incredible shrinking rosewood fretboard

Subject: incredible shrinking rosewood fretboard
From: GUEST,shredded finger tips
Date: 18 May 08 - 09:35 PM

bit of a bugger this..

very nice quality mid-budget £££s Chinese made guitar,
decent woods and hardware,

but the frets are slowly popping up and sideways outwards....


Guess its down to the fretboard wood acclimatising to UK climate

and shrivelling by a fraction of a 1mm..

not much.. but just enough to expose rough sharp edges
and allow enough space to slip the tip of a plectrum
under the middle of some of the frets..

I suppose expensive refret is the only solution ???

Subject: RE: incredible shrinking rosewood fretboard
From: Leadfingers
Date: 18 May 08 - 09:40 PM

How long have you had the Guitar ? I would sugest taking it back to place of purchase and creating a bit of a stink if they dont do something to put it right .

Subject: RE: incredible shrinking rosewood fretboard
From: Escapee
Date: 18 May 08 - 10:03 PM

Not my idea of a very nice quality guitar. You could try reseating the frets with a plastic hammer. Maybe it will stop when the moisture content of the fretbard stabilizes. If the guitar is new, I'm with Leadfingers. This shouldn't be your problem. If you do tackle it yourself, be patient and don't hammer anything that's not solidly supported from underneath.
Best of luck,
SKP

Subject: RE: incredible shrinking rosewood fretboard
From: open mike
Date: 18 May 08 - 10:51 PM

tell 'em to clean up their act before the olympics

Subject: RE: incredible shrinking rosewood fretboard
From: Peace
Date: 18 May 08 - 11:42 PM

http://www.fretnotguitarrepair.com/badfretwork.htm

Subject: RE: incredible shrinking rosewood fretboard
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 19 May 08 - 02:33 AM

If it is less than 6 months old and was a consumer purchase subject to UK law then it is up to the business seller to prove that the fault was not present at the time of sale and he has an obligation to repair/refund/replace under sections 48A to 48F of teh Sale of Goods Act.

Subject: RE: incredible shrinking rosewood fretboard
From: theleveller
Date: 19 May 08 - 04:15 AM

The timber simply hasn't been seasoned to the correct humidity. If this has happened to the fretboard, chances are it could happen to the rest of the guitar over time. It doesn't bode well - take it back straight away and, if I was you, I'd get my money back or replace it with a different make! Can you tell us the make so that others can avoid the same mistake?

Subject: RE: incredible shrinking rosewood fretboard
From: Grab
Date: 19 May 08 - 07:47 AM

Is your house unusual for the UK in having air-con? Or do you use a dehumidifier set on a very low threshold? This certainly shouldn't happen for any normal humidity level, but if your house has a particularly low humidity level then you might have problems. I know folks in the US (who almost universally have air-con in their homes) often have to use humidifiers in their guitar cases to prevent problems, but air-con in the UK is unusual (and mostly not required; come to that it's not required in much of the US either, if they'd just open their windows and get some airflow, but never mind).

But if we can rule out your home having created the problem, then this is a pre-existing cockup by the instrument makers, so take it back to the shop. If there's any binding on the edges of the fretboard, you may end up splitting it when you hammer the frets down. And once you start hammering on the frets, you can forget about the shop taking it back if you do find you can't fix it. The shop will likely have a returns policy with the manufacturer/shipper anyway, so they shouldn't lose out.

Graham.