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Post by emoskacrewman on Jan 10, 2008 13:26:41 GMT -5
alright, I have a Telestar H1 whose body i got from a friend and to which i installed a humbucker and new tuners. however, since it sat in his grandmother's basement for some 20 years with a few strings on it, the neck's kinda weird. it's flat enough that i can play it fine, and not as warped or bent as it *should* be, but some of the frets are beginning to pull away from the fretboard a wee bit, causing buzzing on the first and sixth strings. the neck on mine is bound and the head and back of the entire neck have the same beautiful sunburst finish as the guitar, so i'd rather not replace it. I can isolate which frets are causing the problems, but i am afraid to do more than tap it with a wee little hammer to get them back in, because I don't want to damage the fretboard. any ideas? I'm cool with filing it if i have to, i have almost any tool i'd neet (other than one made for luthiers), and a low price (free's better) fix is preferred.  |
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Post by kuzi16 on Jan 10, 2008 16:36:48 GMT -5
if the strings are what warped the neck you could try using the truss rod to bring it back to shape. make the adjustment and tap the frets back in.
make sure this is the problem before messing with the truss rod. if it isnt the problem it could spell disaster. Also before messing with the truss rod make sure you know what you are doing. there are few tweaks you can make to your guitar that if you mess up will harm it as much as "over adjusting" the truss rod.
im not sure if thats what is causing your fret problems but if it is it will help.
it could be a different kind of warp or it could be that the moist air associated with basements caused the fret board to expand enough to force out (or up) the frets a bit
to be honest id wait for more people to reply. I know how to do some things but troubleshooting over the internet is not my strong point. Im a hands on kinda guy.
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Post by ccso8462 on Jan 10, 2008 16:53:31 GMT -5
Also consider that when making truss rod adjustments that it may take several tries over a period of time (weeks or months) for the neck to really settle down. I had that experience with a Peavey Predator that had WAY too much relief and had not been played in years. I made several adjustments over the first 6 weeks, and then made a couple more in the next 4 months. It's not a great neck, but it is now very playable. Be patient and baby it along, it's had a rough life.  |
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Post by emoskacrewman on Jan 11, 2008 17:59:09 GMT -5
it's not that the neck's terribly warped... i've fiddled with the truss rod and fixed what i can. but a few of the frets' actual wire is pulling away from the fretboard, and I don't know how to fix that without damaging the guitar, especially since the neck is made of a rather soft wood. any ideas?
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Post by the_uprising on Jan 24, 2008 22:34:31 GMT -5
If your sure its only 2 frets (and your also sure the rest of the frets are level enough), you could pull them and try to glue them in. That is somewhat of a process but its possible. You would need:
Pincers/ end nippers/ fret pullers
Clamp (one handed bar clamp is nice for this sort of thing)
Caul (or something like a caul with the correct radius)
Hammer (dead blow would be optimal)
Glue (a medium viscosity or slow drying super glue)
Soldering iron (helps ease it out with minimal chip-out)
Mineral oil and or lemon seed oil (for the fingerboard)
If you had access to these tools the job could be fairly simple.
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Post by emoskacrewman on Mar 26, 2008 9:12:13 GMT -5
how might I go about it with these tools? and i don't get the soldering iron's necessity.
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Post by sumgai on Mar 26, 2008 14:06:59 GMT -5
emo, A soldering iron heats up the fret, thus making any glue soft and, hopefully, no longer so strong. For several viewpoints on pulling frets, go here: Google Search for pulling frets. HTH sumgai |
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Post by quarry on Mar 26, 2008 16:13:17 GMT -5
Just a thought... if you're after a "cheap" fix and all. If you can pull the loose frets up enough, you might be able to finesse a drop of super glue into the fret slot, then tap the fret back in... This is certainly a precarious fix, since you stand the risk of getting super glue over your fretboard, but a little fine sanding and steel wooling could take care of that... One more thought just hit me - assuming this guitar was stashed away in Granny's basement for all those years... maybe the fretboard has dried out, and that's why the fret(s) are now loose... Why not first try to oil the fretboard up with some Lemon Oil? That may help swell the wood up enough to keep those pesky frets where they belong!  |
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Post by ccso8462 on Mar 26, 2008 17:01:29 GMT -5
Another thing to consider: Instead of striking the frets directly with a hammer, use a piece of hard wood or metal to lay on the fret and strike that, instead. A hard plastic mallet might work well, too, to reduce denting/deforming the fret wire.
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