FretGuru Guitar Fret Crowning File - Dual Sided Dagger 2.0 - LG/XL and XXL/HUGE - Ideal for Frets between .095" to .118" wide - Professional Luthier Tool for Electric and Bass Guitars

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 have a fantastic luthier, but he's so good he's always busy, so wanted to learn to do some stuff myself. This fret dagger is a fantastic little investment. I tend to make flat spots pretty bad on my frets with my weird crippled left hand, so I often need to do a quick re-crown during a string change to take out some buzz. This fret dagger works great and makes it real fast. Tape it up, check which side to use, paint 'em with the marker, and crown 'em quick. Hit 'em with the sanding sponge and 000 steel wool, clean and lemon-oil the fingerboard and the thing plays wonderful again. I can do that a good 4-5 times before having to do a partial re-fret at the luthier. I've had it about 10 months now, used it a ton, very happy with it. I make sure to clean it good with a brush after every fret, and the teeth on the thing seem to be lasting quite well. At the price, I'm not too worried about the teeth lasting, it's a good investment for my use case. Absolutely recommend the thing. Just a great tool to have when you've got some buzzing flat spots. Fully awesome at crowning the full fret levels I've done as well.

I don't normally do reviews...but when I find a new tool that does an old job well, I'll make an exception. My first impression? Elegant, simple, nicely refined surfaces. The handle edges are rounded, comfortable, and the swell at the end makes for a nice palm grip. This is a solid piece of tool steel with a concave rounded edge that as far as files go, is sharp and effective at crowning frets. I will note though, too much pressure will create a washboard surface on the fret...so let the file do the work. Like I said, as a file it's sharp. It does well at removing material in a convex shape that's perfect for a fret crown. There are two sides to this file...medium and large. The differences appear to be how deep the concave file surface is. I would still recommend taping your fretboard to keep from scratching it. The file's surface that can touch the fretboard is smooth and not abrasive, however shavings will still get between the smooth edge (of the tool) and the fret board and create etches in the fret board. It won't go through tape though. I would also recommend using some fret rubbers (erasers) to polish the frets to a nice glass-like surface. This file does well at crowning, but it shouldn't be expected to create a polish. Doing a proper fret job requires a series of steps. This tool is perfect for one of those steps - crowning. All that said, I'm glad to have this on my bench. It'll get plenty of use. Highly recommended!

Hace su trabajo bien para trabajos caseros, para trabajos de uso rudo está la versión diamantada, aún que con dos trabajos sacas para comprarte la versión mejorada, en conclusión es perfecta para mantenimiento a guitarras personales, pero no sé que tanto desgaste tenga al uso de un luthier profesional

Dagger 2.0 comes highly recommended and the price point vs the quality is spot on. Very ergonomic and manufactured to a very high standard, the diamond coating performed better than I expected. first use was on very old worn down frets, leveled so low they actually should have be replaced but I figured give it a go it can't hurt. The dagger did it's job perfectly and brought them back to life. The other neck with a just small level took all of 5 minutes to get a perfect crown all the way down. Highly recommend this crowning file.

Nice quality, done quite a few guitars and still works well.

Great file.

nice quality