Ascari Tribute - DIY Fret Leveling

I'm a new G&L customer since around August. I picked up an Ascari GT-90 as the MusiciansFriend SDOTD for a ridiculously low price. I can't believe what a good guitar it is for the price. I'm really happy with it.

When it was new, there was a hint of buzzing on a couple of frets, which I quickly resolved by raising the saddle slightly. I finally decided last week to undertake a DIY fret leveling job (partly inspired by some wearing frets on my acoustic). It really made for a nice improvement in my Ascari, and I'll move on to do my acoustic this weekend. Not to knock the value/quality of the Ascari, but it was about half the price of my Seagull acoustic, so it became my test subject to try my skills at fret leveling.

I spent about $100 on tools and supplies (majority spent on a set of 3 fret crowning files from LMII). There were a few useful things I already had as well not included in that cost (see list below). However, that's still a little less than the cost at local shops charge for fret leveling/dressing. After I do my acoustic this weekend, which is starting to show some wear on a few frets, and then the cost of the tools should pay off.

The whole job took very little sanding on the frets; as you want to take a minimum amount of material off. It was pretty revealing to see that there were 2-3 frets just slightly lower than the rest. After 1-2 minutes of light sanding, it was clear that all but those frets had been touched by my sanding tool. After about another minute, I had everything even with the lowest frets.

The outcome was excellent. I spent an hour playing it yesterday, and if feels really good. If you're reasonably handy and comfortable with some DIY work (and willing to deal with the small but real possibility of wrecking your guitar) this is a really good project to undertake.

Here is the list of supplies I bought:
Set of 3 crowning files from LMII (could get by with 1, but I always like the bulk discount deals) (about $70)
Marble door threshold from local hardware store (about $10)
Sandpaper (about $6)
Spray adhesive (about $8)

And here are the other things I needed that I already had:
Steel wool (polishing frets after crowing)
Masking tape (protect fretboard and pickups from metal filings)
Black sharpie (to color the surface of frets so you can make sure you hit them all)
Diamond saw blade & saw to cut the marble to a reasonable size
Carpenter's square
Allen wrench/screwdriver to adjust the truss rod
Towels - 1 as a soft workspace to place the guitar, 1 to support the neck

Thanks for the instructional tips and congrats on your outcome.

Your tutorial could make me give it a try on one of project guitars and see where it goes from there.

I see this is your first post, please share pics of your Ascari and come around often.

Along with your list, I would recommend a fret rocker as well. Not related to or have a relationship with the company below, but for the price, they work just fine.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Guitar-Fret-Roc ... 3cc8e001ce

For you interested potential DIYers, here's a fret leveling tutorial by Ron Kirn: http://www.tdpri.com/forum/tele-technical/201556-fret-leveling-yer-tele-101-a.html.