Guitar Fret Sprout

Darwin · #1 01-19-2016, 07:25 PM

With the low humidity here in Minnesota I humidify my guitar room at around 30% for my electrics. The last few days I have been taking care of fret sprout on a few that needed it. It is very easy to do with a small flat file and some care. When done, they are smooth and look like new. This is the time to do it in our climate. I ended up doing six out of about fifty guitars. It is also interesting that five of the six that had a bit of sprout were maple fretboards.

I do not add more humidity as I have done that is past years and had problems with the house (attic venting with a lot of snow on the roof). Anyway, this is part of my winter guitar routine for a retired guy who loves to work on guitars.

Here is some sparkle for the evening, my G&L Gold Sparkle ASAT Classic that I just finished. -- Darwin

J.R. Rogers · #2 01-19-2016, 09:09 PM

Nice guitar, Darwin! - love the sparkle finish on that one. You're brave for doing that fretwork yourself. My hats off to you. I did buy some files and tried it once... and after ripping a small hole into the neck around the fretwire decided that it was a job better handled by a professional. I'll stick to playing the guitar

Would keeping the guitars in a humidified closet of some sort solve the humidity problem without creating problems for you house?

JR

pieterh · #3 01-20-2016, 05:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by J.R. Rogers

Nice guitar, Darwin! - love the sparkle finish on that one. You're brave for doing that fretwork yourself. My hats off to you. I did buy some files and tried it once... and after ripping a small hole into the neck around the fretwire decided that it was a job better handled by a professional. I'll stick to playing the guitar

Would keeping the guitars in a humidified closet of some sort solve the humidity problem without creating problems for you house?

JR

I agree with you JR, I'm too nervous of making a mess of things to risk my G&L. Luckily the only thing I've needed doing to my ASAT classic is a slight widening of the nut slot for the G-string, plus a new switchcraft ouput jack a couple of years ago.

Oh yeah, and a couple of weeks ago I changed the plastic string tree for a Fender American Standard. Was a bit nervous drilling the small pilot hole beside the normal screw hole but it went well!

Darwin · #4 01-20-2016, 06:31 PM

Thanks JR and Pieterh. I have 27 electrics hanging on our living room wall with hangers. There are another 17 in 3 floor racks. We display them as wall art. The fret sprout is not a problem as it is very easy to solve with a very fine tooth flat file. Only 6 of them had a minor issue and once dressed it doesn't happen again. For the most part the majority of them have not had an issue.

Great suggestion but there are just too many for a closet. The problem is usually solved with one dressing if done with the low point of humidity for the season. BTW, I do all my own work so I enjoy it. The ones that had the fret sprout are the same brand and they are really fine guitars.-- Darwin

J.R. Rogers · #5 01-20-2016, 09:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Darwin

I have 27 electrics hanging on our living room wall with hangers. There are another 17 in 3 floor racks. We display them as wall art. The fret sprout is not a problem as it is very easy to solve with a very fine tooth flat file. Only 6 of them had a minor issue and once dressed it doesn't happen again. For the most part the majority of them have not had an issue.

Whoa!! That's my kind of living room! The greatest wall art that I can think of...

Do you have any pics?

JR

wade63 · #6 01-20-2016, 11:50 PM

Never heard of fret sprout. Are you saying the fret wire runs proud on the ends? I keep my shop at 40-60%. I notice even here in the pacific northwest when it gets colder the heater runs more and dries the air out. So I run a humidifier in the winter and a dehumidifier in the summer.

pieterh · #7 01-21-2016, 03:41 AM

Haha if only I had a living room large enough to hang 27 guitars. And at least 27 guitars to hang there of course. I have 7 including the bass and 2 acoustics. with 2 hangers for now.

I love the look of that sparkle ASAT. I am a sound engineer and a couple of years ago did FOH for a Finnish blues artist and she had a number of flake ASATs. We had a very nerdy G&L fan conversation that night!

Darwin · #8 01-21-2016, 09:03 AM

Wade, you are correct. The wood shrinks a bit and then fret ends protrude a bit. Once you have corrected it, the problem is usually solved. It would not happen again unless the humidity were to get below 30% in my room. That is the minimum as I keep it humidified at 30%.

I will post pics when I get time to photograph later today. -- Darwin

jonfields45 · #9 01-21-2016, 06:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Darwin

It is also interesting that five of the six that had a bit of sprout were maple fretboards.

Leo Fender chose flat sawn maple and it is still the standard. I wonder if quarter sawn might have made the fret sprout less of a problem.

s2y · #10 01-21-2016, 09:18 PM

I think all woods natural woods can develop fret sprout if dry enough. Composite materials don't have this problem. There are also stabilized woods like Dymondwood that are dang near bullet proof. The tradeoff is that these generally don't sound like wood.

I just humidify as much as I can during the winter and dehumidify during the summer. Ebony tends to expand and contract the most among usual guitar woods, especially on a long bass neck.

Darwin · #11 01-23-2016, 06:20 PM

I was waiting for sunlight but it isn't going too happen.
pictures from left to right.

It is crowded but I am careful when moving around to pick one up.-- Darwin

David Eastwood · #12 01-23-2016, 06:35 PM

I'm also in Minnesota. I have a set of DMT diamond ski files I do mine with. They don't mar the edge of the fingerboard, and take care of sprout in a jiffy. That, and a little file I got from StewMac to knock off the sharp corners.

They do seem to settle down over the years, though - right now, I only have one (my Squier VM Jaguar) which needs a touch-up. I haven't had to do any of the others for quite a while now.

pieterh · #13 01-24-2016, 05:39 AM

Darwin, that is quite a collection! How do you find time to play them all? And how do you prioritise?

Darwin · #14 01-24-2016, 12:00 PM

David, I find that once they have been done it will not be necessary again. I am going to do some online research on the ski files. Thanks for the tip.

Pieterh, Good question. I pick up different ones when I play usually playing only one each time. When I choose one that hasn't been played for a while it is like getting reintroduced to an old friend. I then remember why I liked it so much. I like them all, different necks, pickups, woods and feel. That is what makes guitars so interesting. As a retired guy, I have time to do all the maintenance which requires a fair amount of time. I generally do this during the winter months.

There is no priority as such but whatever I feel like playing. Having said that, there are a few that don't get playtime other than after a string change and setup. They are the few that are hard to find on the market and I would like to hand them down in as new condition. All of them are a form of art for Ginny and I. The pictures are on the other walls!

By the way, I still gig as a bass player! Who says you can't have both-- Darwin

David Eastwood · #15 01-24-2016, 05:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Darwin

David, I find that once they have been done it will not be necessary again.

You're right, of course - if you do it properly the first time

Quote:

I am going to do some online research on the ski files. Thanks for the tip.

These are the diamond files I referred to - I shared this with Darwin earlier, but thought there might be general interest.

http://www.amazon.com/DMT-WS7K-Diamo.../dp/B000PVZITW