A few newbie questions - Advice

[Hogfullofblues]

Picked up at Squier '51 and am hoping some of the more experienced fretters can point me in the right direction here.

I want to try the file the the ends of the fret wires thing. What should I use? (Probably a file, duh!). Any specifics would be appreciated, though.

The neck pick up is way crooked. Not "flat", higher on the front and bottom than the top and rear. I'm guessing this is not right. If I can put it down long enough, I will remove the pickguard and look for the adjusting screws. Maybe it is canted due the pickguard installation itself even. Sound reasonable? But I also noticed the 6 small metal pencil eraser type of things (sorry, don't know what they are called) sticking out of it are also not "even". The top one does not protrude at all and 2 others extend only about half way out, as compared to the 3 that seem to sticking out all the way and are even? Is this normal?

Thanks in advance for any insight....

[marnold***]

The "metal pencil erasers" are the pole pieces on the pickup. It is not unusual for them to be staggered.

[oldguy]

Hog,
If I'm reading your description right, you are looking at the neck pickup's "polepieces", which are the individual magnets that pick up the string vibrations and turn them into sound your amp can recognize. The pickup may also be canted to allow for a balance between the bass and treble strings. Fender "staggered" the polepieces a long time ago to balance the sound, so no worries there.
As far as the frets go, I can't help you much here, pard. You may have to take it to a repair shop or luthier, but before you do you might try giving it a little oil to soak up the fingerboard. They can dry out and shrink. Is it a maple or a rosewood board? If it's maple and has a poly or nitro finish on it, it may need to be dressed. I'd leave this to an expert, but I'm not a repair guy, either. If you "filed" a little deep, though, you could really mess up the edges of the neck. Ouch!
Sounds like a nice axe, hope you can get 'er done to suit you.
Glenn
Oops, edit...
They're all maple fingerboards.
File carefully, my friend, or take it to a "really good filer"!

[sunvalleylaw]

Hog,
If I'm reading your description right, you are looking at the neck pickup's "polepieces", which are the individual magnets that pick up the string vibrations and turn them into sound your amp can recognize. The pickup may also be canted to allow for a balance between the bass and treble strings. Fender "staggered" the polepieces a long time ago to balance the sound, so no worries there.
As far as the frets go, I can't help you much here, pard. You may have to take it to a repair shop or luthier, but before you do you might try giving it a little oil to soak up the fingerboard. They can dry out and shrink. Is it a maple or a rosewood board? If it's maple and has a poly or nitro finish on it, it may need to be dressed. I'd leave this to an expert, but I'm not a repair guy, either. If you "filed" a little deep, though, you could really mess up the edges of the neck. Ouch!
Sounds like a nice axe, hope you can get 'er done to suit you.
Glenn
Oops, edit...
They're all maple fingerboards.
File carefully, my friend, or take it to a "really good filer"!

I am not a repair guy, and don't know specifically anything, but knowing about tuning skis with their metal edges, I would think that hitting the sharp ends carefully with just a little emory type sanding paper would be enough, without having to wield a file. I would think you would fold it to get a round surface, then hit the end of the fret wire carefully. A soft, foam sanding block could work too, but might be less precise. I might even get some blue painting type masking tape to put down on the neck either side, just to protect the finish. The blue stuff doesn't muck finishes as much. Someone with luthier experience probably thinks I'm high , but just some ideas of how I would try it.

[Robert****]

I just used fine sandpaper on mine to get rid of the sharp fret edges. I wrapped the sandpaper around a narrow piece of wood so I could better focus on the fret ends only. I also sanded the back of the neck and then oiled it with Tru-Oil. I like using Tru-Oil on my guitar necks.

[Plank_Spanker]

Dressing fret ends can be tricky. If you're careless, you'll wreck the sides of the fret board. Take it to a guitar tech. A good tech has the tools and skills to do it right, and it shouldn't be an expensive job.

[Spudman***]

It's really not that difficult to get rid of those sharp ends. It's more difficult to get the finish polish back on the beveled ends of the frets.

Robert has a good idea and Emery paper is great. You just need a stiff unbendable something to put behind the sanding medium like a flat stick. This allows the abrasive part to just hit only what is protruding.

If you have a lot to do then a fine large flat file running parallel to the neck can take the really high spots off and then you can get picky after that with some fine spot sanding/filing. On the 51 neck there isn't a poly finish to worry about sanding through. Roberts method and other methods previously discussed in other links here will put a nice feeling finish back on the neck should you need it.

Some 2000 or 2500 grit wet sand paper should work to get the fret ends pretty smooth after you have gotten them down to where you want them.

Just take it slow and easy. It's not rocket science. It's just careful filing or sanding. No gouging allowed!

[Hogfullofblues]

OK, again I have learned from the sage advice of the fretters. It's a relief to know I have no problem with my "erasers" and I have all the cold winter to carefully try working on the frets.
Thanks all for taking the time.