Dealing with sharp fret ends

[dlloyd]

My new old jazz has scratchy fret ends, presumably from wood shrinkage. How should I deal with it?

[MoonBassAlpha]

get a luthier to do it.
I've just put an electric 12 string in for this and it should cost about £35. My guy is quite inexpensive though.
I thought about doing it myself, but he would do a much better job and be less likely to ffmess it up.

[lozbass]

Get a pro to do it. I've experienced this previously and Alembic warn that some shrinkage is likely in the first year or so on its boards. A delicate touch with a file is required and most luthiers will have a template to assist the process and protect the board. The work shouldn't be (very) expensive - £30-50 should cover it.

[Mr. Foxen]

I have found a good soak of lemon oil over a couple of days swells the fretboard back up and you are good to go. Has been fairly dramatic on an abused guitar.

[dlloyd]

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='856752' date='Jun 4 2010, 12:57 AM']I have found a good soak of lemon oil over a couple of days swells the fretboard back up and you are good to go. Has been fairly dramatic on an abused guitar.[/quote]

I'll give this a go first... it's not like the frets are protruding far, so it could well make enough difference.

If not, I'll take it to a decent luthier. Dan Ehrlwine (sp) details how to do it in his book, but there's sufficient scope for me making a mess of it that I'll take it to a pro.

[7string]

Put the bass on it's side and run a file horizontally up the side of the neck.

Alternatively, with the bass laying on a table use a narrow file and go down from the fret towards the floor. It sounds a bit daunting but with a bit of care it can be done.

[dlloyd]

[quote name='7string' post='860539' date='Jun 7 2010, 11:32 PM']Put the bass on it's side and run a file horizontally up the side of the neck.

Alternatively, with the bass laying on a table use a narrow file and go down from the fret towards the floor. It sounds a bit daunting but with a bit of care it can be done.[/quote]

Yep, that's the approach I think I need to take.

My original assessment was maybe partially correct, but examining the neck more closely, it's clear the frets just haven't been finished as well as they could have been. The edges of the fret crowns are sharp and need dressed slightly.

I was going to go and buy a cheap file from B&Q, but I'm tempted by this:

[url="http://www.stewmac.com/shopby/product/1175"]http://www.stewmac.com/shopby/product/1175[/url]

But then, I'm also tempted to go the whole hog and get one of these sets:

[url="http://www.stewmac.com/shopby/product/5345"]http://www.stewmac.com/shopby/product/5345[/url]

...maybe also get some fretwire to do up a couple of old (cheap) guitars.

I've been doing my own setups for the last 10 years or so... might as well take the next step.

[7string]

Ah, Stew Mac. Great products and service. Stew Mac stuff has been my pressies for birthdays and Christmas for a few years now:D

I have both of the items you've listed and both are great. The little fret end dressing file has that safe edge which comes in handy for shaping the sharp edges of a nut as well as fret ends. No-one ever notices that I do the end of the nut during a setup, but I know feels a lot better!

I did a couple of guitar repair courses at the local college, I took along the fretting kit and had everything I needed to do the jobs.

If you're ordering from there, the one thing to have a look at is the [url="http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Tools/Measuring_tools/String_Action_Gauge.html"]string action gauge.[/url] It's one of those tools that you'll wonder how you did without it before.