone else doesn't handle it I may look in and start again later. But I might not...

Or you could just buy the Guitar Player Repair Guide.

Cheers - C

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shame you lost all of it. I have done that a few times!

Would be good if someone else could answer or if you can answer it again would be brill!

You need a good luthier to perform a neck-off set-up on your guitar. It's critical that the frets be leveled, crowned, and polished, then the truss-rod set for the proper relief. There is absolutely NOTHING wrong with the 7.25" radius fretboard that some TLC from someone who's knows what they're doing will not cure.

Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY

I dont know what a "neck off setup" is. If it means doing it with the neck removed, you cant properly setup the guitar that way. I do refrets, and fret dressing. If you have someone competent in your area, they should be able to re-radius the frets, without touching the fret board. Ive done it a couple times, compounded the frets radius on both. That way you can keep the 7 1/4" at the lower register and flatten it to around 10" higher up. As long as you have enough meat on the frets. If you do it, Id suggest using pure nickle strings after, they wont chew through the frets as quickly as nickle plated steel. You should be able to get this done for around $100, whereas itll cost you 2-3 times that (depending on the fretboard material) to get a refret.
I had a neck with a 7 1/4" radius for years, and while i got used to it, I NEVER liked it. It wasnt just the bends fretting out that bothered me, it was the radius of the strings over the pickups as well. Id move from a gibson with a flatter radius, then go to the strat and it always felt like my hand had to work harder to pick because you're not only moving it up and down the strings, but up and down the radius' hill as well.

So you re-fret a Fender neck and dress the frets with the guitar intact?

Good luck with that.

Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY

I have an Ibanez and Washburn Lyon each with 12" radius, my MIM Standard Strat and Squier "Nocaster" with 9.5" radius, and I just bought a AVRI 52 Telecaster with 7.25" radius. I set them all up the same with the recommended neck relief and strings at 5/64" across the fretboard and really can't tell the difference between them.

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Bill

As a matter of fact;yes. The only time the neck comes off is if im using a fret press. I remove them with it on the body, and i DEFINIETLY level and dress them on the body. What good is doing a fret leveling with the neck off, only to put it back on, restring it, then find that the bow caused by the string tension makes the level off?? Do you think Im going to pull the neck off of every set-neck guitar to do a refret?

As you prefer, sir.

Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY

Although I've never done it (and have no intentions of doing it myself), it seems to me that in order to do a fret level, the fretboard must first be level. Since the strings have to be off in any case, leveling the fretboard via truss rod adjustment can be done with the neck on or off the guitar. I've read that the process is much easier with the neck off the guitar. Off course you are not going to remove a set neck to do this. Just another advantage of the removable Fender neck.

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Bill

yes, but a neck being level (and it more important for the frets to be level to each other than the neck itself) is going to be relative to the amount of front or back bow of the neck with the guitar strung up. A neck may be completely arrow straight off the body, but put a set of 13 gauge strings, and now its bowed. WHen I do a fret job, say; just a leveling and dressing. I leave the strings on that came with it when it comes into the shop. I have the person play, so I can see how he plays; does he have a heavy picking hand? doesn he play lightly? I make sure that the preferred amount of relief is dialed in, then i use a straight edge to see how level the frets are in relation to each other. (I dont use a neck jig, that's a different story). I take down the frets that are higher than the others, unless the lower ones are REALLY low, then I suggest a refret, at least a partial refret. Level them off, dress them, then restring; done. If i need to do a partial refret, I do. Sometimes this means that a new nut is needed, or at least shimmed, but I dont like shimming nuts.

[quote="windwalker9649"]I make sure that the preferred amount of relief is dialed in, then i use a straight edge to see how level the frets are in relation to each other.quote]

I'm sorry, but I do not see how you can level frets that by virtue of having a neck relief that is not dead flat guarantees that the frets are not level across the length of the fretboard to begin with.

http://www.skguitar.com/SKGS/sk/fretcrowning.htm

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Bill

You start with a straight neck, but many players play with a great deal of relief on the necks. If you keep them straight, and just string it up and send it on its way, especially if there is little fret to work with, you'll end up with a guitar that will never intonate correctly when you're playing in the middle of the neck, around the 5th -12th fret. You end up having all those notes playing sharp. Granted, we're not talking about inches here, but it comes into play. Like I said, except for using the fret press, which is kind of new here) the neck stays on the body.

If you do it the way you're talking about, they're only level if you play with a comletely straight neck, which while some people swear by, most dont do because its impossible to not get fret buzz.

As shown in the link I posted, the frets are leveled with the neck completely flat. Then the guitar is strung up, tuned to pitch and relief set.

If I understand your process, you string up the guitar, tune it to pitch, set the relief, detune and remove the strings, then you level the frets.

I am not a luthier but I am an engineer and your method makes zero sense to me.

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Bill