uncle fester Posted March 26, 2019 Share Posted March 26, 2019 Hey all, I believe I may have a trip to the guitar dr in front of me, but figured I'd ask here first. On my acoustic (not J45) the high e string has a dead fret (13th fret). 12 is fine, 14 is fine, BGADE strings are fine. I'm guessing the 13th fret at the high e only has to be a little low, or the 14th has to be a little high. Does anyone have any tricks I may try to remedy this before making a trip to the professionals? Thank you for any input - rgds - billroy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j45nick Posted March 26, 2019 Share Posted March 26, 2019 Start by putting a 6" straightedge up/down the fretboard in the offending area. This should show any high or low fret. You may want to bridge a couple of frets above/below the ones you suspect. There may also be a hump where the fretboard joins the body. Sight along the edge of the board for straightness to identify. It may be that the fret end at the 14th has popped, but that should show with a visual inspection, especially if the board isn't bound. Others here may have more simple suggestions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuestionMark Posted March 26, 2019 Share Posted March 26, 2019 The saddle might be a bit too low from dry furnace heat being on during the winter. Try removing the saddle and cutting a piece of a credit card-like material under the saddle and putting the strings back on. If that fixes it, you may want to consider putting a slightly higher saddle on the instrument to enable the guitar to be unchanged throughout the year, or keeping a summer and late winter saddle around to swap out when needed, or starting a humidifying effort during the winter. Some guitars are more sensitive to humidity and furnace heat being on than others. Any of these are easy solutions. Let us know what you find, etc. QM aka “Jazzman” Jeff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blindboygrunt Posted March 26, 2019 Share Posted March 26, 2019 Just take it to the godamn guitar doc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blindboygrunt Posted March 26, 2019 Share Posted March 26, 2019 Just take it to the godamn guitar doc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuestionMark Posted March 26, 2019 Share Posted March 26, 2019 BBG-He asked for any tricks to try before he had to take it to a guitar doc. Chill! QM aka “Jazzman” Jeff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidblast Posted March 26, 2019 Share Posted March 26, 2019 Hey what are you doing up there anyways!! Knock it off Bill! LOL! just kidding man.. What ya need is a fret rocker, (Fret Rockers on the CHEAP!) these will rest across three frets, (they have different sides based on where on the neck you're looking at) and as you put pressure on either side of the rocker, (thus rocking it back and forth) you'll hear it clicking, that would indicate a high fret. the louder the click the higher the fret. No click? then no high fret. Magic! I expect though you will find a few.. just the one at that fret is high enough to make your life miserable. Some guys use credit cards, but these are the tool to have on hand and they work great. (don't go to stew mac, they will annihilate you for this.. way over priced 35 bucks!? kray-kray) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
62burst Posted March 26, 2019 Share Posted March 26, 2019 What's the humidity, Kenneth? Did you let the guitar dry out? It is VERY dry in the Northeast U.S. right now. When the guitar is dry, the top sinks down and the strings get closer to the 14 fret hump. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluesKing777 Posted March 26, 2019 Share Posted March 26, 2019 Hey all, I believe I may have a trip to the guitar dr in front of me, but figured I'd ask here first. On my acoustic (not J45) the high e string has a dead fret (13th fret). 12 is fine, 14 is fine, BGADE strings are fine. I'm guessing the 13th fret at the high e only has to be a little low, or the 14th has to be a little high. Does anyone have any tricks I may try to remedy this before making a trip to the professionals? Thank you for any input - rgds - billroy 12 to 14 fret! What are you doing down the dusty end? BluesKing777. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uncle fester Posted March 27, 2019 Author Share Posted March 27, 2019 Start by putting a 6" straightedge up/down the fretboard in the offending area. This should show any high or low fret. You may want to bridge a couple of frets above/below the ones you suspect. There may also be a hump where the fretboard joins the body. Sight along the edge of the board for straightness to identify. It may be that the fret end at the 14th has popped, but that should show with a visual inspection, especially if the board isn't bound. Others here may have more simple suggestions. Thank you. Looks to be the 14th fret (at high E only) is high. checking with a 6 in, and a razor blade show's it. Looking at the side, it doesn't look to have 'popped' but sighting down the length of the neck you can see it. FWII - sighting down the neck of this guitar didn't look like I expected... just a little concave from frets 1-14, and then trailing off but in a straight line from there down. My follow on question is would anyone attempt to take a little material off that fret, or is the investigation done and the trip to the guitar guy is next? I'm bold, but would prefer not to fubar everything. Hey what are you doing up there anyways!! Knock it off Bill! LOL! just kidding man.. What ya need is a fret rocker, (Fret Rockers on the CHEAP!) these will rest across three frets, (they have different sides based on where on the neck you're looking at) and as you put pressure on either side of the rocker, (thus rocking it back and forth) you'll hear it clicking, that would indicate a high fret. the louder the click the higher the fret. No click? then no high fret. Magic! I expect though you will find a few.. just the one at that fret is high enough to make your life miserable. Some guys use credit cards, but these are the tool to have on hand and they work great. (don't go to stew mac, they will annihilate you for this.. way over priced 35 bucks!? kray-kray) I used a razor blade, and a metal straight bar about 6 inches long. Not ideal, but did show me what I want. I've got a list of 'special tools' to get to support this hobby. PS - if you're ready to live on the wildside, come on down to Ux-b, it's where the wild things play :) What's the humidity, Kenneth? Did you let the guitar dry out? It is VERY dry in the Northeast U.S. right now. When the guitar is dry, the top sinks down and the strings get closer to the 14 fret hump. Yes, Just west of Boston and super dry, but this is my Guild which has been impervious to everything (except the kids using it as a trampoline) The J45 is properly humidified, (but just keeping it at or only slightly above 40% humidity has been a struggle this year) 12 to 14 fret! What are you doing down the dusty end? BluesKing777. LOL - First time I heard that expression was from Malcolm Young describing his brother Angus' antics... up the dusty end (a couple of folks from your side of the world). What I'm doing up there is trying to find some 'e' combinations to spice up a little jam I've got going in the vain of the 'jimi hendrix' e chord. Trying to take an 'age defying' chord and make it a little 'age appropriate' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blindboygrunt Posted March 27, 2019 Share Posted March 27, 2019 Try hitting the fret with a rubber hammer ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blindboygrunt Posted March 27, 2019 Share Posted March 27, 2019 Reasonably gently like Not ringing a bell at the fairground Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uncle fester Posted March 27, 2019 Author Share Posted March 27, 2019 Try hitting the fret with a rubber hammer ? Thank you, it did make it noticeably better - still not perfect, but I can at least get a note out of it, which will tie me over until I can get someone to look at it properly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leonard McCoy Posted March 27, 2019 Share Posted March 27, 2019 Is the neck straight? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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