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Post by woodyblues on Aug 16, 2022 7:14:24 GMT -5
Recently after noticing a high fret causing issues I tapped on it with the butt end of a screw driver hoping to seat it a little lower. Well now it's too low and I'm wondering what to do about it? Do I need to take it to a luthier or is there a home remedy to adjust this?
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Post by Peegoo 🏁 on Aug 16, 2022 10:29:01 GMT -5
Hmm. Do you have a soldering stick? If so:
1. Plug in your soldering stick and allow it to heat up.
2. Dip a Q-tip in water and run it along the fret on each side. Do this a few times and allow the water to soak into the wood; it won't hurt anything.
3. Dip a thick *cotton* cloth (old tee shirt material, etc.) in water, lay the wet cloth over the fret, and then slowly run the hot soldering stick down each side of the fret, dragging the tip of the stick over the wet cloth. Ideally, the steam it creates will swell the wood a little, raising the fret back up. Re-wet the cloth for each pass.
4. Repeat step 3 a few more times. Make sure the cloth stays wet as you work. If you use white cloth, you can monitor the heat you apply because too much heat will turn the cloth brown.
5. Use a fret rocker to see if you were successful.
CAUTION: if your guitar has plastic binding on the fretboard edge, keep the soldering stick away from it because it will melt the plastic. Your goal here is to heat up the water on/in the wood--not the fret.
DANGER WILL ROBINSON: if this problem is on a finished maple fretboard or other finished wood (a la Rickenbacker), do not do this operation because it can damage the finish. Take the guitar to a pro for evaluation and repair.
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Post by woodyblues on Aug 17, 2022 12:28:03 GMT -5
It's VERY kind of you to take the time to leave such a detailed response to my question. I do have a soldering iron and my guitar has a rosewood fretboard with no binding so I'm going to give it a try. Thanks again for your help Peegoo!
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Post by funkykikuchiyo on Aug 19, 2022 9:26:05 GMT -5
What kind of guitar is it?
If a fret is high and tapping it down makes it too low, that tells me the factory dressing happened when the fret was not seated properly (more likely at lower price points than higher). In my experience, trying to work with this can turn into a game of whack-a-mole, and reseating/gluing the frets then doing a full dressing is the best thing. No harm in trying a few home remedies, but if you are on your 4th or 5th solution, it might be time to just do it the more thorough way. If you take it in somewhere, tell them this story and mention that you might like them glued first.
If it was me looking for a quicker fix, I'd grab either my small dead blow, a nylon hammer or a brass fret seating tool (Stew Mac? I forget where it came from) and give everything in that area a loving tap. If you tapped the 12th before, you may find the 13th and 14th are also high.
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