Official Luthiers Forum!

Owned and operated by Lance Kragenbrink
It is currently Thu Mar 28, 2024 10:39 am


All times are UTC - 5 hours





Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 9 posts ] 
Author Message
 Post subject: Fixing 3rd Fret Hump
PostPosted: Thu Oct 19, 2017 3:12 pm 
Offline
Koa
Koa

Joined: Wed Feb 17, 2016 8:54 am
Posts: 854
State: Texas
Country: United States
Focus: Repair
I may have asked about this in the past so forgive me if I'm repeating myself.

I have about a 9 year old dreadnought acoustic that was made by a gentleman in TN some time ago.
This is my personal guitar and the neck has developed a rather nasty hump from the 1st to the 3rd fret. Bad enough that the 1st fret sits below the 2nd just enough that I cannot play a 1st position chord without noise on any 1st fret note. Leveling the frets would require removing far more material than I'd want to off of the other on the neck. I don't really know the cause of this as the truss rod responds like normal on the rest of the neck.

Hide glue was used on all the joints and braces.

My possible causes that first come to mind are as follows.

1. Broken truss rod at the 3rd fret, causing the rest of the board to move freely.
Solution: Remove fingerboard, replace truss rod, Reglue board

2. badly deformed neck (inadequate drying before cutting?)
Solution: remove frets, level fretboard, refret

3. Fretboard pulling loose (no evidence of this on the edges of the board.
Solution: Remove fretboard, reglue

I've had this guitar since it was built and I'd like to repair it, but this issue is one that I have only dealt with in the past by leveling frets, never had one that was this bad. I am fairly bold with my own guitars so attempting an extreme solution is not out of the question. Cost isn't an issue cause well, I own it haha!

Any thoughts? Frank Ford can you help a poor padawan like myself?


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Fixing 3rd Fret Hump
PostPosted: Thu Oct 19, 2017 7:17 pm 
Offline
Brazilian Rosewood
Brazilian Rosewood

Joined: Thu Feb 12, 2009 10:27 pm
Posts: 2082
Location: South Carolina
First name: John
Last Name: Cox
Focus: Build
Status: Amateur
Does this section of fretboard flatten back out when the weather changes - such as during heating season when things dry back out.

Not sure what the fretboard is - but ebony in particular tends to hide some really nasty grain - which can then rear its head several years later as the seasons change. It just never seems to stop moving for me.

If it's stable - why not just pull few frets off and level the fretboard - then refret.

I suppose the other option would be to pull the fretboard for a look-see... Perhaps a small section came loose.. Or perhaps some switchy grain is rearing it's head..


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Fixing 3rd Fret Hump
PostPosted: Fri Oct 20, 2017 12:53 am 
Offline
Old Growth Brazilian Rosewood
Old Growth Brazilian Rosewood
User avatar

Joined: Fri Nov 02, 2007 9:49 am
Posts: 12971
Location: Ann Arbor, Michigan
First name: Hesh
Last Name: Breakstone
City: Ann Arbor
State: Michigan
Country: United States
Status: Professional
If the truss rod works why not remove the frets, level the board, deepen any slots that need deepening after leveling out the hump AND the entire board between the nut and the 12th, adding fall-away, refretting and then being mindful about how the frets fit and compression.

If there is a root cause beyond green wood or a poor initial fretting job without leveling the board of course fix the root issue, broken truss rod, etc.

Truss rods generally don't do squat in the fret one to three region anyway. It sounds like the fret plane was never level, was this problem always with the instrument or did it develop over time?

_________________
Ann Arbor Guitars


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Fixing 3rd Fret Hump
PostPosted: Fri Oct 20, 2017 1:16 pm 
Offline
Koa
Koa

Joined: Wed Feb 17, 2016 8:54 am
Posts: 854
State: Texas
Country: United States
Focus: Repair
The fretboard section doesn't level out with the seasonal changes. it's pretty set in it's ways.

The fretboard is rosewood and it's fairly straight grained (doesn't mean it can't be hiding something nasty). I do like the idea of just leveling the area where the problem is, although I may push the leveling past the 5th fret or so just to be sure the problem is taken care of.

Hesh, the problem developed over time, after year 3 or 4 of the guitars life I began to notice it. it's just incrementally gotten worse over time, most of the time I just played around it. If the fret plane isn't level then it would make sense why it's doing what it's doing.


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Fixing 3rd Fret Hump
PostPosted: Fri Oct 20, 2017 3:11 pm 
Offline
Contributing Member
Contributing Member
User avatar

Joined: Wed Oct 08, 2008 11:36 am
Posts: 7241
Location: Southeast US
City: Lenoir City
State: TN
Zip/Postal Code: 37772
Country: US
Focus: Repair
If you're going to level the board then why not just do the whole thing? Not that much extra work but likely a much better result then you can set up the fret plane properly from one end to the other.

_________________
Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"



These users thanked the author SteveSmith for the post: Hesh (Fri Oct 20, 2017 5:51 pm)
Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Fixing 3rd Fret Hump
PostPosted: Fri Oct 20, 2017 5:52 pm 
Offline
Old Growth Brazilian Rosewood
Old Growth Brazilian Rosewood
User avatar

Joined: Fri Nov 02, 2007 9:49 am
Posts: 12971
Location: Ann Arbor, Michigan
First name: Hesh
Last Name: Breakstone
City: Ann Arbor
State: Michigan
Country: United States
Status: Professional
SteveSmith wrote:
If you're going to level the board then why not just do the whole thing? Not that much extra work but likely a much better result then you can set up the fret plane properly from one end to the other.


Exactly!

_________________
Ann Arbor Guitars


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Fixing 3rd Fret Hump
PostPosted: Mon Oct 23, 2017 12:41 pm 
Offline
Contributing Member
Contributing Member
User avatar

Joined: Mon Jul 27, 2009 7:52 am
Posts: 4524
First name: Big
Last Name: Jim
State: Deep in the heart of Bluegrass
Country: usa
Focus: Build
Status: Amateur
Hesh wrote:
SteveSmith wrote:
If you're going to level the board then why not just do the whole thing? Not that much extra work but likely a much better result then you can set up the fret plane properly from one end to the other.


Exactly!



Good Advice here .. Do the whole thing . You will be happier in the longrun

_________________
The Shallower the depth of the stream , The Louder the Babble !
The Taking Of Offense Is the Life Course Of The Stupid One !
Wanna Leave a Better Planet for our Kids? How about Working on BETTER KIDS for our Planet !
Forgiveness is the ability to accept an apology that you will probably NEVER GET
The truth will set you free , But FIRST, it will probably Piss you Off !
Creativity is allowing yourself to make Mistakes, Art is knowing which ones to Keep !
The Saddest thing anyone can do , is push a Loyal Person to the point that they Dont Care Anymore
Never met a STRONG person who had an EASY past !
http://wiksnwudwerks.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/groups/GatewayA ... rAssembly/



These users thanked the author WudWerkr for the post: Hesh (Mon Oct 23, 2017 12:59 pm)
Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Fixing 3rd Fret Hump
PostPosted: Mon Oct 23, 2017 2:38 pm 
Offline
Contributing Member
Contributing Member
User avatar

Joined: Fri Jul 10, 2009 4:44 am
Posts: 5398
First name: colin
Last Name: north
Country: Scotland.
Focus: Build
Status: Semi-pro
+1

_________________
The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Fixing 3rd Fret Hump
PostPosted: Wed Nov 01, 2017 10:07 am 
Offline
Koa
Koa

Joined: Wed Feb 17, 2016 8:54 am
Posts: 854
State: Texas
Country: United States
Focus: Repair
Thanks for the advice gentlemen! Sounds like a full level of the fretboard is in order.

I'll probably get to it once I hit a lull with my usual repair work. Bills before pleasure


Top
 Profile  
 
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 9 posts ] 

All times are UTC - 5 hours


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 10 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot post attachments in this forum

Jump to:  
cron
Powered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Group
phpBB customization services by 2by2host.com