Oops!

[Zaphod B]

I think I mentioned that my cheap Guitar Fetish XV-850 had a couple of slightly high frets, around frets 15 - 18. So last night I decided to make sure that the upper frets were seated correctly. I grabbed my 3-pound drilling hammer....ha, ha, just kidding....my small lightweight double-plastic-headed mallet, loosened up the 5th and 6th strings to get access to that side of those frets (only place I'd noticed any problem), pulled the strings out of the way, and gave all the upper frets a few moderate whacks.

Unfortunately, at some point during this 2-minute process I did not have the B string retracted and struck the frets with the B string in between the mallet and the frets. It left me with 3 very nicely defined divots - one each in the 15th, 16th, and 17th frets.

Damn.

Fortunately, out in the garage I had an abrasive pad that isn't too aggressive, and was able to dress out the divots, and at the same time dress all those upper frets down just a bit. No harm, no foul. And it does fret out better up there.

I'm glad this was a cheap guitar. If it had been one of my expensive ones I would have obsessed about it, been afraid to do anything about it, and probably lost sleep over it. (And, need I say, taken it to a qualified luthier. )

I'm sure Light and Muttley are rolling their eyes at me as they're reading this.

 

[muttley600]

I'm sure Light and Muttley are rolling their eyes at me as they're reading this.

No not at all. If your confident and capable then good luck.

Couple of points. You can always tell if a fret will seat itself with a tap because you'll be able to spot a gap between the underside of the fret and the top of the fingerboard. This is almost always impossible on a lacquered fingerboard. If the board is lacquered fret dressing is n
early always the way to go.

One reason that you got those dings is that the fret wre on some of those cheapies is of a very poor quality. Not saying you couldn't dent the good stuff but you'd have to hit it harder.

Finally dressing those upper frets is always easier than the lower frets as the action is higher and there is less further up the neck to get in the way.

Glad you got it sorted in the end.

 

[Zaphod B]

Thanks, Muttley.

The fingerboard on this thing is unlaquered rosewood. I saw a very slight gap between a couple of the frets and the fretboard which is why I thought seating them might help.

Point taken on the cheap fret wire.

Anyhow, this is one reason I wanted to get a cheapie - so I could experiment and mess up without it costing me anything.