A friend of mine just got a Road Worn 60's Strat in Olympic White and I absolutely love it, but have read that a lot of these guitars have jagged fret ends. However his is perfectly fine, so is this more a problem with older models and they have rectified this situation?

With Fenders guitars all being fretted by hand, I'd suspect that it's more a luck of the drawer thing.
Some could be perfect, others less so.
Depends on who does the fretwork on the day the thing is made and how on form they are when the guitar is fretted.

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"Ye ol' fret sprout."

The environmental conditions a neck is exposed to can also bring on 'sprout'.

Of note: Some dealerships have superior techs who routinely inspect their store's stock for stuff like this and in turn, routinely remedy it.

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Thanks for the responses! I'm sure enviromental conditions play a part in this, but it seems like I've read more about that happening with these Road Worn guitars than others.

The fret ends on my RW60 are fine but the frets themselves are a little to sharp for me. The long edges, not the ends on the neck.

From what I've seen, sprout is becoming more prevalent on guitars in general over the last several years. I attribute it to the artificial, accelerated attempt at drying out the woods used where the necks are still shrinking even after having the frets installed. YMMV.

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This situation is usually due to an incomplete crowning and polishing.

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I had to file the fret edges on my RW 60s after having it for a few weeks. It seems to be a problem with many of the MIM guitars that I've had, probably like Martian said, the wood is still shrinking. The MIA versions have more attention to details like the frets, and better (drier) wood, it seems.

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---> "The amp should be SWITCHED OFF AND UNPLUGGED before you do this!" <---

Por favor, disculpe mi español, no se llega a la práctica con mucha frecuencia.

What is the best type of file to use for filing fret edges and how do you do this without harming the wood?

Any small fine file will work. I use small files made for fret work. Carefully file the edges down, they stick out past the wood. You can use small pieces of painters tape on either side of the fret to protect the wood. I've been doing it for so long that I don't even use tape anymore. After filing the edges, I also file the sharpness off of the rounded edges, "hand rolled" if you will. It takes some time to do, but it's worth it. A guitar shop may charge up to $100 to dress the fret ends.

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---> "The amp should be SWITCHED OFF AND UNPLUGGED before you do this!" <---

Por favor, disculpe mi español, no se llega a la práctica con mucha frecuencia.

I use a 3corner needle file with all 3 sharp points ground flat so's they don't cut into the fretboard.

What I found best for that problem is to run a fretstone down the edge of the neck at a angle.

That get's your fret ends all uniform. Then all you have to do is round the edges (where the fret walls meet the end) with the 3 corner file.

Being light and careful is of paramount importance in this situation. You can ruin your fretboard/neck by being too heavy handed.

Heres a picture of Manchester Guitar Tech Steve Robinson doing similar with a file housed in a block.


And the same rounding the ends with a small file.



Infact the whole of his site is a lesson in good guitar maintainance and repair.
http://www.manchesterguitartech.co.uk/

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