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Ok, I finally dropped big $$ and had my first professional set up. This is a local luthier that makes accoustic and violins. He said my guitar had some neck warpage that he adjusted out. (LP I bought used) He leveled the frets and left them flat on top. Said this way wears slower cuz if you peak them, the peaks will wear. Makes sense, but flat top frets are a different concept than I ever thought.. Is this whacked?? Sadly, the action was too low and buzzed and the pup was too high and was muddy. He said if I wanted readjusted he would do it, but I dont have time to go back to him. So, I adjusted the action up and bridge pup.. Neck seems perfect on every note now tho. What is your take on the frets???

He shopuld have asked you first... while quot;school bus quot;dressing wears longer, it plays different... there are a few ways to properly dress frets and it´s tantamount that you do exactly what the CUSTOMER WANTS, not what you feel is better. That´s the whole reason for taking it to a pro, and tha main diofference between a pro, an amateur, and a hack is the attention to detail and the customers wishes....

Speaking as a fellow pro, I´d give him one more chance, explain the exact situation with regards to the fret job so he knows this is a last chance issue, and if he goofs again: goodbye

Zerb beat me to it! I am a tech/luthier also and I could add, that if he set it up and leveled it, why the hell is it buzzing? You do those things so it dosent buzz!

BTW, I am not crazy about school bus frets but, some folks like them. Like Zerb said, ya got to do what the customer wants!

I've got a quot;freequot; Hy-Lo guitar that came with a Schaller PAF in the bridge but it was complete with broken switches and a neck single coil of dubious parentage that was wired in backwards (earth is hot and hot is earth, hum city!).

A set of Gotoh copies, $25 or $35 Aussie for six, a couple of wet and dry sanding sheets and some satin finish ureathane paint and it's well on it's way to being a good stunt guitar. I'm now going to replace the frets as they have had a really bad quot;school busquot; fret dress, more like a railway line! It was going to be a slide only guitar but I've done a re-think/upgrade.

I'll see how it goes. It can't be THAT hard, just joking Zerb and Theodie LOL.

If it comes up OK I might have a new sidline; apart from building hydraulic stuff, preparing race cars and home brewing!

As for the buzz, I'd suspect that the luthier has a much lighter touch picking than you. That's one of the tricky things about setups, IMO: so much depends on the player that what's perfect for one person is too much/too little for another.

Lighter touch might also explain why the pickup was too high for your taste.

Without basic info on the player, it's indeed hard to tell. To me a good tech would first enquire on what the player prefers on his guitar and about his playing style. I for instance like a fair amount of relief because I know I pick pretty hard (due to being a beginner and not being able to control my picking too easily). If a tech knows that, he'll be able to do a setup closer to what I'd need.
In French we say 'le client est roi'. The client is the king. For a tech it has no reason to be any different. The guitar should be setup for the client's liking. If it means risking to ruin it, well it's sad but it has to be done. As long as the client always understands that what he asks is HIS responsability. But not asking or saying anything could just result in a poorly adapated setup.

i hate school bus frets


Originally Posted by alecleeAs for the buzz, I'd suspect that the luthier has a much lighter touch picking than you. That's one of the tricky things about setups, IMO: so much depends on the player that what's perfect for one person is too much/too little for another.

Lighter touch might also explain why the pickup was too high for your taste.

Yeah, he asked how my attack was and said if I have buzzing to bring it back. Im sure he would make any set up corrections. I hve 3 jobs and its too hard to get there, so I just fine tuned myself. Im still out on the frets tho. Thanks for the input!

Talked to the Luthier and he said he wants me to be satisfied so he will redo the frets.. He just does the bus style standard as they wear longer. Said he will crown the frets. Anything else I should request?? Strange but now Ive played the bus frets, I cant tell alot of difference. What is the biggest advantages to peaked frets?

I don't have much experience on anything other than fairly new frets. I know a fair deal about what comes stock on Les Pauls ( e.g. the fretless wonder Custom frets are impossible for me, but medium to jumbo are to my liking ). However, I know a little about customer satisfaction, and I think you should not only get your choice of dressings, but also any explanation of benefits / setbacks of the alternatives. If you already knew everything, you wouldn't go to a pro, now would you ?

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