Fret Height

satchmo

Hi All,

So I have a Saga Cigano, and originally was getting some buzz along the 13th fret or so. Considered it primarily an action issue, but having a closer look, I noticed that the 13th fret appears uneven over it's length and somewhat lower (especially compared to it's neighbours). It buzzes hard when fretted, appears to come in contact with the 14th fret and when I apply a fairly large amount of pressure, it disappears. I was wondering what you would recommend in terms of correcting it? To overcome it, I've had to prop up the bridge with about 3.5 mm's or so of shim, and it's still quite apparent. I was thinking of having it replaced, but I'm not sure if it would be worth it or not, and you guys are probably the best people to ask. Would a regular guitar tech be able to do it? Or should I find someone more familiar with GJ guitars? I doubt I would be able to find anyone locally, but I figure I should ask. Thanks for your time!

Mark

Jeff Moore

Satchmo,
Having level (or uneven) frets is the same concern to any kind of guitar. Any tech can fix your problem.
They (the techs) probably won't recommend just replacing a fret to two, they'll likely want to level all of them after installing a fret.
Check and see if you don't have the opposite problem though. Look for high frets (in the problem area) that may have come loose. A high fret can be tapped down pretty easily by you or a tech. The fret that looks low might only look low because its neighbors have wiggled out of their slots a bit and so are higher than the rest. You can often see that the fret isn't tight in its slot by seeing how tight against the fretboard it appears to be.
I don't know about pricing for this work, cuz I started doing this stuff myself a long time back, but if you really like a guitar its probably worth doing. They play and sound so much better when the frets are level.

satchmo

Hey Jeff,

Thanks very much for the input. I checked and it appears that all the surrounding frets are about the same. Just the one fret that isn't level (not even level within the one fret, I mean the portion at string 6 is higher then the portion of the fret at the 1st string). I did call, and the best price I could get was for a full redress which would cost somewhere between 150 and 200 apparently. Don't quite have the money for that at the moment, so I guess I'm going to be living with it for now. Guess I'll just avoid those notes for now. :S

Satchmo

Jazzaferri

At that price it might be worth paying a little more and getting it Plek'd

satchmo

Plek'd?? :S

satchmo

Plek'd?? :S

Jazzaferri

Google "plek guitar." Guitar frets are measured by machine under tension with neck relief properly adjusted then strings are removed and frets are milled to the correct height. Best setup there is IMO

Al Watsky

Any minor advantage the Plek system MAY have over a skilled professional technician is obviated by the fact that unless the wire is stainless steel or similar alloy the frets wear so quickly that the "perfect" set up is imperfect after several weeks of playing due to typical fret ware.
The plek system benefits the business owner not the consumer. It eliminates a skilled worker and replaces it with a robot.
A tensioned grind is the way to go, but we've been doing tensioned Grind/Polish setups now for 20 plus years. Its nothing new.