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#1
11-23-2020, 08:27 AM
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A Philosophical Quandary
I have a Seagull S6 Original, that at first I liked very much.
Then I found it had a dead spot. Play the 5th string at the 9th fret, and you hear a "thunk". It's dead. I've put a capo on, and it sounds the same at the 9th fret. Dr Google suggests it's a fret problem that could be addressed by a fret dress. 1. Do you think a fret dress could solve the problem? 2. Should I mention the problem? After all the shop that sold it to me, and "supposedly" did a set up, didn't mention it to me.
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Furch Blue D-MM Furch Blue D-CM Furch Stanford D1P MM Blues resonator Seagull S6 Original Last edited by Teleplucker; 11-23-2020 at 09:39 AM. Reason: removed one comment 
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#2
11-23-2020, 08:55 AM
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Most likely the shop played the guitar after setup just to make sure everything sounded ok, but that doesn't mean they happened to play the 5th string at the 9th fret. If you purchased the guitar locally, then take the guitar by and show them what's going on with it. Most likely they'll fix it on the spot with no worries. If you ordered online, take it to a repair shop and let them handle it for you. It's very doubtful that it will cost you as much as the postage to send it back to the retailer you got it from. I'm thinking it's a high spot on the 10th fret.
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'59 Gibson J-45 "Spot" '21 Gibson LG-2 - 50's Reissue '94 Taylor 710 '18 Martin 000-17E "Willie" ‘23 Taylor AD12e-SB '22 Taylor GTe Blacktop '15 Martin 000X1AE https://pandora.app.link/ysqc6ey22hb
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#3
11-23-2020, 09:09 AM
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Yes - probably a high/unseated fret above the 9th fret. Any good tech would be able to troubleshoot and fix for you.
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"One small heart, and a great big soul that's driving"
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#4
11-23-2020, 09:53 AM
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It's not likely that the shop knew about the problem. I'd take it back to them and see if they can remedy it. Often it is an issue with a fret, but guitars will also have a resonate frequency where they will sound dead or produce some unwanted sound. Usually it is very minor. If it is noticable and can't be corrected you may want to return it.
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#5
11-23-2020, 11:04 AM
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I don't see where this problem rises to the level of a philosophical quandary.
Has the problem happened with different strings? I'd change the 5th string before asking for a fret dress.
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1 dreadnought, 1 auditorium, 1 concert, and 2 travel guitars.
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#6
11-23-2020, 11:21 AM
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Quote:
I don't see it as a philosophical quandary, either. Changing the string is the first place to start. It could be damage to the string at that fret. It could be a loose 9th fret, rather than a high fret. That can cause what you describe. It could just be a characteristic of that instrument. If so, you can fool with adding mass to the bridge or top using a tac putty to see if that address the problem. I'd take it to someone who has the skills to address the problem, be that the place where you bought it or elsewhere. When I do a setup, I check every note on the instrument. If I find "bum" notes, I, at minimum, inform the owner of my findings.
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#7
11-23-2020, 04:54 PM
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I believe the philosophical quandary you refer to is whether or not to try to move this guitar on to some unsuspecting buyer without mentioning the problem.
No one can answer this question for you. Not mentioning it amounts to screwing someone else, so it comes down to being able to somehow rationalize that it's OK to do that. For some people, that would be easy, for others, like me, impossible, and for others there's a whole spectrum of possibilities. I don't know where you fall on this spectrum.
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#8
11-23-2020, 09:07 PM
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Quote:
Regardless, it might well be the perfect guitar to someone who doesn't play past the fifth fret. It is pretty common to have "non-stellar" notes up around the 18th fret or so. Since few players play that/those frets, most don't find it an issue - many aren't even aware of it since it isn't relevant to them. Few guitars would ever sell if the criteria for it being saleable was that every note across the range of the instrument was "perfect". It is the responsibility of every buyer to assess an instrument and determine if that instrument will do what he or she wants. Preferably that happens before buying it, but that often isn't the case in these modern shop-on-line times. If the buyer isn't, in a reasonable trial period, able to determine if a specific instrument suites him or her - or identify what he or she believes is a shortcoming - that isn't the seller's problem. That is a different issue than purposely trying to sell a mechanically damaged or compromised instrument.
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