Dressing (ReFretting) A Guitar. Symptoms?
DriftingByTheStorm
Posts: 8,684
Heres another question about my ole beat up SG Pro.
After wailing on it for a solid month or so, now i've noticed one thing that does bug me (no, not the P90 noise, it actually seems to have diminished since i've made an effort to stay away from the computer) ...
When i get up to the octave (12th fret) and beyond ... particularly around 14 through 17 it becomes VERY hard to fret SUSTAINED TONE out of this thing.
Like when i go to play some stupid standard like You Shook Me by AC\DC ... and i get to the solo and i'm doing a pull of on the G and B strings at the same time going 17,17 to 15,15 and then immideatly to the D and G strings for the same 17 & 17 to 15 & 15 ... i find that even simply barring the two strings at both frets produces at best A TONE ... but not a CLEAR tone ... and certainly not a SUSTAINED tone ... infact it often sounds down right muted.
Now, I want to say it's just me. In fact, given that I am just starting to reach out and try fast soloing, I can guarantee that in SOME cases it IS me ... and that i just don't have accurate fingering at high speeds (like when i'm making a sad attempt at the Freebird solo) ... and thus it would be expected that misplacing or poorly fretting the note would cause buzz or tone loss ...
But in cases where i'm making a concerted effort to get the note to ring ... and RING CLEARLY ... i still cannot achieve it.
I am not talking about my pickups either. Believe me they put out enough juice. And i already told you all that i purchased a ToneMaster pedal to boost my line signal in an effort to get more treble out of this low growly beast.
MY QUESTION IS THIS:
IS THIS A SYMPTOM OF LOW\WORN FRETS?
They do appear to be rather worn.
And i'm guessing the higher on the fret board, the more height would be required to get the long section of string to press firmly and taper at the specified fret to get the sound at that length. (does that make sense?)
In any event,
if someone could lead me towards some info on this problem and let me know, that'd be great. It costs around $100 to get your frets dressed?
ALSO ONE OTHER QUESTION ...
My fret board itself seems to have some sort of issue.
I can't say what it is made of as i have no clue about woods, or even about this guitars specs ...
but the fretboard wood seems to scratch very much in the way that a piece of drift wood does when it is scratched. By this i mean that it is VERY easy to scratch ... if i do not ensure my nails are trimmed and even, and i go crazy with a bend ... it instantly gouges the wood and leaves a very permanent lighter mark in the wood. The wood itself is dark ... the scratches are the color of a piece of maple ...
Is this a moisture problem (too much humidity?) ...
i'm not familiar with this at all ... it doesn't bother me too much, the scratches are cosmetic ...
However, the fretboard itself is not the slickest ... and i'm wondering if i can GET IT TREATED WITH SOMETHING ... or HAVE THE BOARD ITSELF REFINISHED?
is any of this a possibility?
I know this guitar isn't technicaly worth investing a TON of money in, but it IS my baby, i did pay almost a grand for it, and it does make me happy. I would like to get it tip top.
The frets really bug me though. I gotta get this resolved. I can't be playing an instrument that wont ring out when i go to pull off and hammer on the high notes.
HELP, HELP
After wailing on it for a solid month or so, now i've noticed one thing that does bug me (no, not the P90 noise, it actually seems to have diminished since i've made an effort to stay away from the computer) ...
When i get up to the octave (12th fret) and beyond ... particularly around 14 through 17 it becomes VERY hard to fret SUSTAINED TONE out of this thing.
Like when i go to play some stupid standard like You Shook Me by AC\DC ... and i get to the solo and i'm doing a pull of on the G and B strings at the same time going 17,17 to 15,15 and then immideatly to the D and G strings for the same 17 & 17 to 15 & 15 ... i find that even simply barring the two strings at both frets produces at best A TONE ... but not a CLEAR tone ... and certainly not a SUSTAINED tone ... infact it often sounds down right muted.
Now, I want to say it's just me. In fact, given that I am just starting to reach out and try fast soloing, I can guarantee that in SOME cases it IS me ... and that i just don't have accurate fingering at high speeds (like when i'm making a sad attempt at the Freebird solo) ... and thus it would be expected that misplacing or poorly fretting the note would cause buzz or tone loss ...
But in cases where i'm making a concerted effort to get the note to ring ... and RING CLEARLY ... i still cannot achieve it.
I am not talking about my pickups either. Believe me they put out enough juice. And i already told you all that i purchased a ToneMaster pedal to boost my line signal in an effort to get more treble out of this low growly beast.
MY QUESTION IS THIS:
IS THIS A SYMPTOM OF LOW\WORN FRETS?
They do appear to be rather worn.
And i'm guessing the higher on the fret board, the more height would be required to get the long section of string to press firmly and taper at the specified fret to get the sound at that length. (does that make sense?)
In any event,
if someone could lead me towards some info on this problem and let me know, that'd be great. It costs around $100 to get your frets dressed?
ALSO ONE OTHER QUESTION ...
My fret board itself seems to have some sort of issue.
I can't say what it is made of as i have no clue about woods, or even about this guitars specs ...
but the fretboard wood seems to scratch very much in the way that a piece of drift wood does when it is scratched. By this i mean that it is VERY easy to scratch ... if i do not ensure my nails are trimmed and even, and i go crazy with a bend ... it instantly gouges the wood and leaves a very permanent lighter mark in the wood. The wood itself is dark ... the scratches are the color of a piece of maple ...
Is this a moisture problem (too much humidity?) ...
i'm not familiar with this at all ... it doesn't bother me too much, the scratches are cosmetic ...
However, the fretboard itself is not the slickest ... and i'm wondering if i can GET IT TREATED WITH SOMETHING ... or HAVE THE BOARD ITSELF REFINISHED?
is any of this a possibility?
I know this guitar isn't technicaly worth investing a TON of money in, but it IS my baby, i did pay almost a grand for it, and it does make me happy. I would like to get it tip top.
The frets really bug me though. I gotta get this resolved. I can't be playing an instrument that wont ring out when i go to pull off and hammer on the high notes.
HELP, HELP
If I was to smile and I held out my hand
If I opened it now would you not understand?
If I opened it now would you not understand?
Post edited by Unknown User on
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Comments
Any one know if this is possibly the dilly with my dally?
Or do i just suck?
Hrrrmmmmmmmmmm.
If I opened it now would you not understand?
But your fretboard question sounds like you have a dried out fretboard. I'd get yourself some lemon oil and give it a couple light coats with a couple hours between.
First, fret the notes singly and if they ring fine, but not when you're doing pull offs and all, then you're not fretting the note clean.
If it's muting all the time, that would be a common place for fret wear. the 15th to the 17th and around there are common playing areas so they wear first. If the 17th fret is worn and the 18th isn't, then the string might be "noting out" on the 18th fret because it's higher than the level of the 17th and touches the 18th. Then you probably need a fret dressing, which will make the guitar MUCH more fun to play. That needs to be done occasionally. You can put a straightedge along the fretboard with the guitar in playing position and eyeball it with a light behind it. If the strings ring out at the 18th and 19th fine, but not the 17th,,,,,, probably a few worn frets
Another thing might be that the string's hitting the neck pickup. If it's set too high, especially on an SG the higher you get on the fretboard, the lower the string is and at some point it hits the pickup. You can lower the pickup with the 2 screws, one on each end of the pickup. I think on an SG you want the pickup about 1/8th to 3/16th inch lower than the string when it's fretted at the last fret.
As far as the scratching,,,, rosewood's a lighter color wood than it appears on the fretboard and is dark because of finger oil and fretboard oils. I don't think that's much of a problem,,,, like MIG says, use some fretboard oil on there to keep it from drying out.
Bob
Don't be mankind. ~Captain Beefheart
__________________________________
Thank you MIG and WIPJ
I will check this out tonight (re: fret levels,"noting out")
I already suspect this IS the case.
So ... since my Mesa DC30 still needs to go to the shop as well ... I will haul this and my beloved SG in there. Hopefully this weekend.
Then i'll let ya'll know how much more fun it all is.
Should be a hoot-nanny.
-nik-
If I opened it now would you not understand?