Well thiis ain't ever happened. I have a fretted cbg. Only the lowest string at the 12th fret is off. It's hitting the frets around it blocking the sound ..just the 12th. On the same string before and after the bad 12th fret are all frets are fine.
On the two higher strings all is fine on all frets.
The only thing I notice is the nut on the lowest string is slightly lower in the bolt nut slot. I've tried other bolts slightly higher and sure it's plays slide but ...just that one string on that one fret (the 12th) once again all the frets on that same string are fine before and after the 12th? Any idea how to fix?
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Lesson learned and a wealth of information. I tapped the fret even though it was already seated in as far as I thought it would go...not sure if that helped ..then did what tom t mentioned and concentrated a bit more on the obvious 13th fret. It's great!!! The guitar already had a slew of imperfections...hah just like I like (not really). I will be sure to level frets before staining etc. A huge thank you to everyone as usual!
Tom T > Jon Leslie/Runaway Veal MusicMay 6, 2015 at 4:22pm
You may want to confirm that the 13th is too high and the 12th isn't too low. Depending on which it is, the cure changes. A good 18" stainless steel straight edge will make this an easy check.
Check at each string position (top, middle, bottom) and you may find, as Wayfinder says, that the fret is of the incorrect height only under one string. If the fret is too high under just a single string, the hammer-tap solution should work well.
As others have said, this should be a quick and easy cure.
I think Scott's right,try a straightedge over those frets,say 9 -14/15,i suspect 12 is a touch low,if so,you'll need to level, the high frets ,until all level,it's not that difficult,hopefully it's the other frets high rather than 12 low,because if so,you'll be working to a hollow on 12
Looking at the frets down the neck eye level ... I can now see the 12th fret is lower especially on the side that's bonking out...so hopefully toms method will be a fix.
This is not an unusual situation with a new build. Even with your most careful efforts, it is possible for one or more frets to be higher or lower than the others. This may be due to a slight depression in the fret board, a fret that just went in to the wood a little deeper, or compression of the fret board when you glued/screwed it to the neck. The reason doesn't matter that much. The cure is what's important.
Leveling all the frets is not difficult and you won't need a file. A good flat section of 1x2 hard wood that is around 3/4 as long as the fret board will do.
1. find some 320~400 grit wet/dry sandpaper and cut a strip 3/4" wide to glue to the edge of your 1x2. You may need to cut several to completely cover the length of the board. Don't overlap where they meet. Just butt them. Let it dry well.
2. Take a sharpie and carefully draw a line across every fret.
3. Gently place the sanding board on the frets and move it back and forth while holding it level and not pressing unevenly. This will quickly remove the sharpie marks from all of the frets that are not sitting low. If your fret at the 12th is low at the low string, it will quickly show. Now just keep gently sanding until the low fret is cleared of sharpie marks. This will actually take very little sanding. A little acetone on a rag will remove the remnants of sharpie and you should be good to go.
You may actually find that the guitar plays easier with all frets level to one another.
Give it a try and you should be in business in about five minutes.
Ok I can clearly see fret # 13 sits high. Problem is the neck is stained ...already done. Can I just file # 13 down or do/ should I do the above recommendations ...? If I take out that fret and re cut # 13 fret and lower it ..I'm gonna have to restain / re-sand the entire guitar including disassembly. On the other hand I've never had this issue so I'm asking.
yes this is good advice. You can also do it with a nice, flat sharpening stone. Just wet the stone a little and run it over the frets a few times. You can feel the resistance against your strokes change as the frets all level out. It will leave the frets level but quite rough, and the ones which were higher will be flattened off more on top. You can round them back over with a small file (this is where the sharpie mark comes in handy, to ensure you don't take too much off), be sure to mask off the fingerboard so you don't scratch the wood up. then you can polish the frets up again with fine sandpaper
Woah. That's an amazing explanation. I'm going to give this a try after re/-reading your response a few times. Thank you very much. I'll get back to this post after giving it a go
Replies
Hur--ray!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Good Job....
You may want to confirm that the 13th is too high and the 12th isn't too low. Depending on which it is, the cure changes. A good 18" stainless steel straight edge will make this an easy check.
Check at each string position (top, middle, bottom) and you may find, as Wayfinder says, that the fret is of the incorrect height only under one string. If the fret is too high under just a single string, the hammer-tap solution should work well.
As others have said, this should be a quick and easy cure.
I think Scott's right,try a straightedge over those frets,say 9 -14/15,i suspect 12 is a touch low,if so,you'll need to level, the high frets ,until all level,it's not that difficult,hopefully it's the other frets high rather than 12 low,because if so,you'll be working to a hollow on 12
This is not an unusual situation with a new build. Even with your most careful efforts, it is possible for one or more frets to be higher or lower than the others. This may be due to a slight depression in the fret board, a fret that just went in to the wood a little deeper, or compression of the fret board when you glued/screwed it to the neck. The reason doesn't matter that much. The cure is what's important.
Leveling all the frets is not difficult and you won't need a file. A good flat section of 1x2 hard wood that is around 3/4 as long as the fret board will do.
1. find some 320~400 grit wet/dry sandpaper and cut a strip 3/4" wide to glue to the edge of your 1x2. You may need to cut several to completely cover the length of the board. Don't overlap where they meet. Just butt them. Let it dry well.
2. Take a sharpie and carefully draw a line across every fret.
3. Gently place the sanding board on the frets and move it back and forth while holding it level and not pressing unevenly. This will quickly remove the sharpie marks from all of the frets that are not sitting low. If your fret at the 12th is low at the low string, it will quickly show. Now just keep gently sanding until the low fret is cleared of sharpie marks. This will actually take very little sanding. A little acetone on a rag will remove the remnants of sharpie and you should be good to go.
You may actually find that the guitar plays easier with all frets level to one another.
Give it a try and you should be in business in about five minutes.
yes this is good advice. You can also do it with a nice, flat sharpening stone. Just wet the stone a little and run it over the frets a few times. You can feel the resistance against your strokes change as the frets all level out. It will leave the frets level but quite rough, and the ones which were higher will be flattened off more on top. You can round them back over with a small file (this is where the sharpie mark comes in handy, to ensure you don't take too much off), be sure to mask off the fingerboard so you don't scratch the wood up. then you can polish the frets up again with fine sandpaper
Or maybe I am misunderstanding the description
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