Hey guys. I've had my MIA Strat for about 6 weeks.

I love Strats and was really happy when I finally got one, it's Olympic white with a rosewood neck.

A week or so after I got it, and got used to it I started to notice issues with it.

The main issue was that after a few attempts at Vibrato there would be a kinda crunching noise and it generally felt rough when bending. Almost as though I was fighting with the fretboard.

I had it looked at 3 times and one issue they found was that the strings were sitting strange on the saddles, causing the crunching when I was constantly doing vibrato. They fixed that. But the other issue, of a rough feeling when bending remains.

I love this guitar I really do, and I've put new pickups in it and spent some cash on it but this issue is just bugging the $@!& out of me.

When I play, and bend the strings for whatever reason I can feel resistance, not enough to stop the bend but enough for me to notice and think 'argh there it is again'. It's just not smooth. After a few bends it feels like it's gone but then it returns when I've left the fret alone for a minute, almost like when it's cooled down or something.

In most places on most strings I can notice the fretboard when bending. Not as much on the higher gauge strings though, but I really notice it on the G,B,E.

My MiM Tele doesn't do this at all, it's as smooth as butter. My LP Studio is Rosewood but isn't grainy and is smooth, my USA Strat is Rosewood with grain, has a low action, like all my guitars but it has been set up properly but definitely has something going on with it that I don't like.

Is this just what Strat rosewood necks are like? Or is it this kind of rosewood? Would string lubricant help?

Are there any actual playability issues with rosewood necks compared to maple? Do you feel the fretboard more with rosewoods?

Any ideas what it is? This is a higher quality guitar than my other two but the others just glide effortlessly while this one has a noticeable contact with the fretboard that the others don't.

It just doesn't seem right. I'm wondering whether or not I could get them to just change the neck under warranty. The tech has noticed what I mean on another occasion, and I expected it to be fixed so I got all the pickups put in but it isn't.

Thanks for reading.
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You could sand the fretboard to get it more smooth but I think it is a problem with your strings.
Some strings tend to go flat on the fret side when doing heavy bendings. When you play them again they roll a little and you feel the "edge" of the string on the fret.
Try another set of strings on you guitar.

Cheers,
Robin

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http://www.youtube.com/robinstrower
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I've put 4 sets of strings on it. Elixirs, D'Addarios, Ernie Balls. It's not that.

It's not dry either.

As I said, it's only the first bend, the next time it feels smoother, and then once 'cooled down' it feels rough again.

Thanks for replying, any other thoughts ?:)

First off, I wouldn't put any string lubricant or any other foreign slime on the strings. This is treating the symptom, not the cause and will inevitably gunk up your fingerboard, thereby compounding the problem.

No, in your context, Strats with rosewood fingerboards are no different than any other guitar with a rosewood board and except for a few contours here and there, rosewood board Strat necks are made identically to rosewood board Tele necks.

You say you've gone through several brands of string sets, the fingerboard is not dry, the saddles are not contributors and the fingerboard is grainer than your other guitars.
Three possibilities stand out to me: 1. If your fingerboard is more porous than average, it will respond like it is dry until it is broken in. All those little open grains can slow a bend down and present a grinding phenomenon until they are eventually smoothed over from repetitive string and body oils contact.
2. Multiple bending in the same area will compress the rosewood pores down for the moment which will provide for smoother, immediately repeated bends. This would account for your "cooling down" analogy.
3. Your frets may need a bit of polishing.

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Could it be that the frets on the Am Std are just too low, allowing more finger contact on the fretboard, as compared to the other guitars? Maybe the other guitars frets are taller.

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This does seem to make sense. Do you have experience in this then? Thanks

With all modesty, I have extensive experience in this. You're welcome.

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So how long can this take? And I take it from what i am describing it is something that you have direct experience in, you've played/owned a guitar and gone, urgh, a bit rough on that bend, noticed it a lot and then eventually it's sorted itself?

The tech and Luthier have both said the frets are fine. Can I get the fretboard sanded and if so would this stop this or is it just a matter of time?

Thanks again.

Every player's break in time is different. Typically though, we're talking a month or two for this condition to disappear with constant playing. In my case, I didn't want to wait.

I feel outright sanding of the fretboard is inappropriate as it will unnecessarily remove wood. Instead, I used #0000 steel wool to feather down the offending areas. This method has more of a compression effect on the board rather than an abrasive one, thus mimicking the play in method without the wait. I hand (finger) rubbed the affected areas immediately thereafter. This completely solved the problem.

You're welcome.

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So Martian,
Is it a humidity issue or actually lack of humidity, dryness, that has done this?
Or the nature of new, unplayed rosewood?

Never had a new rosewood neck to experience this.

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-T

"You can't spend what you ain't got, you can't lose what you ain't never had" ~ McKinley Morganfield

I took the guitar down to a different shop to the one that I bought it from. The tech there looked at the guitar and said there are a few scratches on the frets and also (perhaps more importantly) the fretboard looks quite dry.

I guess that this could be the reason I'm getting that problem? Dryness combined with dirt on the common bending areas (12th fret) could give the symptoms I'm having? And general dryness on the fretboard giving the feeling on the lower frets where I have to push a bit harder to get a decent bend?

He said he's gonna polish them really well, soak the fretboard in lemon oil and it should be silky smooth.

He said the set up was pretty good.

The thing about this guitar is, it was sold a bit cheaper than it would normally be because Fender were apparently making them get rid of their older stock before they would let them sell the 2012 models. I think it might be a 2010 or something, I forgot to write down the serial so I could check it so it could have been sitting in the store for 2 years, or in the window drying out.

I get it back on Wednesday.

We'll see what happens then

It could be lack of humidity but I wouldn't want to make such a sweeping diagnosis. Surely, it is dryness of unknown origin from some point. Oftentimes, it is simply because shop owners put it in an area where bright lights and/or the sun get at it with prolonged exposure. It is not the nature of a premium cut of unplayed rosewood. In the OP's case, I tend to believe the neck is a bit dry although his 'experts' have told him otherwise.

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Hmmm...
So you didn't notice how old this was when you bought it?
Didn't have that "crunch" while checking it out in the store?

Some concerns on the "soaking" of the fretboard..others hopefully will chime in.
Whereas, the oil can do damage to the adhesive holding the fretboard to the neck.

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-T

"You can't spend what you ain't got, you can't lose what you ain't never had" ~ McKinley Morganfield

My first impression was a dry neck but you had said it was ruled out.

I wouldn't soak a rosewood fingerboard in ANY oil for not only does the nature of rosewood negate it but once it gets under the frets, this could cause a whole other series of problems. I sparingly wipe the board with some premium guitar polish on the tip of my finger, working it into the wood only, wait a few minutes and then take a dry paper towel, wiping all the serviced areas, ensuring there is no residue left. Then, I take a lint free cloth and buff it out by hand.

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I didn't notice anything no, it was only after a few days. When I was in the shop playing it I just wanted to get out really, it seemed okay but it's hard to notice until you've got used to the guitar. I've never had a neck this this. My LP Studio is tighter Rosewood, there's no grain in it. I asked them at the shop I got it from and they said it was okay but it was the first thing this tech noticed.

The guy doing it now is a professional, surely he knows what he's doing? He does this every day so he would probably apply enough to hydrate it but not enough to do what you're suggesting. I hope.

Without trying to say that anyone here is wrong, because I don't know the answer to that and I know you're trying to help me and I appreciate your time, but he wouldn't do something that would cause the guitar to go bad.

He seemed like he knew what he was talking about lol.

I've read online that lots and lots of people use Lemon oil.