Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Ron "Oily" Sprague on April 1, 2017 at 5:13am

Before doing any fret job or re-fret, check the neck. Does this git have an adjustable truss rod? If so, your neck may just have a bit of twist in it, or a slight bow above the 14th fret. Have a decent local luthier look at it; you may not need a fret job at all, but instead an eighth or quarter turn adjustment of the truss rod might fix it. Takes maybe 5 minutes, and is much less costly; he might even do it for free. I had a cheap acoustic a long time ago that had a similar problem, and a truss rod adjustment fixed it. Just something else to check.

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Permalink Reply by Matt Quinney on April 1, 2017 at 6:22am

Thanks for the ideas. No truss rod, or at least not one that is adjustable. I've looked at the neck and it is not twisted.

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Permalink Reply by ChickenboneJohn on April 1, 2017 at 6:37am

It will most likely have truss rod accessible at the end of the neck inside the guitar via the soundhole.  Check the neck with both a long  straight edge and a short "fret rocker" that will bridge just 3 frets at a time...you can get away with using a credit card as a rocker to see if you've got a high (or low) fret. If you have got a high fret, you may be able to tap it down, otherwise, you may have to file it down a little, then reprofile and polish the fret. Just go slow, check as you go with your straight edge and fret rocker...you just need to be methodical and take your time.

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Permalink Reply by Matt Quinney on April 1, 2017 at 7:07am

You're right, looks like there is a truss rod adjustment in the sound hole. I guess I assumed adjustment was always at the nut end.

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Permalink Reply by Tom T on April 1, 2017 at 10:25am

If you can get your hands on the proper tool for the truss rod you may be able to make the adjustment yourself. The standard test for neck "relief" is to bring the strings up to tune, then put a capo behind the first fret then depress the last fret with your finger.

Measure the clearance between the low E string and the 8th fret. Should be around 0.010". A feeler gauge usually works for the test.

If relief is too small (under 0.010") then the truss rod needs to be loosened slightly. If the relief is too great then tighten the truss rod. Since you have strings touching around the 12th ~ 14th fret, that would tend to indicate a truss rod that needs to be loosened a bit, but the feeler gauge test will tell you.

If relief is correct, then you may need to level the frets. ChickenBone's comment to check with a straight edge and a short "rocker" is a great idea. You may find that the 14th is just too high versus the 13th and 15th.

It may not hurt to just mark the top of all frets with a sharpie then use a very flat surface with something like 400 grit sandpaper to check the level of the frets. I find a two food aluminum level works well for leveling frets. Its edge is very flat.

Good luck with it.

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Permalink Reply by Taffy Evans on April 1, 2017 at 2:19pm

Just a couple of things to be aware off.
I would suggest checking the relief between first fret and the twelfth, as this the part of the neck effecected by truss rod adjustment.

The neck comes out of the body at a 1 or 2 degree angle, to give corrrect projection of strings to the saddle. Due to this angle there can be a gap under the part of the fingerboard that spans the top from neck heal to soundhole, often this gap is simply closed by clamping the fingerboard down to the top. In doing this a hump or "s" bend can be seen when viewing down the neck. The 14th fret looks high. Of course it will rock at this point due to the fingerboard tongue being lower.

Before levelling your frets the neck must be adjusted flat, no relief.

Be aware that filing one fret often leads to chasing a few more frets down the fingerboard until buzzing ceases.
Good luck Taff

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Permalink Reply by Milt Haselmire on April 2, 2017 at 2:20am

I may be wrong but it seems like you are experiencing the dreaded "14th fret hump". This is where the vast majority of acoustic guitars neck and body join. There is plenty of internet information on this. It may be worth your time to do a little research to get a better understanding of a common problem and how to fix it.

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Permalink Reply by Matt Quinney on April 2, 2017 at 10:14am

Thanks for all the information, everyone,  I'll need some time to digest it! I also will get a gauge so I can check the relief - I don't currently have anything that measures that small.

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Permalink Reply by Taffy Evans on April 2, 2017 at 11:14am

Hi, you don't have to get too technical Matt, you can eyeball it. Adjust the fingerboard flat, finger 1st and 12th frets and tap on strings at 7th fret.
When strings are flat on the f/b no sound from the tap, due to no gap. As you adjust the rod to add relief tap as you go and a slight ping sound will be heard.....you have started adding relief. How much you need I can't say. It can be a cat and mouse game with the players being strings, frets saddle (height) relief and fingerboard and neck condition not to mention playing style. Cheers Taff

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Permalink Reply by Matt Quinney on April 5, 2017 at 5:06am

So, again, thanks to all for the advice!

As an update, I adjusted the truss rod 1/4 turn looser in two 1/8 turn increments. The first 1/8, got the high string 12th fret E back, but with buzzing. The second 1/8 turn I now have a clean E. Now for the 12th, 13th and 14th frets I have E, F#, and F#, so the 13th fret is still off. I think I'm going to leave as is since I don't foresee playing it.

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Permalink Reply by Ron "Oily" Sprague on April 5, 2017 at 7:54am

Try another 1/16-1/8 turn, and I bet you get it all back.

Then you can look at maybe lowering the action at the bridge just ever so slightly, if you need it.

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Permalink Reply by Matt Quinney on April 5, 2017 at 8:44am

Yes, the added relief did raise the action slightly, most noticeable on the bass side.  The next time I change strings I am going to re-shim the bridge with the aim of raising the treble side slightly (which might get the 13th to an F) and lowering the bass side.

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