Fingerboard Bow

[Bill in CSprings]

Hello all.
My first kit guitar (Ken C.'s fine OM/000). My first post. My first big issue.

After I glued the FB to the neck, I found that, if I rested the straightedge along the FB, the first seven frets were lower than the rest of the frets. The straightedge touches all of the frets from fret number eight thru the end of the FB and just brushes the top of the bridge.

Fret number one shows the greatest deviation, with the others showing less deviation as you move down the FB to fret number seven. The image shows frets one thru five.

If I hold the straightedge down at the first fret, the clearance at fret twenty is approx. 1/32", and the clearance at the bridge is approx. 3/64".

Is this something I should be concerned about? If so, what action can I take to bring everything to level?

[John Parchem]

Do you have a 2 way truss rod? My guess is when the guitar is strung that bow will go away.

[ken cierp]

Have the frets been dressed? A high fret or two can make this sort of straight edge check look real bad and somewhat meaningless. What does the line of sight along the edge of FB look like?

http://www.kennethmichaelguitars.com/fretdressing.html

[Bill in CSprings]

Thanks for your quick responses.

For johnparchem: This is not a two way truss rod. There is no channel out of the top of the neck for the head of the truss rod to poke thru. There is only the adjusting nut at the base of the rod.

For ken cierp: I have only dressed the sides of the frets - I haven't done anything to the tops. Once I saw the (apparent) discrepancy, I thought I would seek learned opinion before filing off material that I couldn't put back. However, with your comment in mind, further examination makes it look like there just might be a high fret or two. I will look at it with some magnification and sliding of the straightedge. In response to your second question about the line of sight along the edge of the FB - as I look along it from the base to the top, it "seems" to curve down. I will attempt to get a picture to post of this view.

[Tim Benware]

Do you have access to a notched str8 edge to check the levelness of the FB?

[Bill in CSprings]

Thanks for everyone's comments.

Checking the FB with progressively shorter straightedges - instead of the 24" straightedge I was originally using - showed that the frets were indeed not level with one another. I now have the opportunity to practice leveling and re-radiusing the frets.