Curing fret buzz due to uneven frets?

Tonedef · 2011-01-31T11:16:05+00:00

My el-cheapo strat has an annoying problem at the upper reaches of the fretboard- the frets arent all at 100% equal height, which causes buzzes when you fret...

Curing fret buzz due to uneven frets?

flatfourfan

Tonedef wrote: Nope, the guitar is pretty much brand new. Dressing the high frets to lower them occurred to me, but I'd hate to spoil the polished finish on them. Plus i just put new strings on.

hmmm, I dunno if I'd bugger around with the action on it. I'm the same and love it low.

Are the frets physically loose? Cause I saw you said that tapping them in got them to sit a bit better.......that aint a good sign.......

Tonedef

Theyre not loose, thankfully. I moered them hard, but they could only compress the fretwood a miniscule amount before not sinking any deeper. Seems like gnawing at them with some fine sandpaper and a block is the way forward then?

flatfourfan

Tonedef wrote: Theyre not loose, thankfully. I moered them hard, but they could only compress the fretwood a miniscule amount before not sinking any deeper. Seems like gnawing at them with some fine sandpaper and a block is the way forward then?

dude, you make it sound so harsh........lol.. I did a fretdress on a budget guitar a while back and it actually went pretty well. There is a lot of info on the interwebs about doing it DIY. I'd recommend having a pro look at it to first make sure that it is the frets and not something else though before doing anything.

Bob-Dubery

I think the first thing you need to be clear about is your diagnosis. If you ARE SURE that the problem is uneven fret height then don't try to fix that with the truss rod - that's not what truss rods are for. If you ARE SURE that the problem is neck curvature then go ahead and adjust, but if there is also a problem with the frets then adjusting neck relief may not get rid of the buzzes. It is possible that somebody misadjusted the neck in order to minimise the effect of a poor fret job.

So tread carefully, and don't fix it unless you're sure it's broke.

Gearhead

My vote is also for a partial dress of the upper frets. From your description about some frets buzzing and the ones next to it not, it is the obvious heart of the problem. Don't worry about the polish - anyone who can dress can polish.

Tonedef

Thanks a million for the advice, guys! I'm hundred per cent certain that the cause is some frets being too high and I can easily identify which ones they are. I was just hoping to avoid hacking at the guitar with powertools (I love adding a bit of melodrama, flatfour! ?)

Anybody know the story about the two mice arguing over a hunk of cheese they found? I dont want that to happen to my frets! ?

flatfourfan

Tonedef wrote: Thanks a million for the advice, guys! I'm hundred per cent certain that the cause is some frets being too high and I can easily identify which ones they are. I was just hoping to avoid hacking at the guitar with powertools (I love adding a bit of melodrama, flatfour! ?)

Anybody know the story about the two mice arguing over a hunk of cheese they found? I dont want that to happen to my frets! ?

POWERTOOLS????????.......no no no no no...........lol.

Check this guys site out. http://www.higgydude.com/fret-dressing/63-tele-fret-dressing.asp. He did go a bit ape on the tape though........lol.

No powertools in sight. I did the dressing on my jackson in about a day and that included cleaning up the fretboard as well.

Tonedef

Lulz, I see what you mean regarding the tape job! I wonder if the hazmat suit he was no doubt wearing interfered with the fine detail work...

I guess all that is required is a bit of patience and common sense.

Vintage-Vibe

Hi

I would also take a look at the pitch angle of your neck (if you look at the neck and the strings side on lying on a table, pickups skywards for example)
Sometimes the neck has been pitched/shimmed at an angle which brings the higher fret registers of the neck too close to the strings (as opposed to the strings running parallel to the fret surfaces all the way).

Having said that, this usually affects a whole section of the last 5 to 10 frets, not just random ones.
You really should have taken her into the shop you bought her from the moment you spotted the problem - Fender would have to take a look at it under warrantee.
Since you've already had a bash at it yourself that might void the warantee unfortunately .. ☹

Hope it comes right

?VV

flatfourfan

I don't think that it's a fender.................

"el-cheapo strat "

Tonedef

Boy, if only it WAS a Fender. Its one of those tjeep chiwanese strat clones, a cash crusaders special. This axe needed a lot of tinkering tlc before I felt happy with it, but then again that suits my personality.

flatfourfan

Tonedef wrote: Boy, if only it WAS a Fender. Its one of those tjeep chiwanese strat clones, a cash crusaders special. This axe needed a lot of tinkering tlc before I felt happy with it, but then again that suits my personality.

hot rod that f**ker with a smile on your face..............lol.

Tonedef

Bwahaha fo sho! My personal motto is "If it aint broke, fix it until it is!"

Vintage-Vibe

flatfourfan wrote:
I don't think that it's a fender.................

"el-cheapo strat "

I think you missed the point there ... all Squiers in SA are imported by the same company who import Fender guitars - by "Fender" I meant to imply their wholesale distributor in SA - Feedback.

jeremy-Budgen

If you are to dress the lower frets you can do a partial fret dress with radius block that match your neck with some 220 grit sand paper the use a fret dressing file to smooth out the crowns so you get a good curvature back into the fret top, if you are worried about doing this i am in Delmas maybe i can help...

slyd

flatfourfan wrote: hot rod that f**ker with a smile on your face..............lol.

Yeah . . . do it, do it !!

BTW, after filing/sanding a fret, take the reverse side of some sandpaper and "sand". This polishes them up bootifully!
Use a 1200 or 1600 grit paper to sand away file-marks, then flip the sandpaper over
and rub, rub rub. It really polishes up the fret, and removes any light scratches caused by the sand paper!
?

Tonedef

Thanks for the tips, fellers! I'll take some pics when I get around to doing it. It doesnt really affect me atm though since I'm still struggling with the most basic fingerings way down the fretboard.

flatfourfan

Vintage Vibe wrote:
I think you missed the point there ... all Squiers in SA are imported by the same company who import Fender guitars - by "Fender" I meant to imply their wholesale distributor in SA - Feedback.

No i think that you missed the point :?. He said that it was a cheap chinese strat looking knock off. There was never any mention of it being a squire or any type of fender anywhere in the discussion.