Sharp fret edges

[joestierman]

I've come across several guitars with sharp edges on the frets.. if you've played you'll probably know what i'm talking about. As you slide or move your hand at all you end up with a ton of scratches, almost cuts on your fret hand from the bottom side of the neck (the part of your hand where the fingers connnect). I don't think it was my hand being too close to something? I don't think a guitar is ever suppose to cut you! No matter how poor your technique

 

Anyways. Is this common at all? Or among lower end guitars? I've seen it on a no-name cheapo, a cheap fender, and (to my surprise) a few -03 Larrivee's. Is this a bad quality check or something? It's although the frets were made too long and someone forgot to even out the edge of the fret with the neck.

[woody b]

That usually happens when a guitar is way too dry. the wood fingerboard shrinks from lack of humidity but the frets stay the same size, leaving the ends exposed. Those guitars need to be humidified before they crack.

[F-holes]

All of my ebony boards do that every winter. Then it goes away again when it gets hot out.

[joestierman]

i guess that would make sense for those winter problems because you generally have a lot of dry heat from your furnace etc.

[35fingerpicker]

It's very common, especially with Ebony fretboards. The Ebony shrinks so the fret ends protrude. Sometimes, it will return to normal when you rehydrate the guitar but with some guitars, you'll need to file them because the Ebony doesn't come all the way back.

[mikepinkerton]

My SG does this...how do i humidify that? It's hardly a hollowbody....

 

-Mike

[LDF]

 

Originally posted by mikepinkerton My SG does this...how do i humidify that? It's hardly a hollowbody.... -Mike

 

 

My SG does it too. The fretboard almost looks emaciated with the frets protruding like the ribs of a starving somolian... I'm going to get some of that stuff you put on the fretboard to keep it hydrated. You should probably do the same just to be safe. SG fretboards seem to dry out quickly. Mine is already slightly discolored.

 

P.S. I don't have this problem with any of my other guitars...

[kwakatak]

All my fretboards are rosewood (on both my electrics and acoustics) so I've never had this problem. My house gets pretty dry in the winter so I pay attention to the RH regardless. You know the RH is way too low when your hands chap after taking a shower or doing the dishes!

 

Originally posted by mikepinkerton My SG does this...how do i humidify that? It's hardly a hollowbody.... -Mike

 

There are other in-case type of humidifers out there, ranging from the home-made (a damp sponge in a soapdish) to the Planet Waves variety. Me - I'm too cheap to even sping for the soap dish so I use a zip-lock bag

 

If you don't like to keep your guitars in the case all winter, then get a room humdifier. THey usually go for $20-$40.

 

Either way, it's god to get a small potable hydrometer to measure te RH of the guitar's environment. Radio SHack sells them for about $20 and they're smalle enough to fit in the ase either up by the headstock or even under the neck joint.

[kwakatak]

 

Originally posted by LDF My SG does it too. The fretboard almost looks emaciated with the frets protruding like the ribs of a starving somolian... I'm going to get some of that stuff you put on the fretboard to keep it hydrated. You should probably do the same just to be safe. SG fretboards seem to dry out quickly. Mine is already slightly discolored. P.S. I don't have this problem with any of my other guitars...

 

 

I had this problem too - dry fretboard with lots of gunk build-up. My tech told me his secret was a little steel wool and a couple drops of lemon oil. Not too much oil though, and apply it only once a year or so.

[JasmineTea]

It's a sign of poor/unfinished workmanship, imo. I've played guitars with sharp edges, but I don't own any.

[FingerBone Bill]

Workmanship probably is not the issue.

 

The frets were probably perfect at the time of manufacture.

 

Wood is inherently unstable - store any guitar in dryer conditions than it's place of manufacture and these minor problems are inevitable.

 

Just get a fine file and file them back - wood rarely if ever rehydrates back to it's original size so you could wait forever.

[UGB]

Most often, when it's a new guitar, the wood has dried out a bit since the guitar was made. I've gotten some in that the fingerboard had shrunk to the point that in profile, you could see the ENTIRE fret sticking out both sides of the board. Needless to say, playing a guitar like this feels like you're trying to play a cheese grater. I remove the strings, file the ends flush w/the fingerboard, use 0000 steel wool to knock off anything the file left behind, then use lemon oil on the board, top and edges, and work it over w/a clean rag and the steel wool where needed. Plays like butter after it's restrung. If you have a guitar that does this only in the winter, then when it's winter do the above and it'll be fine. When the temperature warms a bit and the wood swells back to 'normal' the frets will just be a smidge shy of going all the way to the end of the board which won't affect your playing or the guitar at all.

[Khan Fused]

but the only one with sharp fret edges is our Godin Exit 22 with the maple fretboard (purchased new). I have to go with poor factory finish, unless the guitar left the factory with some unusually green wood on the fretboard. Another factor is we're in Houston, & with climate control our house stays pretty much even year round.

 

My wife says that if want to deal with an instrument sensitive to humidity changes, try the oboe .