what does it mean....

[flank]

when i'm playing my tele and it feels as if the strings are scraping on the frets? my first inclination is to say that the tops of the frets are not smooth, as if they are all scuffed up and thus making the strings not glide on them smoothly when bending.....its not big deal just playing on frets, but when bending, i get this metal on metal type friction when i bend and its very frustrating, i want to grind my teeth when i sense that its happening

am in need of a fret polish or something? any other help?

[danglybanger]

get em polished

they look all shiny and cool too. Though my fender did this at first, and with increased playing this was gone in about a year.

slade

[octavedoctor]

Yeah, a lot of inexperienced techs stone the frets along the neck, leaving marks parallel to the strings. These can still be felt even when polished out.

The frets need to be polished across the fingerboard arc with abrasive paper between 600 and 1200 grit, recrowned, then buffed with a piece of leather impregnated with jewller's rouge. That'll do it.

[beandip]

try the dremel polishing set. go parallel with 600 grit on the frets, then finish up with the set. Better than anything else I've ever used.

[flank]

i don't know exactly what you guys are saying, could you explain a little better?

[Lewguitar]

Get yourself some 320 wet-or-dry sandpaper, and some 000 or 0000 steel wool. Remove your strings and polish up those frets, polishing each individual fret along its individual length until it shines like a little mirror. Get all the scratches removed. You can tape off your fingerboard with 1/2" painters masking tape if you like...get the blue stuff. Or you can get these super thin metal protectors that fit right over your frets from Stewert MacDonald Guitar Supply...those are what I use to protect the fingerboard when I'm polishing a fret so I don't leave cross grain stratches in the fingerboard.