Whale Bone
New member
I recently made some fret levelers and a notched ruler for checking fretted neck straightness/relief.
After reading the Aug 2006 Bass Player Magazine article on fret leveling, (Good article: http://www.bassplayer.com/article/leveling-frets/jul-06/22006) where Dan Erlewine suggests using a carpenter's level as a leveler, I checked the StewMac.com site for comparison to see what they sell. They offer 8", 16", 24" ($120 for all three), I decided to buy a $25 48" level and cut it into three sections: roughly 8.25", 17.5", 22.25". I can only use one side of the 17" because there's a opening to see the middle level gauge from the edge (left, lower edge in picture). I found that I mostly used the 17 and 8 - 22 is a bit too long. They worked really well.
The notched ruler I made from a nice straight-edge (<$10) from a Pearl art store. I notched it 34" scale with a Dremel. I'll notch the other side either for my short-scale bass or for my guitars. I picked up another ruler with one thick edge for around $10 to use for checking the final job, and to use with strings on for checking relief.
The whole job came out really well on my P bass on on my crappy acoustic guitar.
After reading the Aug 2006 Bass Player Magazine article on fret leveling, (Good article: http://www.bassplayer.com/article/leveling-frets/jul-06/22006) where Dan Erlewine suggests using a carpenter's level as a leveler, I checked the StewMac.com site for comparison to see what they sell. They offer 8", 16", 24" ($120 for all three), I decided to buy a $25 48" level and cut it into three sections: roughly 8.25", 17.5", 22.25". I can only use one side of the 17" because there's a opening to see the middle level gauge from the edge (left, lower edge in picture). I found that I mostly used the 17 and 8 - 22 is a bit too long. They worked really well.
The notched ruler I made from a nice straight-edge (<$10) from a Pearl art store. I notched it 34" scale with a Dremel. I'll notch the other side either for my short-scale bass or for my guitars. I picked up another ruler with one thick edge for around $10 to use for checking the final job, and to use with strings on for checking relief.
The whole job came out really well on my P bass on on my crappy acoustic guitar.
