Sharp fret ends in winter

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egosheep
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Sharp fret ends in winter

Post by egosheep » Wed Jan 21, 2015 10:26 pm

Driving me nuts... I'm living in an apartment with radiators, can't really climate control it. Would a DIY sponge-in-a-ziplock case humidifier work? Or should I have the fret ends filed down? I know on future builds/refrets I'll make a point of having the frets a bit short so this can't happen.

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Big tuna
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Re: Sharp fret ends in winter

Post by Big tuna » Thu Jan 22, 2015 4:56 am

I would put a humidifier of some kind and keep guitar in the case . the fret sprout may disappear or not by summer. put a pan of water on the radiators to works well. good luck

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fuzzking
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Re: Sharp fret ends in winter

Post by fuzzking » Thu Jan 22, 2015 5:08 am

I had this on some new-ish guitars. Just filed the fret ends down while they stuck out, polished them up and all has been good ever since.

http://www.premierguitar.com/articles/2 ... nds?page=1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Don't know about having the frets extra short on future builds... you'll never know how much shrinkage will occur.

Filing and polishing takes an hour or two I guess, depending on experience and tools, and I feel it's utterly rewarding when you learn how to do some basic maintenance yourself.
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Soggasaurus
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Re: Sharp fret ends in winter

Post by Soggasaurus » Thu Jan 22, 2015 6:10 am

I just noticed this exact same problem on one of mine! I also live in a radiator equipped apartment that doesn't have a ton of space so this makes a lot of sense now.

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daCod
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Re: Sharp fret ends in winter

Post by daCod » Thu Jan 22, 2015 7:06 am

fuzzking - thank you for posting that link. heading to the local hardware shop after work to pick up some supplies. my weekend plans have been made, and my avri jag thanks you.
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Big tuna
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Re: Sharp fret ends in winter

Post by Big tuna » Thu Jan 22, 2015 7:52 am

if you haven't already done this a fret board conditioner like lemon oil will help the cause also.

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Larry Mal
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Re: Sharp fret ends in winter

Post by Larry Mal » Thu Jan 22, 2015 9:29 am

All good ideas, but why not just get a room humidifier or two? Your guitars will be happier and so will you, that super dry air we all have to deal with in the winter isn't any better for your health.

Just keep the whole place properly humidified, I have a hot mist humidifier and need to get another. More importantly, I have a hygrometer, which isn't expensive, that that will show you the humidity in your room. You want it to be between 30 and 50%, that's what humans are optimally designed to have. That's good for guitars, also.
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