Leaderboard

Here’s your fret tapping tool!

Yeah leveling beam to level fretboards and frets. The radius is better at establishing the fretboard radius. I find they work well to radius the top of nuts too. I have a 2001 535 that I love. I got it used in pristine condition a couple of years ago. It left the factory with a very not level fretboard. It was like a roller coaster. It was also only 9.5 radius too. Some heroic effort had been applied in its prior life to level the fret tops. It played but had buzzes here and there. it just didn’t feel right either. Some frets were as tall as new wire, some were under .030 tall. Tried everything I could think of. Then just decided to pull the frets out and do it right. After leveling the board nicely and sanding it to a 10 inch radius refretting was a snap. Having a level substrate to set the frets in meant not much leveling work was necessary. Saved a lot of meat on the frets. Moral of the story, have a good look at the fretboard. If it ain’t level, the frets won’t be either.

You are going in the right direction. Tap them first. If still not resolved, spot level the high frets. I wouldn't pleck it. That machine removes too much material and if you don't have the right tech doing the job, the machine will gouge your fretboard and binding. I know some people swear by it, but what that machine did to my Les Paul Special was nothing short of a massacre.

Have you tried tapping down those few frets? I've heard of instances where a fret lifted a bit, but when tapped, was reseated and fine.

you can make a levelling beam from scratch...

You have me that tube, my friend!!!

I see Flitz ahhh, everything will be alright.

Do you have a levelling beam or radius block? I don't see you doing that step in your pics?

Only way to learn is to do it. Go get'um Brent. Good project. Let us know how it turns out. I'd like to learn to do more of my own guitar tech work too, so you'll be my role model!

The problem is high frets above the 12th fret. I went over it with a fret rocker. The 13th is high. The 15th is high. The 19th is high. The bridge has plenty of adjustability The neck angle is good. The question of the hour is….can I knock down those high frets and accomplish what I set out to do? I have filed, dressed, crowned and polished frets before. It really hurts my hands but I can do it. I think I’m gonna go for it. It’s a good Saturday project.

Heritage Core Collection H-555 Electric Guitar | Heritage Guitars

Wolfe Guitars in Florida and Guitar Riot in Cleveland. Both excellent reputable dealers.

Paul at Green Oak is an HOC member and A1+. I bought an amazing custom order that he designed back in the day and I wish I still had it. I have also bought more than one H from Wolfe. Good people.

With that Zebra pickup, I think that guitar would look cool with a 5 ply pickguard like this... https://www.ebay.com/itm/295617504808

That's an interesting question. As a kid I played a Gibson 225 for a year or so and gave it to my sister. Much later I had a 525 soon after they came out. The instrument was comfortable for me and was loud enough that it didn't need to be plugged in for bedroom practice. You should prepare how you want to manage the P-90 hum. The pickups are reverse wound, so when both are at about equal volume during amplification, hum is not an issue usually. That's what I did. There are pedals also that take out the 60 Hz hum. The second issue some of us have had is the feedback tendency, common to all hollow bodies. That can be managed as well. The upsides are how light the guitar is and that P-90 hollow body tone. It also has a cool retro image. It's a niche instrument that I like. How much it is worth and what you'll need to pay for it is unclear. They are collectible.

I had to laugh when I saw this youtube video title: I'm sure most here are aware Heritage makes killer guitars, and have done for years 😝 They compare a 2025 custom core model to a recent R8 plaintop. It makes sense he bought both, as he needs specimens to R&D pickups I haven't watched this whole thing yet, it's over an hour long. The gtr part starts around 15min in: hopefully the video link works