Fret Rocker Question

[lilspanisheddie]

Ok... maybe I am a moron... but how do you actually use the fret rocker correctly? I know to span 3 frets and what side of the rocker to use as you go up the neck, but which fret is the high fret? I have a new neck that has maybe 2 spots where there is some slight rocking. Is the high fret always going to be the one in the center?

 

[nosmo]

Yep. The only way it can rock is if the middle fret is high. That doesn't mean there aren't a bunch of high frets though. I'd check them all with a straight edge first.

 

[loopy reed]

Ok... maybe I am a moron... but how do you actually use the fret rocker correctly? I know to span 3 frets and what side of the rocker to use as you go up the neck, but which fret is the high fret? I have a new neck that has maybe 2 spots where there is some slight rocking. Is the high fret always going to be the one in the center?

Also make double triple sure you've got the rocker perpendicular to the frets, otherwise, the radius of the fretboard is gonna make it seem like you have high frets everywhere.

 

[bob1234]

Also, frets can be high on just one side. Mark exactly where its high. I can't begin to count how many times I've seen people "level" an entire fret, only to have more buzzing because they "leveled" the whole fret.

 

[rowka]

No, it just means that the 3 frets are not coplaner. If the rocker spans frets 3, 4, 5 and rocks, 4 might be higher than 3 and 5. 5 might be lower than 3 and 4.

 

[Mojotron]

It's ok if you just have a couple of spots that rock as long as it sets up without buzzing...

Even a great level and crown will have some minor low spots from the crowning or polishing process.

If one assumes that there are no low frets - only high frets - then yes it's the fret in the middle.

 

[LeftyAl]

lots of great advise here.I was thinking that the tenth fret was high on my guitar ,I used my credit card as my "fret rocking tool"since I don't have the proper tools to make these kind of repairs I took it to the guitar shop in town .It cost 20$, well worth it to have someone who knows what he's doing working on my favorite guitar than me!

 

[R. Stratenstein]

lots of great advise here.I was thinking that the tenth fret was high on my guitar ,I used my credit card as my "fret rocking tool"since I don't have the proper tools to make these kind of repairs I took it to the guitar shop in town .It cost 20$, well worth it to have someone who knows what he's doing working on my favorite guitar than me!

Hell, for $20 bucks, if the shop that knows what it's doing, I'd sell my fretting tools and take everything to them!

 

[Jupiter]

Yeah, wow, 20 bucks?? Easily 90 for a level/crown job over here....

 

[LeftyAl]

when I went to pick it up the tech wasn't there,so what exactly he did I do not know.he may have just worked on that one thing.not sure.But he kept the action low and no more buzz .

 

[Jupiter]

when I went to pick it up the tech wasn't there,so what exactly he did I do not know.he may have just worked on that one thing.not sure.But he kept the action low and no more buzz .

Well, whatever he did, if it worked it's worth twenty bucks.

 

[TRexF16]

No, it just means that the 3 frets are not coplaner. If the rocker spans frets 3, 4, 5 and rocks, 4 might be higher than 3 and 5. 5 might be lower than 3 and 4.

OUTSTANDING point! Check the whole thing out - carefully - before you go to cutting down metal.

Rex

 

[Mojotron]

OUTSTANDING point! Check the whole thing out - carefully - before you go to cutting down metal.

Rex

Ya, but that's the only want to get them to the same level unless you play with replacing the low fret (which has never really worked too well for me). Since the only direction one usually goes is down on the fret height - conceptually one just needs to look for a difference in height - then level down; so, the rocker can be seen as just spotting "high" fret areas which need some leveling.

 

[Flynztone]

Ya, but that's the only want to get them to the same level unless you play with replacing the low fret (which has never really worked too well for me). Since the only direction one usually goes is down on the fret height - conceptually one just needs to look for a difference in height - then level down; so, the rocker can be seen as just spotting "high" fret areas which need some leveling.

From my own experience (nominal at best as I am no expert) I tend to agree with MoJo's assessment here. Not discrediting the other statements regarding the possibility of a low fret but I think the fret rocker concept is to determine which fret or frets might be too high. I have also found that after determining which fret or frets are too high that spot leveling those particular frets with a bit more aggressive file makes the entire leveling process go much quicker than if I were to take the leveling beam to the frets without spot leveling. As previously stated, I am no expert my any means but this is what I have found to work best for me and thus far has proven to be a successful method

 

[Bentley]

The fret rocker method is probably the most difficult IMO. There is too many variables that might give you an inaccurate reading. Unless you are leveling someone else's work it's better to focus on how to build the neck and how you install the frets. The method that I prefer (if the neck is well built and flat) to take level it, is to set it up exactly how I like it, and then play each string on each fret, and figure out which need to come down. Less finicky and makes sure that it won't buzz when you play.

 

[jkingma]

If your fretboard is level and flat before you fret it (which it should be) and all of your frets are properly seated (like they should be) then your frets should already be as low as they can go. So if you have done all this properly there should be no such thing as a low fret... only high frets.

 

[dsutton24]

The fret rocker method is probably the most difficult IMO.

The fret rocker is probably the 'proper' way to do this, but I've never had any luck using one. If I have a neck with trouble, I just level it and get the job over with. I figure that at this point, I'm not gonna figure it out, so I just do what I know.

 

[Mojotron]

The fret rocker method is probably the most difficult IMO. There is too many variables that might give you an inaccurate reading. Unless you are leveling someone else's work it's better to focus on how to build the neck and how you install the frets. The method that I prefer (if the neck is well built and flat) to take level it, is to set it up exactly how I like it, and then play each string on each fret, and figure out which need to come down. Less finicky and makes sure that it won't buzz when you play.

The beauty of the rocker is that you do not have to be very precise and the rocker can tell you if any frets are high across the entire neck pretty quickly just by following the path of the strings. It's really made for checking guitars that have been played for a while, but even with the best level and crowning job, it's still good to check your work; checking things with a feeler gauge takes forever and is error prone. I've never seen a level/crown job that the rocker did not show some minor non-level spot - even just after a PLEK had gone over the frets. I think most of this has to do with how consistent the crowning and polishing job is because the fret rocker catches high frets during the leveling - along with sanding until the sharpie lines are even - so I level until I can not find any more high frets using a few means, but once I add some fall away and do the crowning then polishing the frets... they are a hair less level and the rocker will find a few flaws.

But, that's OK because as a guitar is played the frets are warn in and the frets will never be perfectly level - it's just a matter of successive approximations that gets to the best playing fretwork/setup anyways.

If your fretboard is level and flat before you fret it (which it should be) and all of your frets are properly seated (like they should be) then your frets should already be as low as they can go. So if you have done all this properly there should be no such thing as a low fret... only high frets.

Me + Hammer + some repressed angst from teen years + helpless and tiny fret == ?

I have made a few low ones

The fret rocker is probably the 'proper' way to do this, but I've never had any luck using one. If I have a neck with trouble, I just level it and get the job over with. I figure that at this point, I'm not gonna figure it out, so I just do what I know.

Right, it's a great tool where there are significant leveling issues that need to get fixed since it's made to be a quick imprecise tool. It's likely way more important for repair work than new work. It's far from a must have tool for someone that is making guitars and not fixing them.