FretGuru Fret Crowning File – Diamond Dagger 2.0 Fret File Crowning Tool – The Guitar Luthier Tool for Ultra Precise Frets on Electric, Acoustic, and Bass Guitars - MD, LG, XL Frets

I bought both FretGuru files (Diamond Dagger and Dagger 2.0) through amazon and so this review will be a comparison of the two. Short Version: They are both excellent; but if you can only get one, the Diamond Dagger is better in my opinion. Read on for more information.I’ve been playing guitar for over 30 years, but only began to work on my guitars seriously in the last 5 years or so. I’m not a professional guitar shop guy. I am writing this review to help other hobbyists like me.I’ve leveled, crowned, and polished several guitars. One file I have used to use for crowning was the StewMac Diamond Compact Z-File original file (300 grit). It is a great file, but as StewMac says it is: “ideal for worn, low, and wide frets.” Because I like to use jumbo frets (Dunlop 6100, and Jescar FW57110), I decided to take a chance on the FretGuru Dagger 2.0 because it has two sides: (1) one made for Dunlop 6100 frets and (2) one made for Dunlop 6105 frets. The Jescar FW57110 frets happen to be very close in dimensions to Dunlop 6100 frets.I crowned one of my guitars with the Diamond Dagger (Jescar frets, nickel silver) and another guitar with the Dagger 2.0 (Dunlop 6100 frets, nickel silver). Here is what I experienced.The Dagger 2.0 works well. It cuts smoothly and feels good in your hand. However, it only cuts one direction and so after every push forward you have to lift it off the fret and start again. After crowing a fret I would clean the Dagger 2.0 with a brass wire brush to unclog it of any stray pieces of metal. That worked pretty well, but made it more labor intensive than the Diamond file, which did not need such cleaning. Sometimes there was a stubborn piece of metal in the file that I would pick out carefully with an ”icepick” like tool looking through my magnification visor. All in all, the Dagger 2.0 performed very well on that guitar and the frets polished up nicely with my Dremel tool and polishing rouge.I tried the Diamond dagger on another guitar and it also worked very well, but was better overall for three reasons. First, Diamond files are great because you can “saw” back and forth without lifting it off the fret (though make sure not to take off too much—you have to leave a thin magic marker line so the fret leveling is not undone). Second, I did not have to clean the Diamond version with a brass wire brush. Occasionally, I’d clean it with nylon bristles, though to be honest, I don’t think it needed such cleaning. The Diamond cuts nickel silver frets like butter. Third, the Diamond dagger has one feature the Dagger 2.0 does not have. The Diamond Dagger has 2 extra filing sides on the opposite end of the file (you have to see the pictures to understand what I mean). But this is great because sometimes I find that when crowning a fret my magic marker line in the middle of the fret is fatter/wider than at the ends of the fret. With the shorter filing side of the Diamond Dagger, I can work on just that middle section to make it have as thin a line as the other parts of the fret. This is really a great feature in my opinion and ergonomically both ends of the Diamond Dagger feel great in your hand (very comfortable and easy to maneuver).So, in conclusion, if you are working on Dunlop 6100/Jescar FW57110 frets the Diamond Dagger fits them like “hand to glove” and gives great results--even to hobbyists like me. The quality of both files is great, the prices are better than competitors; plus Bernie (the Fretguru owner) is a nice guy and very responsive to email. I emailed him with a question and needing some help and replied the same day. Finally, StewMac is great too; I love their products and customer service—but as many know they do have higher prices. All of that said, while StewMac’s Diamond Compact Z-File centered file will not work with jumbo frets, they do have other files that will (#4491, #5054, # 5183). I like both companies, but when it comes to my jumbo frets, the FretGuru Diamond Dagger is my new file of choice.Hope this was helpful for some of you.

I just finished leveling, crowning and polishing the frets on my partscaster tele. First time doing it, and let me say, this dagger 2.0 file made it a no-brainer! Coat the top of the frets with a sharpie, a few passes with the file until there's just a very thin line left (which, when I say a few, I mean like 3-6 is all it takes.) I use a bronze round brush every few frets to clean the file to keep it cutting well, but that's easy to, cleans nice and quick and you're back at it. Hard to beat this tool! Stew Mac wants twice as much for their files, and you need multiple files. I'm sure they're good, but for the price I'd bet this gets it done equally as well for a LOT less money.

I have a Zager, a meme guitar which leads you to believe it's made in America, and is actually constructed in Indonesia and "finished" here. I don't know what counts as finishing, but evidently it isn't a close inspection of the frets. I suffered with seasonal dead frets for the last 6 years on what otherwise is a very nice guitar, and only recently decided (because I cannot afford to take it to the shop) to risk taking matters into my own hands. After buying the basics, like a straight edge, fret rocker, file and micromesh pads, I thought I was in the clear to work on my instrument, and even just with those things, yes, it sounded much better. No more buzzing. No more dead frets. Everything was flat. But I didn't realize they make files just for crowning, and I could feel that my notes no longer 'bit' the way I expected.I'm no luthier, and I know that their tools probably cost as much as or a lot more than this one did, and so I felt I was really taking a dive here, buying a file I might only need to use once, but it would still be cheaper than having had all this fretwork done by a professional, so I yolo'd on it one evening. It showed up yesterday, and I was thrilled to give it a try. I believe next time I change the strings I'll apply it a little more just to be absolutely sure I've covered all my bases, but after going over everything and re-micromeshing the frets back to a mirror polish, I found that "bite" I expected was back in my notes, and suddenly my guitar not only sounded better than it ever had before, but it felt right to play again.I can't say whether this is better than all the other fret crowning files. I don't know. I've never done this before, and it'll likely be a long time before I do again. But I'm satisfied with my purchase. I'm satisfied with the value of the product. I was endeared by the informally written, hand-signed letter enclosed with the product, which is why I remembered to come write up my thoughts here now. I found the use of the tool to be quite effortless, and I find the change in sound on my guitar from before I began all this fretwork to after finishing it with the Dagger to be heart-stopping. Zager's entire pitch is that you can get a sound and a quality of feel which rivals the big name companies' high-end products without breaking the bank, and for the first time since buying the guitar (ZAD50CE), I finally believe it is living up to that promise. It is no longer disappointing and problematic for the money I paid. I believe it really does sit in that same sonic space as the Martins and Taylors I've had the good fortune to play on. For the first time since purchasing my guitar, I feel like I really love it, and am proud of it. It sounds just how I want it to, and I've got FretGuru to thank for getting it over the finish line.

This was my first time crowning frets so I have no experience to compare this with other files. But I did sucessfully crown my frets without gouging my fingerboard, so that says something right there. This file was recommended from a Youtube video as a money saving alternative to a Z file.I felt like the file is easy to use and works about as fast as I would expect, maybe even a little faster. I was using 6150 fret wire. By using both sides of the file, I was able to get a hairline crown on all my frets; in hinesight, next time I do this, I would leave the lower frets with a wider crown since they wear faster and intonation is not so much of a problem on the lower frets. The file leaves significant tooling marks that must be polished out, I am speculating that the diamond dust files would be better in this regard. The file can also be used to round the fret ends but it is not designed for that and does just an "okay" job at that. Still at about half the price of a diamond dust file and pretty much fool proof action, I am very happy with it.