New guitar sharp frets normal?

[sim75]

Hi all. I’ll start with the always cheesy but accurate, long time reader, first time poster. (The real question is at the end- I like back stories and I assume people on a site like this like to read, and play)

I wasn’t sure if this post should be posted here or somewhere else.

My first guitar was a used Simon and Patrick S6 Dread. I’ve had it about 10 years, and decided it’s time to branch out. After much online research during this COVID situation (unable to browse and try out guitars) I decided to just purchase the two contenders and return the one I didn’t want. I currently have a Martin DJr-10e. Spruce and Sepele, and a Taylor gs mini mahogany in my living room. I could make an entire article reviewing and expressing my thoughts on these two guitars at this point but I probably shouldn’t.


The Martin sounds amazing to my ears in a way that the Taylor does not (Taylor is still very nice and I may keep them both and give it to my daughter as a bribe or leverage of some sort as she seems to really like it-she immediately noticed and appreciated the smaller nut width, neck size in general)

Question:

On the Martin, The frets are sharp enough that it’s annoying, and the edge of the rich lite fingerboard on the Martin is also sharp enough to be a bit annoying. I may not have noticed the fretboard edge being sharp if the Taylor’s wasn’t so amazing feeling and my other guitar is 18 year old. The Taylor’s frets and fingerboard are absolutely perfect, and as a side note I prefer the look of it(real ebony) to the rich lite.

Is this normal for a new guitar to have this issue ? And should I fix it myself, provided I keep it which I almost certainly will. It sound amazing, and is beautiful.

I’ve checked out some videos about filing the frets with those soft nail files, or getting a proper fret file of some sort. Should I do this myself (I feel pretty competent doing things like this) or should I wait and see if things settle in some way ? My understanding is the richlite will not shrink etc. like real wood, so may as well do it now ? Also can I sand / should I sand the edge of the richlite itself to take the sharpish edge off of it or could this cause some issue I’m unaware of? Thanks and congrats if you read my whole story - my wife says I’m an over talker lol.
Thanks in advance for any thoughts and advice. (Aside - Martin’s case is shameful by comparison to Taylor’s)

[John Arnold]

The fretboard has shrunk, regardless of what is said about Richlite. I use a small file and fine sandpaper to deal with this. I use a thin scraper to roll the edge of the fingerboard. Modern Martins have a pretty severe bevel on the frets. As long as you don't bevel them more, you should not create any issues.

[sim75]

Thanks for the quick response ! So if the richlite did indeed shrink, will it possibly expand again and if I file the frets, at some point might they become too small due to the expansion of the richlite ? I’m not sure I understand what you mean by severe bevel - do you mean the angle from the edge of the fretboard to the top of the fret, if I flatten it, it will not be long enough to fret the strings against ? (Sort of)

[John Arnold]

Correct. When filing and sanding, use a more vertical angle than the bevel on the fret crowns. When rounding the fretboard edge with a scraper, you are working between the frets. I have never seen where expansion of the fretboard after doing this caused a problem. The amount involved is very small.

[sim75]

Ok thanks John, I’ll give it a go whenever my new bridge pins get delivered. Restring at same time, though I do like the retro strings it came with, it seems not worth the hassle to try and keep them wound on the tuners. If I did just release the pressure and take them out from the bridge, would they wind back up to tension ok, or is it more advisable once the tension is released, to just restring? Also, sanding / using a scraper on the richlite. Is there any weirdness there, or treat it as if it was wood?

[mirwa]

If you also have sharp edges on the fretboard, I would fit some sandpaper on a small flat block (like the base of an old bridge) and bevel sand the fretboard edge and frets at the same time, then just do a light edge roll with a file for the fret ends

Steve

[sim75]

Ooh yes, I like this idea Steve. A two for one deal. Is there any issue sanding richlite. Will it leave marks or anything if sandpaper grit too high. What would be a good place to start? I definitely don’t wanna mess up my two day old guitar lol. Thanks.

[fazool]

In addition to possible wood shrinkage causing fret "sprout" it is also common for less expensive guitars to start out less dressed and a little sharp.

If you are good at dealing with this you can get a great feeling guitar and save some money by picking a guitar that is generally less expensive (if you like all other things about the guitar that is).

[mirwa]

Originally Posted by sim75

Ooh yes, I like this idea Steve. A two for one deal. Is there any issue sanding richlite. Will it leave marks or anything if sandpaper grit too high. What would be a good place to start? I definitely don’t wanna mess up my two day old guitar lol. Thanks.

No issues sanding on the edge, richlite does scratch up more than standard ebony, so avoid sanding between the frets on the topside of the board itself.

I typically use 220, then 400 then 600 to smooth the fretboard edge over, you could just go straight to 600 and take a bit longer, in a shop time is money, so we sand by grits

Steve

[nikpearson]

1) Fingerboard shrinkage, although I’m a little surprised that a synthetic fingerboard such as RichLite would do this.

2) Poorly dressed fret tang ends - as others have said you can remedy this with a flat block and fine abrasives paper.

3) Poorly shaped and dressed fret ends - the corners of each fret should be rounded slightly at the very end to give a smooth surface for your fingers to slide over. I’ve played some pretty expensive guitars where this was an issue. Best remedied with a specialist fret end file with appropriate safe edges, before final polishing with fine abrasive papers.

4) The fret (even just the ends) lifting from the fingerboard. The frets will need reseating (possibly with superglue).

It should be easy to identify which of the above issue or issues you are dealing with.

And finally, you’ve already had some good suggestions as to how to round the fingerboard edge. This really makes a difference in feel. I’d do this with a hard foam block, fine abrasive paper, and then move to MicroMesh on a foam block or just with my fingers.

Hope that helps,

[sim75]

OK Thanks everyone. So I've ordered a fret file:

https://www.leevalley.com/en-ca/shop...e?item=60J0205

Anyone see any issues with doing this:

Start with a hard wood block with 400 progressing to 600 grit sandpaper, sand edges on an angle (somewhere between perpendicular to the fret board top and a 45 degree-ish angle or less - as long as it's less than the angle on the frets).

Then use the file linked above to fix up the edges - I think i've seen a decent tutorial online by stewmac on how to do that.

Then use foam block with really fine abrasive paper and then micromesh along the edges and over fret ends . (any particular grits for these ?)

Wipe it with a cloth / damp clean rag ? wipe it dry and restring.

Recommended time frame to do this and is it an issue having all the strings off for that length of time. I usually take all the strings of at once when I restring, but I know some people think even that is a bad idea.

This seems like it will take me about an hour or so, which probably means it will take 2 hours at least lol.Is it an issue to leave the strings off that long ? Should I leave the center strings on ?

Thanks again everyone.

[sim75]

Also, any recommendations on how to hold the guitar while I do this ? I'll have to rig up something - it's too cold in the garage here in Ontario Canada. I'll have to make some sort of mobile neck holder out of a couple 2x4s and some foam or a blanket over top, I'm not sure how much pressure will be required, will the guitar be moving around on me, I imagine it would. Should this be a separate post ?

Thanks again.

[Realbluesman]

I work on a folding table with a neotech mat (anything to keep the guitar from sliding around) and a neck cradle. Some folks use a gun rest but Dunlop and Music Nomad sell guitar neck cradles. These are a good investment for any work including stringing.

It does not take much force to file the fret tangs...file is much harder than the fret wire. Go easy with more finesse than force!

[redir]

Yea I didn't know that Richlite would behave like this too. As a repair shop I see a lot of this in the winter months. It's good to get it when it's dry so that when the FB expands again the fret ends are nice and buried.

[sim75]

Ok thanks again everyone. It went pretty well considering it was my first time doing this I think. I could have done it a bit better as it doesn’t feel as nice as the new Taylor gs mini out of the box, but that’s ok they obviously know what they’re doing and I don’t lol. I also didn’t want to do too much, I figured I could try again if I wanted. Kinda like cutting your own hair. If you cut too much off you’re in trouble. It feels noticeably smoother though and I don’t think I I’ll do anything else to it.

Thanks all.