Tapping down a raised fret

[Cletus Spuckle]

I have a fret rising out of its slot. I have a polyurethane mallet. Good to go?

 

Is it BANG BANG BANG or is it TAP TAP TAP TAP TAP TAP TAP or is it tippytippytippytippytippytippytippy?

 

And, should I bother to protect the fretboard somehow?

[sleepeatplay]

Loose or raised fret? Try to isolate the buzz to a particular fret range. When you've done that, examine the frets carefully. Are they all well-set in their grooves? If any of the frets are starting to come up, it can cause a string to buzz. If you identify a loose fret, try tapping it lightly back into place. If it's a severe problem (i.e., if you can see a space UNDER the fret where it's lifted out of the fretboard), you might have to squirt a little super glue into the crack and hold it in place for a few seconds (mind that you don't GLUE your fingers to your guitar!).

I would try tapping lightly and hell yes protect the fingerboard!!

[mondaymonkey]

BANG BANG BANG,,, CRACK (NEck)

 

No seriously, look above ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

[musicmaker '55]

Being a certified shade tree guitar mechanic, I would endorse the TAP TAP TAP method of fret re-seating.

 

In all seriousness, I only repair/replace frets on non-collectable/low $$ guitars and basses yet still treat them like they were priceless collectables. A mallet would be too much like using an anvil to kill a fly. You might want to go to stewmac.com and check out a "fret hammer" that's a standard specialized tool of guitar repairmen (Luthiers) just to get an understanding that there's a reason why the pros use a lot of specialized tools for repair work.

 

For years, I've just used a standard hammer with the hammer head wrapped in 3 layers of t-shirt cotton cloth held on with a rubber band. Take it S-L-O-W with two or three gentle taps across the area of the fret raise, hammer head as flat as possible in relation to the fret you are hitting, checking progress as you go. Use about two layers of masking tape to cover at least 1-1/2" of fretboard/frets on either side of the offending fret to avoid dents in the fretboard. However, allow about 1/4" to be visible on either side of the fret for a clear view of progress.

 

OF COURSE, there will be those who will admonish me (FLAME me) for dispensing "poor D.I.Y. Luthiere advice here. But, as mentioned above, I firmly believe that if you are working on a guitar of ANY value (I'd say over $350), leave the work to a pro. Plenty of qualified Luthiers in the Chicagoland area.

 

Understand that simply tapping down the fret may or may not be enough to correct the problem. Further work with fret leveling and dressing might also need to be done.

 

 

 

 

 

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