Whacking frets with a hammer

sean79 · September 21st, 2008, 11:37 AM

Didn't want to hijack the thread about a fret press, but after reading through it yesterday, it seems that I might be able to take care of a fret issue with a hammer. On my acoustic (not a Tele, but I imagine fretting follows similar rules), the ends of almost all the frets lifted a little where they appear to be nipped to go over the neck binding last winter. I humidified it and oiled the fretboard - that helped, but the frets are still in the above state. Would it hurt anything to try to tap the fret ends down with a hammer?

JasonRobert · September 21st, 2008, 02:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sean79

Didn't want to hijack the thread about a fret press, but after reading through it yesterday, it seems that I might be able to take care of a fret issue with a hammer. On my acoustic (not a Tele, but I imagine fretting follows similar rules), the ends of almost all the frets lifted a little where they appear to be nipped to go over the neck binding last winter. I humidified it and oiled the fretboard - that helped, but the frets are still in the above state. Would it hurt anything to try to tap the fret ends down with a hammer?

When I had this problem, I injected a little superglue in to the frets, and held them in with a clamp. I have a neck jig made out of carpet and wood so I dont damage the neck.

EDIT: although I will say that the lifted frets affected playing and made it uncomfortable because they kept scratching my hand. If they dont affect playing (either comfort or fret buzz) then I would leave them, because by hitting them back in or clamping them in, you could affect the rest of the fret and cause some frets to be unlevel which would mean it would neeed a fret leveling and dress.

sean79 · September 21st, 2008, 06:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JasonRobert

EDIT: although I will say that the lifted frets affected playing and made it uncomfortable because they kept scratching my hand. If they dont affect playing (either comfort or fret buzz) then I would leave them, because by hitting them back in or clamping them in, you could affect the rest of the fret and cause some frets to be unlevel which would mean it would neeed a fret leveling and dress.

Thanks. It's only occasionally that one of the ends will scrape my hand or catch on something. I've never noticed any extra buzz.

September 21st, 2008, 11:37 AM	#1 (permalink)
sean79 Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: northcentral/western Pennsylvania Posts: 1,843 9 Photos	Whacking frets with a hammer Didn't want to hijack the thread about a fret press, but after reading through it yesterday, it seems that I might be able to take care of a fret issue with a hammer. On my acoustic (not a Tele, but I imagine fretting follows similar rules), the ends of almost all the frets lifted a little where they appear to be nipped to go over the neck binding last winter. I humidified it and oiled the fretboard - that helped, but the frets are still in the above state. Would it hurt anything to try to tap the fret ends down with a hammer? __________________ Every now and then I know it's kind of hard to tell, but I'm still alive and well.