Painful Frets

[rookosu]

EDIT : I've since learned this is not a QC thing, just a normal thing, and that I basically just got lucky with my other necks out of the box.  Thanks for the help folks.

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I finished a Regal build (3rd Warmoth build) last month and after playing a while I've realized the frets are cutting up my hands like razor blades when I slide up and down the neck. I took a close up picture to compare this one to my most recent Warmoth neck (Warhead) which is super comfortable.

They are both identical fret size, fret material, profile, radius, and nut width.  Only difference is that the bound one is Hombre conversion, vs. Warhead standard.

Attached are the comparison pics. The bound neck is the new slice-n-dice special, and the unbound neck is the comfy one.

Is there a rounding off process in fretwork that to your opinion looks like it was missed? Or does the binding in any way mean you can't round them off? It's almost unplayable. A very expensive unplayable.

 

[spe111]

They probably just need filed a little bit. The Warmoth site says the frets may need some final finishing and in my experience they sometimes do. Even if they were leveled and the ends were dressed perfectly at the factory, the frets could move a little bit or the wood could shrink/swell when the guitar gets to a new climate.

 

[stratamania]

The ends need possibly a little more bevel but certainly need dressing.

 

[rookosu]

Thanks guys.  Looks like I may just have finally got my Warmoth neck (4th) that needed attention and work afterwards.  I just wasn't knowledgeable enough to know if the rounded edge process was something that should have happened in production or not.

 

[Cagey]

Stratamania's right - they could use some dressing/polishing. But, Warmoth warns that that's the case, and in their defense, that's the best way to provide things. They can't know what the end-user's desires are going to be, so they leave it up to the end user to do the final finish. Some folks will install their necks and be just fine with them, because as-delivered they're generally better than many OEM parts. But, the nut slots are cut shallow because they don't know what strings you're gonna install. Could be you're a Billy Gibbons type and intend to install spiderwebs, or an SRV type who's gonna want guy wires. Could be you're somebody who needs frets that have almost no bevel, because you need every last thousandths of an inch of width. Sometimes the frets are less than perfectly level because new frets sometimes move after installation. And so on...

 

[Strat Avenger]

I wish more people were aware that Warmoth is a guitar PARTS manufacturer and NOT a guitar manufacturer. It is completely normal that a new neck would need fret filing and dressing. Sometimes customers get lucky and receive a neck that is "good enough" right out of the box. My fret ends (4th neck now) have always been smooth and flush with the edges of the neck, but wood continues to shrink a bit more if the climate is dry, which will cause them to protrude at a later time. Roasted necks may be an exception.