I have a six-string bass that, if I’m honest I rarely play; it was a late night eBay purchase if I remember correctly. One of the reasons I didn’t play it very often was that the frets weren’t very flat, mandating quite a high action.
Presumably I had a bit of unplanned free time, so I decided to address it. I’d already made a complete fretboard so this was all well within my capabilities. It’s pretty straightforward really; relieve the truss rod tension, tape off all the exposed fretboard wood and using a level beam sand the frets down until they’re level, making judicious use of a Sharpie in order to track your progress.
The only thing that remains is to restore the crown to the frets. My method has always been to put a line down the centre of each fret and use a fret crowning file (controversially, one of the concave edge ones), then go over each fret until the mark is very narrow. It’s all very tedious.
The final step after this is to polish the frets some (the main reason for the protective taping), and you’re done!
Here’s the completed restrung bass. I still don’t play it much.
