MIMF

Hi.
Regarding fret levelling and neck relief in a classical neck with no truss rod - can someone offer me some advice please? . I can machine the appropriate degree of relief on the fingerboard - but then I thought - well, when I level the frets the relief in effect will be nullified because relief is measured from the fret top to the string bottom and the fret tops will now be in a dead straight line.

Have I got this right?

If so what's the nest way to accomplish 'level frets' and relief where there's no truss rod.

I thought about working my way along the fretboard in sets of three adjoining frets with the stewmac mod of the fret rocker.

Would that work?

Thanks,
Rob.

Level the fingerboard and the frets flat and then the string tension will pull the neck into a little bit of relief.

What Barry said: it's usually about right. If you lean on the file a bit around the 5-7 fret area you can mill in a bit of relief. Also, truly 'flat' files are not common; you may find the one you have is arched enough on one side (and cupped on the other, of course).

Thanks.

Hi Rob,
When I "level" the fretboard, I do somewhat as you suggest - I start by lightly filing the frets, and as those nearest the nut are "leveled" I move the file (or sanding beam) down the fret board. I don't mind if the over all effect is to give the fret plane a tiny bit of "fall away" in relation to the fretboard, with a bit more happening around the 5 to 7th fret (as Alan mentioned). I don't want any of the frets "lower down" (toward the bridge) to be taller than the frets "higher up" (toward the nut) or any of the frets to be filed overly much. As Barry mentioned, depending on how stiff your neck is the string tension may pull some relief into the neck, so it may not be a bad Idea to string the guitar to tension (for a week or two) and measure how much the neck bends before working on the frets.
Strings appear to vibrate in a flattened parabolic fashion. The "relief" we attempt to put in is to create this shape in the upper end of the fret plane (the rising "action" takes care of the need for this in the lower end toward the bridge).