. I've made several fretted 3 strings and not one came out off fret wise. I must have measured the fret spacing wrong. The guitar is completely done and works ok with slide. Tone wise it's great... but playing with fingers/frets.. it's off. What should I do? Rip out the frets and re-sand...re-fret...refinish etc? It's kinda hard to decide..
One of the things about responses to this question (glad it go resolved!) was the "leveling of frets" after installation. Why not level the fretboard before fret grooves are cut and frets are installed? I have beed doing this since after my first fretted CBG was a mess and have not had to dress a single fret since. (about 200 fretted builds later).
It's simple to do. find a level surface. cut a sanding belt and glue down. After fretboard is install on neck, cross hatch with pencil. turn upside down and sand, checking frequently. continue sanding until cross hatching is gone. Finish neck, cut fret grooves and install frets..... simple, excellent results.
Lowered the action and re-measured. Moved the bridge really high. It worked. Can't believe that's what it was.....wew...thank thank you to all that helped. I now placed the bridge much higher than I normally do (my original measuring was off with the bridge distance) so when I was constantly adjusting it I couldn't figure it out. I had to remove the wooden piece that I put the bridge screw on to protect the tin (this automatically lowed the action. It's a bit buzzy but I can use it and fix that eventually. So the bridge sits up high and maybe a very thin piece of wood and some other methods of lowering the action will help in the long run.
Sawbones > Jon Leslie/Runaway Veal MusicJuly 2, 2014 at 1:49am
Last week I reattached a tailpiece on my first,and its fretted by just measuring it off a 24" lap slide I have.Never fretted right,only a slider.When I fixed it I used way smaller bolts for the bridge and nut and it frets pretty damn good now.Can pretty much play it like a regular guitar.
So pretty much same issue you had.Just had to lower the action.
Guys the answer when this happens to you is a capo...
Pretty obvious really, put a capo on the first fret and set the intonation. (The octave will be the 13th fret not the 12th )
This eliminates the nut from the equation. If you can get it playing in tune with a capo on it then there is hope. Heh if not you really have made a 'slider'...
What sort of tuner do you have I'd make a note of the note before you lower the action and after you've lowered if it plays better might just be your action was too high
You say it's off ? do you mean all the fretted notes ? or just the low ones , first check your scale length , nut to 12th and 12th to saddle , that did you use to mark out the fret slots double check that again , and how high is your action at the first fret if it's too high it will make the first few frets sharp , I'd do a re-check before you rip any frets out .
Replies
One of the things about responses to this question (glad it go resolved!) was the "leveling of frets" after installation. Why not level the fretboard before fret grooves are cut and frets are installed? I have beed doing this since after my first fretted CBG was a mess and have not had to dress a single fret since. (about 200 fretted builds later).
It's simple to do. find a level surface. cut a sanding belt and glue down. After fretboard is install on neck, cross hatch with pencil. turn upside down and sand, checking frequently. continue sanding until cross hatching is gone. Finish neck, cut fret grooves and install frets..... simple, excellent results.
Last week I reattached a tailpiece on my first,and its fretted by just measuring it off a 24" lap slide I have.Never fretted right,only a slider.When I fixed it I used way smaller bolts for the bridge and nut and it frets pretty damn good now.Can pretty much play it like a regular guitar.
So pretty much same issue you had.Just had to lower the action.
Pretty obvious really, put a capo on the first fret and set the intonation. (The octave will be the 13th fret not the 12th )
This eliminates the nut from the equation. If you can get it playing in tune with a capo on it then there is hope. Heh if not you really have made a 'slider'...
Yup
Dunno if the Kid is wise beyond his years,or the years have taken the Kid!
What sort of tuner do you have I'd make a note of the note before you lower the action and after you've lowered if it plays better might just be your action was too high
You say it's off ? do you mean all the fretted notes ? or just the low ones , first check your scale length , nut to 12th and 12th to saddle , that did you use to mark out the fret slots double check that again , and how high is your action at the first fret if it's too high it will make the first few frets sharp , I'd do a re-check before you rip any frets out .
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