Fender Player II Mystery: High Frets Fixed Themselves? and Smoothing a Rough Board

Well, welcome back everybody to another episode of Ted Talks Guitars and Life. We are back under the hood with "Marsha," the new Fender Player II Series Telecaster, and things just got weird. In our last adventure, we found several high frets. But after straightening the neck, conditioning the board, and letting it sit for 24 hours... they’re gone. I’ve been working on guitars at this level for a few years now, and I’ve never seen frets level themselves quite like this. Is it the wood settling? Is it magic? I’m just sharing my observations as I go. I’m also talking about the rosewood fingerboard. To be honest, it felt a little rough—almost like speed bumps when bending. I’m sharing my journey of smoothing things out with some high-grit sandpaper and Howard Feed-N-Wax to get that silky-smooth feel I need for my playing style. This isn't a professional luthier tutorial—it’s just one guy’s journey with guitars and life. In this episode: The mystery of the "self-leveling" frets. My honest take on the Player II rosewood texture. Getting the board copacetic with a little elbow grease. A quick chat with Riggins (who has a bit of a potty mouth today). Timestamps: 0:15 - Checking in on "Marsha" (Player II Telecaster) 1:00 - What happens to a neck after conditioning? 1:18 - Observations: Weird wood grain & a rough board 2:22 - Has anyone else experienced a rough Player 2 board? 3:35 - The Fret Mystery: Did they level themselves? 4:55 - Searching for the high frets (Where did they go?!) 6:30 - "Is it possible I don't know what I'm doing?" 7:15 - Deciding to smooth out the fingerboard edges 8:50 - The "Sandpaper & Fret Eraser" experiment 10:45 - Identifying the grits and tools 13:20 - Intermission: The Guitars and Life Theme 14:40 - Results: Polishing, cleaning, and conditioning 17:03 - The Final Touch: Howard Feed-N-Wax for the win 18:05 - Closing thoughts and fellowship Check out the Fender Player II Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMhTW3lOIKQ3cr2ThkeKJKzdFgJ4L9pmT Alright Jacks, I’m still scratching my head over these frets! Have any of you ever had a guitar 'heal' itself overnight after a little conditioning? Also, for those of you with a Player II—how is that rosewood feeling to you? Let’s have some fellowship in the comments! Rock on. ____ @sparkyguitars971 (Sparky) @GuitarMedic-CANADA (Vic) Checkout our playlist page for more series and journeys https://www.youtube.com/@TedTalksGuitars/playlists Special Thanks to our channel members "The Jacks" Want to support the channel? Feel free to explore Channel membership options: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBr6kaWeOvldTHvntB3tnMg/join Ted Talks Guitars & Life Merch Store: https://tedtalksguitars-shop.fourthwall.com/ Amazon Affiliate Link: https://amzn.to/3W3PZox *If you click on this link to shop at Amazon the channel will receive a modest financial commission from your purchases. Guyker Referral Link: https://www.guyker.com/?ref=tedtalksguitars If you use the link you will save 15% at Guyker Use the coupon code: TEDSMITH #FenderPlayerII #Telecaster #FenderGuitars #GuitarMaintenance #Fretwork #TedTalksGuitars #GuitarSetup #Rosewood #Luthier #GuitarTech #GuitarCommunity #DIYGuitar #NewGear #GuitarVlog #PlayerIISeries #fender