Fret condition from Warmoth

[scartozi]

So I'll be receiving my new neck from Warmoth this Thursday (almost 5 weeks to the day) My question is how many of you felt the frets needed polished or are they good to go out of the box? I know every guitar I've bought from stores the first thing I do when I get home is pull the strings, tape off the fretboard, rub the frets with 0000 steel wool. Then get the Dremel with a polishing wheel and Mothers Metal Polish and polish them suckers till they're slick as silk. Of course who know how long the guitar has been hanging on the wall at the store. This may not be the case on a new neck......Thoughts?

 

[AutoBat]

Wasn't an issue with my neck, I got stainless steel frets and they still shine like new.

 

[rockskate4x]

It's a personal preference thing. My SS friends feel just right to me, but my friend can't stand them and says that the fret ends should be filed down. I say he's a wuss, cuz I've never felt the least bit of discomfort from those frets, but who knows... maybe he's completely normal and I'm just calloused. I wouldn't expect to need to do fretwork, but be ready to do some if necessary.

 

[Cagey]

It depends on what you're used to. The frets and board as they come from Warmoth are dimensionally and geometrically correct to a fine degree. They do a beautiful job. But, they don't finish the ends or polish them, or make any real claims as to their planar continuity. You can install the neck and after a nominal relief adjustment, use it as delivered, and it'll beat the snot out of about 98% of the necks out there except for the very high end or custom stuff. Because of that, a lot of guys don't do anything to them at all. But, if you prefer a finer finish, you'll need to string it up for a week or so, then take it to a luthier who's good at that sort of thing and let him tweak it. Depending where you live and where you go to get that done, that can run you anywhere from $25 to $250, but I think the figure is most often around $50.

 

[scartozi]

I'm not to concerned with the fret ends just the overall "slickness" of them in general. I've never had an issue with fret ends, now if they just cut them off and left them that's a different story....but that's not the case. Guess I'll have to wait till Thrusday and see.....after 5 weeks I'm ready to get my project finished!

 

[rockskate4x]

oh... in that case, I can tell you straight up, that my SS6115 frets are the SLICKEST I've ever played on!

 

[-CB-]

They'll be slick.  Trust me.  Four SS fret necks later... very slick.  Like playin' on buttah!

Will you see a sharp fret end?  Maybe.  If the wood dried a little, and shrank, the ends may need some very light attention.  Best thing I've ever used on fret ends, on finished neck, is those spong/foam/rubber things that the ladies used on their nails.  They work GREAT!!!.  I was at Vic's and he had some sharp fret ends.  Me, no sandpaper, no nothing... I ask for something like a file or sandpaper.  Ellen, his GF whips one of the nail things out.  Not an emery board, but like a foamy thing, sort of emery board shaped but hard sponge stuff covered with abrasive.  Perfect.  Absolutely perfect.

 

[scartozi]

Thanks for the info CB.....hopefully the neck hasn't dried that much, usually takes some neglect for that to happen but I will go raid my wife's fingernail stuff and see what I can find, I know exactly what your talking about......if need be. I just want to get my guitar back together and start playing, I'm tired of seeing my finished body just sittin there all lonely.

 

[Alfang]

when i got my first four warmoth necks, I thought the ends of the frets were sharp feeling, and on one neck i slightly filed the ends, the other three I did nothing, I have gotten used to the warmoth fret ends, and I believe I have changed the way I grip the neck, Actually I've got a more " Propper" Grip, so the fret ends don't even bother me anymore.

Either that, or just from playen them, they have smoothed out a bit, I'm not sure.  oh and they are stainless 6105 frets, love the stainless...

 

[Cagey]

I'm not to concerned with the fret ends just the overall "slickness" of them in general. I've never had an issue with fret ends, now if they just cut them off and left them that's a different story....but that's not the case. Guess I'll have to wait till Thrusday and see.....after 5 weeks I'm ready to get my project finished!

If you've never played SS frets, you're in for a real treat. Slick? Fuhgeddaboudit. They're like greased diamonds. You're going to be so spoiled that anything without SS frets is going to feel like it needs work. You won't want to play it. You're going to become a fret snob. Anybody who doesn't have SS frets is going to have to suffer your non-stop ridicule.

 

[-CB-]

Thanks for the info CB.....hopefully the neck hasn't dried that much, usually takes some neglect for that to happen

It doesn't take neglect, it takes an environment of air conditioning if you live in Florida, or heating, if you live up northwards.  Either will produce dry air and the wood will shrink a bit.

Down here in FL, winter is humid even though the weather is dry.  Thats because we dont run AC in the winter, and the outside air is more humid than AC air.  When its humid, fretboards grow.  Trust me, they grow.  They take relief out of your neck because they help the truss rod do its job, by growing.  When they dry out, they shrink.  You gain more relief that way.  Its amazing to notice that guitars I've not played in a while will be ABOVE pitch in the winter, because the extra back bend of the neck (actually straightening from front bend) raises the pitch of the strings.  I suspect the whole neck grows a bit in length as well.  We're talking dang near one frets worth of pitch change!  I set my necks in the winter, to the least relief I can play with, then just live with the added relief (and higher action) in the rest of the year.  I'm too old to fiddle with so many necks on a constant basis.

You can do the fret ends, very safely and easily, even when the guitar is together, and strung up, and tuned to pitch.  You're only giving each end a quick swipe or two from the nail thingy.

 

[scartozi]

I have a couple hygrometers around the house and especially where my guitar "lives". During the summer my house stays between 45-55 RH and drops to 20-25 RH in the winter. Although I have a whole house humidifier I can only get it to maybe 30 RH. So, during the "Dry" months my guitar lives in its case properly humidified. I use to own a few 3K acoustic guitars and it was like taking care of a child during the winter months....but they never got dry. I could take a radius measurement on the acoustics and tell when they needed a little more water cause the "Belly" of the top and back would shrink a bit when thristy. 

Now before I knew anything about proper humidification I left my guitars out all the time all year, summer and winter for about 2-3 years with no ill effects (protruding frets). I meant that in "my" experience it would take quite a bit for a fretboard to shrink enough to allow the fret ends to protrude, not saying it's not possible....just never happened to me. I try to do my best to keep my guitar in a constant 45-55 RH all year, when it starts in on the rainy season in fall and spring the RH can get to 61 or more, if it gets above 55 I normally put the guitar away cause then you see the change in tuning...etc.

Long story short, I'll keep a nail polisher close :icon_biggrin:

 

[tmac]

Warmoth SS6105 frets here. They were fine. Smooth and no problem with the ends.

 

[RiverCity28]

Both of my Warmoth Pro necks looked awesome from the factory . . . one without finish and the other with satin nitro.  Very nice frets on both . . . 6150s.    Both required leveling.