Product Description

We exclusively offer the Gurian 3-in-1 fret file – which has been the industry standard for over 30 years.
These are the very specialized files with concave cutting surfaces – specially designed to re-create the rounded crown after a fret has been leveled (which leaves a flat spot that would kill tone, sustain and intonation).

These fly off the shelves and the manufacturer has a hard time keeping up, so if you’re looking for one of these, you’d best grab it.
Also, these are not some cheap-ass knock offs, but genuine Gurian fret files that have set the standard for over 30 years.

There’s a reason why this has become the industry standard for the world’s best repair shops, custom shops and guitar factories.
This is the only file that gives you:

• Far more control of the cutting profile than any other file, as we’ll illustrate in the photos on the left.
•  3 different sized (Sm, Med, Jumbo) cutting tips that can be changed in seconds, or replaced if ever needed.
•  A special innovative dog-leg shaped handle for extra clearance when working over the guitar body. It also features a hardwood handle that is shaped with extra finger clearance in mind. No bruised knuckles here! It’s just all-around more comfortable to use than any other file.
• Cutting tips that are razor sharp, heat treated and hardened. You should be able to get years out of these. Stainless frets are not a problem!
• Cutting tips featuring smooth, radiused front and outside edges. One slip with other fret files (especially some of these snaggle-toothed ones here on eBay) and your fingerboard is scarred for life!

I’ve tried just about every fret file known to man, diamond and regular, from guitar supply companies and here on eBay, but it all comes back to one particular file that works best and offers total control.

While diamond fret files sound great, and do cut well and last long, there’s something about the lack of control – the inability to control exactly where on the fret it is cutting.

I’ll try to describe what this file does after you have leveled the frets and you’re using the file to re-crown them.  I’ve also tried to capture this in the photos below. My camera’s not great, and the pics were taken while looking directly through the magnifying lamp over the workbench, so bear with me

If you can visualize the flat spot on each fret that the leveler has left (photo 2), this particular file will begin by cutting the outer edges of this flat spot (usually called a “land”), and then work to a perfectly defined centerline (the very fine centerline of the fret in photo 3). From this point, you just make 1 more light pass, and you’ve got a perfectly crowned fret that’s exactly the same height of all the other frets. All other files touch the center immediately and give you no way to tell how much you’re taking off the top. This makes for a less than precise fret job.

HOT TIP: On this last step, pull the file backwards 1 time for a super smooth, chatter-free finish.