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I am a flamenco guitar player from Manchester UK, and have been following the forum for a while posted a few technical questions that have always been beautifully answered by Ricardo and other helpful folk.
I always love the luthier section, its such an incredible resource of tips and ideas, you are all so generous and open with your thoughts and processes.
Hopefully you don't mind me asking a question about my guitar.
I have just received a new blanca from a spanish luthier. Its a really nice responsive guitar except I think it needs a bit of a better set up.
It has an unacceptable buzz on the 5 string, 5 fret. I did a bit of research and tried the credit card rocking on 3 frets trick. I thought I had found a high 6th fret but on further examination I think what I have is a low 5th fret + a couple of other low ones.
I found a previous thread where Anders and a few others mentioned that some luthiers can be a bit sloppy with their set up, so I hope its just that, and nothing more serious with the guitar.
I will take it to a luthier to get properly checked but I would love to get some advice from the folk here.
So my questions.
How could this happen ? My understanding is that a luthier should level the frets and then crown them. Would it be that he spent to long crowning them ?
What would be the normal approach to fix this ? remove and replace the fret? file the surrounding ones to try and even it out ? raise the action ? its 3mm at 12 fret already so I would rather not go higher, Throw it down the stairs and see if it improves ?
Thanks so much for reading, I hope you don't mind me not mentioning the luthier for now. I will try and upload some videos of my playing soon so you will know.
RE: low fret on new guitar (in reply to johnnefastis)
Throw it down the stairs until there's no buzz.
The downside to this approach is that when you decide you want a bit of buzz, there's no way you can get it back. On the other hand, the guitar will be able to produce the purest rest notes. Its a tradeoff.
RE: low fret on new guitar (in reply to johnnefastis)
I've leveled and crowned the frets on a few electric guitars. If you file the sixth fret to lower it you will most likely have to file several (if not all) of the higher frets. I use a set of wide diamond files for leveling. You'll need to use a fret rocker on the other frets as well. The process is time consuming, but in the end it's worth the effort. You might need a soldering iron to remove the fifth fret as well as a pair of fret pullers (end cutter filed flat) if you choose to go that route. Good luck.
RE: low fret on new guitar (in reply to Pgh_flamenco)
Thanks, I would consider filing one rogue one but several sounds like a job for a pro.
As I mentioned my understanding is that a luthier would use a large file to level the frets and then crown them. I am wondering if it is quite common to have to spend some time leveling them whilst crowning ?
Do you think it would make sense to throw the guitar from the 5 step as its the 5 fret or should I just go from the top ?
RE: low fret on new guitar (in reply to johnnefastis)
quote:
As I mentioned my understanding is that a luthier would use a large file to level the frets and then crown them. I am wondering if it is quite common to have to spend some time leveling them whilst crowning ?
There are a lot of videos of this process on YouTube. During the crowning process I usually find a few frets that have high spots and level those few again. A guitar tech at Guitar Center or a dedicated DIY'er can do a good job, too. You might not need to take it to a luthier and it shouldn't be too expensive.
Posts: 1708
Joined: Jan. 29 2012
From: Seattle, Washington, USA
RE: low fret on new guitar (in reply to johnnefastis)
A possible way this could have happened is that the slots for the fret tangs were loose and with humidity changes a lot of the frets worked their way up a bit. The high frets majority may need only to be hammered back down, but preferably glued down if this is the case.
RE: low fret on new guitar (in reply to johnnefastis)
This is fairly common. I find many fretboards have just been leveled or ´stoned´ without checking each one for rock individualy. I do a mixture ensuring the frets are perfect. After some time there can be some movement to the ebony and perhaps the frets were not glued in place well so have risen. Frets need checking regularly to ensure there are no issues. One high fret need that fret to be filed to the same height as the others and recrowned unless it is loose, then it can be pressed into place and reglued. Dont throw it down the stairs!
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