The Importance of Fret Condition and Quality Fretwork!!

Have you ever tuned your Instrument and noticed that it is somehow still not quite in tune when you play it? Do you get fret rattles and out of tune notes when you play chords and single notes?

You are most likley suffering worn frets and or old strings making the problem worse!

Pull your strings to the side and check if you have little string indentations in the tops of your fret crowns (worn frets!) – see example below…

Worn frets compromise the point that your string sings from when you press it against the fret top. When a fret is new/dressed and crowned properly – the top of the fret is a semi-circle and the middle of the fret top is the point that the string touches and tunes each note from.

It is a waste of time trying to do a fresh “Setup” on worn frets, as soon as the Neck is adjusted straighter everything in the worn fret area will buzz/rattle – usually worse!

When a fret top is worn the point of contact is wider and where the string touches can be anywhere in the wear mark making it hard for the string to play the note in tune properly. Sometimes the note rings sharp, sometimes flat, usually a Buzzing noise is also heard when frets are very worn down…. see pic below

You may have also noticed how good a New Instrument or a recently “Fret Dressed” Instrument plays because the Frets usually have little or no Fret Wear.

Newly Installed Frets (A Fret Job!) or existing Frets that have been “Dressed” (Frets that have been carefully levelled, recrowned and polished) feel really nice to play and bend on (less friction) and more importantly they play more “in tune”…. Pic Below!

Harder Frets such as Stainless Steel are much harder than Nickel Silver Frets – so much so that they can also wear out the underside of your strings if you consistently press your strings too hard (Death Grip). I have seen strings destroyed from just one Gig of playing with Stainless Frets and a “Death Grip” – Stainless Frets are much tougher than Nickel SIlver Frets. You will go through more Strings with Stainless Frets on the other hand – you will need fewer Fret ‘Dresses’ with Stainless Frets.

Plek Machines do an “ok” job of leveing/dressing frets – but the main reason they were invented seems to be for savings on labour costs, lack of operator knowledge and more consistency in factory fret jobs. The OCD guitar buying public like to think that everything on their “Plek’d” Guitar is “perfect” just like their CNC Made Guitars and Basses! Which is highly unlikely and I beg to differ….

I have seen Plek’d Guitars that were not adjusted properly before being put into the “plek machine” ending up with frets and nut slots machined way too low on a few USA “manufactured in nashville” examples. They are a good idea but can be dangerous to your Guitar/Bass in the wrong hands!

We do a lot of Remedial Fret Work in the Workshop and we are proud to offer those Skills and Services to our Customers – It has the potential to transform an otherwise unplayable Instrument into a favourite!

In the Picture below is a Reverend Guitar that developed a Twist and Hump in the Neck! A lot of Manufacturers and Parts Suppliers says that Roasted Maple does not twist? We disagree – we have seen a few examples of Roasted Maple Necks that have Warped/Twisted.

It is definitely tougher than standard maple but not bulletproof. We notice that Maple is “hygroscopic” (attracts moisture) and that is usually the cause of warping/twisting.

So, before you sand the finish from the back of your Maple Neck maybe just de-gloss the finish that is there to give you a slicker feel that is similar to bare wood (without removing finish and possibly facilitating neck twisting).

Feel free to email us anytime if you have a Guitar with Worn Frets or an Instrument that doesn’t play very well! We can definitely make it great again!

reubensguitarrepairs@hotmail.com