[RGTFanatic]

Sorry to say Silver, but your ONLY options to fix that are to level the frets (all 24) or pull the frets, level the board, and install new frets.

I would be leveling the board and installing new frets myself.

No, the job does not need to be done with the neck under string tension. A flat board is flat whether it's under tension or not.

 

[RGTFanatic]

On a side note: IIRC, you have a couple other nice guitars laying around. I think the Cort would be an excellent guitar to start teaching yourself to do your own neck work and other modding. I wish I'd had something just like it when I started to learn.....

 

[RGTFanatic]

Thx Rgtfanatic. It's a guitar of a friend of mine, so bad news for him. refretting after board levelling is too expensive for this budget friendly axe. A global fret dress will already be quite a job in this case, and I'm afraid the hump is quite extreme, so the frets in the middle of the problem zone are going to get quite a shave... Hmmm :T

You'll have to discuss with your friend whether it's better to put money into the guitar or not. I would happily do it for the cost of the new wire, but my wait list is getting long......too long :sad:

 

[RGTFanatic]

Looks like a decent start man. I wouldn't have done it strung up myself, but your method gets you where you want to be.

For me, working with the neck under tension doesn't give you a clear picture of the true characteristics of the neck. I'm a much bigger fan of pulling the neck and using the truss rod to find "flat". This way I can find the true point at which the truss rod is making relief. It also gives the chance to find any twist, dip, hump, or any other unwanted variation in the neck that is directly being caused by the material itself.

The amount of fret material you took off is very minimal. It makes me wonder if they were ever leveled by the manufacturer. Being at the price point it is, I doubt much more than pressing the frets in was done.

How does it measure out with your straight edge now? Now would be the time to level all of the frets with 220-grit on a known straight sanding beam. You'll only be able to sand a minimal amount with #220, but it will make a huge difference in playability after polishing. BTW.... I like your dot method for marking high spots. It makes it nice and easy to visualize whats going on....... consider your idea stolen....:lol:

 

[RGTFanatic]

Yes, it definitely looks twisted. How does it measure out (relief) when you put your straight edge along each string position? It should show a definite change in relief progressively. I wouldn't doom the neck just yet, but you definitely need a sanding beam if you want to get this neck fixed properly.

It doesn't have to be stewmac, but something that will work like this:
http://www.stewmac.com/Luthier_Tools/Tools_by_Job/Fretting/Leveling/Fret_Fingerboard_Levelers.html