A couple of quick ideas for "tuning" a guitar neck: I bought a piece of Lexan at a local home store, then, using an old-fashioned wooden yardstick, placed it on the neck of my guitar, and marked the postion of the frets on the yardstick. I then lined up the yardstick on a line I'd drawn about 3 inches in from the edge of the sheet of lexan, and marked the position of the frets on the lexan. Checked the marks on the lexan against the guitar neck - easy to do since the lexan is clear - and satisfied, I drilled 3/8 inch or so holes at each fret mark on the lexan where it crossed the line I'd previously drawn on the lexan. Then, used a band saw to cut the lexan down the middle of the line and holes I'd drilled, using a guide to keep it running nice and straight. You should be able to lay the lexan down on either side on the cut-off piece of lexan you now have no use for (or maybe it's a second tool for a friend), and both sides should be perfectly flat or nearly so. Now I have a handy little tool that on one side of the lexan has a "factory-straight" edge on it, and on the other, it is very, very straight with notches for each fret. With me so far?

Now, the factory edge on the lexan when placed on the frets pretty quickly tells you when one or a bunch are higher or lower than the others, AND, the side with the notches tells me whether or not the actual neck of the guitar is straight; they are not always in sync, but it's a good place to start. If the neck is "factory right" and it is bowed, both sides of the lexan will indicate this. If you're comfortable tweaking the neck adjustment, you'll find it usually takes very little to bring the neck back in line. You can adjust to the fretboard (use the side of the lexan with the notches for the frets) and that should bring your neck into perfect alignment. Next, check the frets after the fretboard is straight (or flat, or however you express it) and you should find that the frets are fine. Pretty easy, actually. Of course, after I "invented" this little gizmo I found that stewmac sells a metal thing virtually identical for about $80. Such is life I suppose...

What i liike about my Lexan model is that when placed on the neck I can wiggle it a bit side to side while I hold it in the middle, and if the neck is off a bit, either the center of the lexan strip will wiggle easily while sitting above the frets, or it wil want to cling in the middle while the ends want to wobble. If it wobbles in the middle, the neck is bowed (sort of 'C' shaped a tiny bit), whereas if it sticks in the middle, the adjusting nut on the neck has been bound down a bit too much and needs to be loosened. NOW, if the lexan is perfectly flat on both sides - the factory edge and the edge you cut with the bandsaw - and your neck is flat while checking the fretboard, but off when you use the straight edge on the frets, you'll know you need some fret dressing to fix the problem. At least you'll know where the problem lies. Hint: make sure whoever is going to do the work on your guitar neck has a tool like this or it's possible to get flat frets with a curved fretboard; many "luthiers" (and I use the term loosely) only use a straightedge on the frets and never bother to check fretboard.

Hope this helps you and others.