I’ve been bitten by the Bass Bug, hook, line, and syncopation! I’m turning into a nerd instead of a badass!
A project Squire P Bass has developed a bad case of fret sprout, making it painful to play. This problem is solved by rolling the frets. The cost of hiring a tech to roll the frets is about the same as doing it yourself, so I bought a fret scrapper (6 inch fret leveler) and a fret rubber (Fret End Dressing File) from StewMac. There are how-to-not-screw-it-up videos on YouTube but it requires patience. If it doesn’t work out I can always buy another used project bass, but I think I can scrape and rub. If you have rolled your own frets let us know how it turned out?
5 Likes
This is my favorite fret files.
StewMac stuffs are higher price but not expensive considering how well and specific they are made and made for, and they last. I probably use that fret end file for over 40 basses and guitars and it’s still going strong.
1 Like
Hi Al! The fret end dressing file is what I got. It’s a tiny little tool that comes with big praise. Now I just have to summon up some courage and use it. Please tell us more about your bass collection?
3 Likes
I’ve done fret work too, and it’s surprisingly easy. I usually use a fret rocker and crowning file to find and fix high frets rather than the block/marker method as unless you’re doing a full fret job, that’s way overkill.
For the fret ends, I’ve also got the StewMac end dressing file and it’s pretty good. Not perfect but not bad. I am about to roll the fretboard on a cheap guitar I am pimping out right now in fact; the fret ends feel fine but I want a rolled fretboard edge on it. After I roll the board I’ll re-dress the fret ends as needed. The guitar is a project to turn a sub-$100 (yet high quality) starter instrument into an absolute beast that feels like a million bucks.
Anyway I would suggest that a fret rocker and crowning file is a good investment, great way to find and fix high frets. And for serious work maybe even radiused sanding blocks, though I am not planning to do a full fret job any time soon.
2 Likes
Raises his hand.
I’ve filed a lot of fret ends for myself and others. Colorado’s climate is very low in humidity so any instrument coming from a more humid location tends to show fret sprout very quickly.
If it’s not too bad sometimes re-humidifying it will work but for most cases I end up filing the fret edges and in some cases rolling the fretboad edges as well. It pays to have some fretting tools around.
3 Likes
Yep. No need to put up with sprout or high frets.
Another thing I do every string change is polish the frets with some fine abrasives. So far by far the best tool I have found for this is high-grit ladies’ nail buffers. StewMac sells exactly the same thing as a tool but at 10-100x the price 
1 Like
Take a look at a product called Gorgomyte. It’s a cloth infused with both abrasives for cleaning and resurfacing and polish. Easy to work with and one cloth will be able to do around 20 guitars or basses for about $10.00 total.
I came back to playing again at lockdown. I was never into mainstream basses, it was not a thing back in the 90’s who cares about P basses but through a few of the popular hits and players it brought P bass to the legendary height, now everyone wants a P bass. I went on the hunt for the P basses and Leo’s triplets.
Ok it started with the shed.
Then I just filled it to the brim, lol.
6 Likes
I see a couple stingrays. How do they play? I’ve been looking at the 2-pickup model – Know about those?
1 Like
Love stingrays. Dual humbuckers or HH is pretty crazy. It’s like Jazz bass on steroids. I have all but one version of it. The HSS.
Let’s start with the original. The Sabre Bass.
The Sabre is the original 2 pickups stingrays. It has quite an interesting pickup configs and electronics wiring. The pickup size is also different than other stingrays, not only it’s a sealed pickups it’s also smaller as well. The tone is undeniably classic and vintage but it cuts through the mix really well.
Next to it was my project bass. I acquired an 83 Sabre neck but I could not find a period correct body so I bought a Sterling Ray5HH and fitted the neck to the body. Change the tuners and it’s a modern tone Sabre, lol.
I also have the Stingray Special edition amethyst sparkles with HH config. Roasted maple neck and gold hardwares, I went all out and put the Optima unique studio gold strings set on it, it’s decidedly stingray tone even on the neck pickup.
HH are great but if you are a slapper the neck pickup can be in the way when popping the strings
1 Like
I love the StingRay, I think. I might as well face it, I’m addicted to bass, oh yeah!
1 Like