The Watering Hole

So, I've got guitar project #1 almost complete... everything except the string trees is in place, and I've got the rear tone knob miswired so it's not affecting the tone of the rear pickups yet.  

Here's the problem: I started with a brand new neck from Warmoth, I set it totally flat, bolted it on, added a touch of relief--less than 1/64" at the 12th fret.  Got my action nice and low on all strings across the fretboard, 2-3/64".  Everything is great except that the 4 lowest strings hit the 22nd fret when I play the 20th fret... the 22nd fret is just too high.  Is this a problem somewhere else in the setup or should I just file the fret down?  I already did some filing--granted I have very fine files and wasn't making a ton of progress, but I hardly seemed able to get the buzz or fretting out relieved at all after working on the fret for a while.  I have no problem whittling down that fret, after all it's the last one, but I just wonder if there is something else I should check, or if this is an unusual issue.

Check the angles of the neck/ fret plain to the body.  Shim as needed (If you haven't checked, make sure nothing is in the pocket that shouldn't be there like shavings or a drop of glue.)

If you have a straight edge that covers three frets, take out the relief and check individual frets (rock the straight edge) to see if any are high or low.

Pics!!!

Another trick would be to shim the neck on the top side as opposed to the body side of the pocket.  doesn't take much.  a little goes a long way.  Just tear a couple rectangles the and set them in teh top of the pocket.  Put your neck back on and see what happens.  

Barring that....I'd say file that sucker down.  

PLEK is also your friend.

Charger,

I'm with Toby.  Check it dead flat.  If you can't eyeball it, use a magnifying glass.  See if that fret is high.  I'd be surprised (coming from Warmoth!) but it sounds like it could be...  

Use a straight edge!  If the fret is the culprit, make sure it is still seated well.  I'm so confident of Warmoths products that I recommend this just in case a fret has worked it's way out of a board that maybe has dried some...  rather than thinking they didn't get it right.  

But get some closeup inspection and let us know what you find.  

All that said, I'm assuming you've carefully inspected bridge adjustment... you didn't mention what bridge you are using but remember BOTH ends must compensate for string thickness.  I don't know exactly what to recommend because usually close visual inspection will make it clear what needs to be adjusted.  Look up and down the neck and see if that fret is up, or the strings are riding lower... etc.  Eyeballing up and down a fingerboard usually shows you a fret problem.  

And remember that since this neck has set for a good while without tension, it may form more the longer the tension is on it.  So you you it may be different than your first check.  

charger — Jan 11, 2010Got my action nice and low on all strings across the fretboard, 2-3/64".

wow that's low, I'm used to about 2-4/32" at the 12th fret!

ironsheep — Jan 12, 2010[quote author=charger link=1263234759/0#0 date=1263234758]Got my action nice and low on all strings across the fretboard, 2-3/64".

wow that's low, I'm used to about 2-4/32" at the 12th fret!
Yeah, I actually brought it up to 2/32".  But also, you might use heavier strings than me and you probably play much more physically. My ruler may not be ultra-accurate and it's pretty hard to see across the board but that is what it looks like now.  Turns out just letting it sit overnight helped a ton.  Buzz is gone except on the G string... if I get obsessive I'll get out the files again.

Overall, DTR, I think the neck is pretty amazing. When we first stuck it on we had the action ridiculously low and it still played well over 85-90% of the neck.  Getting the neck to where I really would want it, I discovered this problem.  I would certainly expect to do some kind of fiddling on a neck that comes straight out of the box with just factory fret wire... If I wasn't so cheap and impatient I would have taken it to my tech for a decent setup.  But I've been really getting into doing my own setup, especially the part where I don't have to wait 3 days for my guitar.  This one is a real beauty, I'll post pics tonight.

the cool thing is, if you have a decent way to measure, you don't have to wait 3 days.  You can do all your setup AND find out how to tune a "perfect" setup to your tastes.  The reason I think it's so important to know some basic setup methods, is that I find that with floating trem guitars (the best test for consistency) that minor adjustment is needed almost every time you change strings.  Think about it, if you have a floating trem, how many times do you put new strings on, and your trem float perfectly flat to the body the way you had it adjusted with the last set?  

There are small differences in tension and exact diameter (which affects intonation) of strings even when you use the same brand and set every time.  If you are still trying to find the right set for each guitar, there are minor adjustments required every time you switch.  My Wolfie came from the factory with a good setup for 10s.  I tried 9s with light top/heavy bottom and my intonation is all out up the neck.  What I try to do, is find what I want from each guitar, find the right strings for that, (I stick with EB and D'Ad) and the set everything.  Then only minor trem spring adjustments should be needed with each string change (if floating trem).  

charger — Jan 11, 2010I have no problem whittling down that fret, after all it's the last one, but I just wonder if there is something else I should check, or if this is an unusual issue.

Dead blow hammer, hit the fret with it, it may just be a little high. Now here is how I file my frets. Get a real straight wood block 1 " wide and 6" long. Wrap it with 220 emery cloth or metal sanding sand paper, mark the top of the fret with a magic marker, rub the frets lengthwise up and down the neck all the way and then across the fretboard. Do all of this lightly and a little at a time. Check the wear, the magic marker helps with this. All the high frets will come down before effecting the low frets. Then run some plastic wool on the frets to polish them restring it and play all the frets, wiggling the strings to polish the frets. That is how I do it.

Also you can rub just that fret with the emery cloth or metal paper across the fingerboard lightly go the whole length of the fret side to side.