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Post subject: Protruding Fret Ends
Posted: Tue Dec 29, 2015 8:22 pm
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My Warmouth partscaster has a birdseye maple neck and fretboard with stainless steel frets. The shoulders of the neck were smooth as a babies butt. About a month ago, as the weather changed, I noticed the fret ends starting to feel a little rough. It's still very playable, just not as nice as it was.
I assume the maple neck has contracted with the cold weather. The frets are not raising, just protruding from the sides of the shoulder.
The guitar sits in a room with a humidifier going to keep it above 30% and no heat is pumped into the room.
When spring comes and the weather warms up, will this situation rectify itself? I don't want to take it in to get them filed down if it's not necessary. This is the first guitar this has happened to. My Am Dlx Strat with maple neck and rosewood fretboard sits in the same room and it is showing a little fret sprout, but to a lesser degree. It's been a lot colder here than usual.

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Post subject: Re: Protruding Fret Ends
Posted: Tue Dec 29, 2015 11:24 pm
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It's not so much the cold temperature as it is the ambient humidity (or lack thereof) that causes "fret sprout". You might try turning your humidifier up to 40% or 45% and see if that has a positive effect.

Arjay

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Post subject: Re: Protruding Fret Ends
Posted: Wed Dec 30, 2015 12:43 am
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Considering that having the frets below the surface is less of an issue to projecting I might take the opportunity to file them while they are at their worst.

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Post subject: Re: Protruding Fret Ends
Posted: Wed Dec 30, 2015 2:37 am
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File them, my guitar neck was like that long time ago , fixed with file.


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Post subject: Re: Protruding Fret Ends
Posted: Wed Dec 30, 2015 7:26 am
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Ok, it makes sense to take care of it rather than hope it goes away. I'll kick up the humidifier in the mean time.

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Post subject: Re: Protruding Fret Ends
Posted: Thu Dec 31, 2015 2:22 am
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Be sure to protect the neck finish with some blue painters tape on the areas around the frets before filing. :idea:

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Post subject: Re: Protruding Fret Ends
Posted: Thu Dec 31, 2015 2:29 am
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Before:
Image

After:
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Post subject: Re: Protruding Fret Ends
Posted: Thu Dec 31, 2015 3:18 am
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shimmilou wrote:
Before:
Image

After:
Image


Same as mine before and after.

Why don't you just use a humidifier ?

My answer is this neck / guitar builder don't use completely dry wood or they build the neck in too wet area or they don't finish the job :lol:

Solid body guitars are like our home furniture ,they don't need a humidifier like high quality acoustic guitar.


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Post subject: Re: Protruding Fret Ends
Posted: Thu Dec 31, 2015 4:53 am
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stratele52 wrote:

...My answer is this neck / guitar builder don't use completely dry wood or they build the neck in too wet area or they don't finish the job :lol:

Solid body guitars are like our home furniture ,they don't need a humidifier like high quality acoustic guitar.


Wood; it comes from trees you know.

All wood will move as the relative humidity changes. You are not aware of it with furniture (assuming the furniture is made of solid wood) as construction techniques and joints have evolved over hundreds of years to accommodate movement. Solid wood table tops will be slot screwed or fitted on buttons, or the like, to allow the top to move; decorative wooden floors have cork edging strips etc. etc.

Frets on a guitar neck are such that a level of movement can't be accommodated so the best option, unless you can keep the guitar in a controlled environment, is probably to file the frets back. When the neck next expands you wont be aware that they have gone below the surface a little and when it shrinks again they wont project any more than where you filed them back.

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Post subject: Re: Protruding Fret Ends
Posted: Thu Dec 31, 2015 5:03 am
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Thank 's for answer but I know that .


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Post subject: Re: Protruding Fret Ends
Posted: Thu Dec 31, 2015 6:24 am
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stratele52 wrote:
Thank 's for answer but I know that .


Of course you do... :roll: but perhaps others might find it interesting.

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Post subject: Re: Protruding Fret Ends
Posted: Thu Dec 31, 2015 7:53 am
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Thanks for all the advice. I'll probably go ahead and file the ends, after masking the neck and fretboard. I'm prepping for a new band audition, so it may be a while before I get time to do it. I'll report back when I get it done. I'm sure all of the info in this thread will be of help to someone else, also.

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Post subject: Re: Protruding Fret Ends
Posted: Thu Dec 31, 2015 9:10 am
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Drew365 wrote:
Thanks for all the advice. I'll probably go ahead and file the ends, after masking the neck and fretboard. I'm prepping for a new band audition, so it may be a while before I get time to do it. I'll report back when I get it done. I'm sure all of the info in this thread will be of help to someone else, also.



+1


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Post subject: Re: Protruding Fret Ends
Posted: Sat Jan 02, 2016 8:33 am
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Quote:
maple neck and rosewood fretboard sits in the same room and it is showing a little fret sprout, but to a lesser degree.
I've actually had the opposite experience in Iowa, USA.
Not sure if where the materials originate, and/or quality of the woods...but my maple fretboards tend to do a lot better in my particular environment.
My 06' Highway 1 and my 09' Bullet are the only two (electric) guitars I have with Rosewood fretboards, and they were the hardest to maintain.

I'm not a fan of the "feel" of Rosewood (or anything other than maple) on electric guitars...so the Hwy. 1 is for sale or trade right now...and the Bullet became a project guitar that now has an American loaded pickgaurd.
The Rosewood fretboard on that Bullet is (believe it or not) the nicest I have ever played on...hence the reason I decided to keep it.

Not sure if I just got lucky or what...but an MIM Telecaster (which I've since gotten rid of) is the only guitar I've ever owned with a maple fretboard that I had to file the sharp frets.

P.S.- There are TWO seasons here in Iowa...."Snow", and "Mow". The winters are cold and dry, and the summers are hot and humid.


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Post subject: Re: Protruding Fret Ends
Posted: Sat Jan 02, 2016 10:41 am
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stratele52 wrote:
Drew365 wrote:
Thanks for all the advice. I'll probably go ahead and file the ends, after masking the neck and fretboard... I'll report back when I get it done... I'm sure all of the info in this thread will be of help to someone else, also.

+1

Me too 52!

Great Thread to open the New Year with...Thanks Drew

Last winter..I kept the humidity between 40% & 50% with a room humidifier & a (cheap chinese) digital thermo-meter...

...very little fret sprout..no visible "bellying" or other dehydration issues w/the Acoustic.

I Like the idea of filing the frets down though.

Best Wishes to all, New & Old alike,

- danagos

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