I have a Fender acoustic guitar with a fret problem. The 14th fret is slightly higher than its' neighbors. It is flush with the fretboard, so it is not a problem with it coming out of the slot. Although uniformly high across the entire fret, it only affects the high E string, with the affect being that at the 12th, 13th, and 14th frets the note for all is F# where it should be E, F and F#. I figure I could address this either by shimming the bridge on the high E side or filing the 14th fret.
1. I like the action as is, so I don't particularly want to raise it.
2. I don't know how much I would have to file the fret, and if I went too far, I'd end up having to replace the fret. It is not a cut away, so I don't know how much I would play in the area of the neck anyway (just beginning to play 6 string).
Does anyone have advice for the best way to proceed?
TIA, Matt
Replies
Lots of good advice here in this thread. For this kind of problem I like to keep the fix simple. A great fret leveling tool is a "sharpie" magic marker. This is how I saw the old timers do it. Either loosen the strings and remove or loosen them and pull them to the side and secure with what you have. If the 14th fret is high, draw a line with the sharpie on the crown of the fret, and one on the crown of the 12th and 13th fret as well. Then lay a fine mill file on the frets with the file running parallel to the neck length. You want to lightly file across those 3 frets till the sharpie marks either disappear or just start to disappear on the 12th and 13th fret. Then you can polish the frets if you like, with 1000 grit sandpaper or steel wool. Restring and check it out.
Glad you finally got a playable guitar. A twisted neck is fairly uncommon in my experience. Raising bridge height like you did, as long as the action isn't too high, is the simplest solution. On acoustics this problem is almost always in the same fretboard area as was yours.
Anyway, I hope you don't take this as a negative, I very much appreciate you taking the time to help me out! And yes, what I've done is MUCH easier than messing with the frets... :)
from the picture it looks like you identified the problem, high E string saddle is too low.
Excellent, your shim worked. And you did what any good luthier or scientist would do: Trust, but verify.
I'm glad we were able to help you cheaply solve your problem.
So, again, thanks to all for the advice!
As an update, I adjusted the truss rod 1/4 turn looser in two 1/8 turn increments. The first 1/8, got the high string 12th fret E back, but with buzzing. The second 1/8 turn I now have a clean E. Now for the 12th, 13th and 14th frets I have E, F#, and F#, so the 13th fret is still off. I think I'm going to leave as is since I don't foresee playing it.
Then you can look at maybe lowering the action at the bridge just ever so slightly, if you need it.
Yes, the added relief did raise the action slightly, most noticeable on the bass side. The next time I change strings I am going to re-shim the bridge with the aim of raising the treble side slightly (which might get the 13th to an F) and lowering the bass side.
But.,.if you're still getting the same note at the 13th and 14th fret on the high E, then shimming the bridge up on the treble side will make that worse, not better. What you wanna do is either shim the bass side up a smidge, or sand off 1/32" on the treble side, to lower it slightly.
Right now, it sounds like you have a very slight twist in the neck. Cranking the relief out another 1/8 turn should take that twist out. If you sight down the neck from the headstock, you should be able to see this.
Thanks for all the information, everyone, I'll need some time to digest it! I also will get a gauge so I can check the relief - I don't currently have anything that measures that small.
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