Fret Sprout

[lonote]

Up here in the frozen north (Minnesota), this has been an exceptionally dry winter so far. I've never experienced anything like this; 4 of my 5 instruments have it to some degree and I've never had the problem at all previously. I have files and could fix the problem but I'm not sure I want to because in another month the snow will melt, the rain will fall and things will be moist again...including the fretboards on my basses. If I had had the problem in previous years this would be a no brainer but I've never had it happen before. Do you think it is necessary for me to file the fret ends under the circumstances or should I just let nature take its course?

[62bass]

Originally Posted by lonote

Up here in the frozen north (Minnesota), this has been an exceptionally dry winter so far. I've never experienced anything like this; 4 of my 5 instruments have it to some degree and I've never had the problem at all previously. I have files and could fix the problem but I'm not sure I want to because in another month the snow will melt, the rain will fall and things will be moist again...including the fretboards on my basses. If I had had the problem in previous years this would be a no brainer but I've never had it happen before. Do you think it is necessary for me to file the fret ends under the circumstances or should I just let nature take its course?

Do it now before it gets humid again or you'll just have the same problem again next dry winter.

[jumbosilverette]

You might want to run a humidifier in your house. I would try that first before filing fret ends.

[pointbass]

I have the same situation with my 7 string .... I'm not so sure that it's from sitting in my house, probably more from being gigged so much and going in and out of widely varying climates.

Unless the frets are seriously sticking out to the point where it's unplayable and you could cut yourself, I'd leave it alone while the temperature and humidity adjust to the seasonal change. In my case, a mild humidity change will likely push the fretboard right back to where it was ..... this kind of stuff happens with natural, unpainted woods ....

[boonerstreet]

I recently had the same problem. I filed down the frets with no problems, but it was on a cheapo bass that I wasn't afraid to scratch up. If you have any cheap basses lying around you could always practice on one of those before moving onto your better ones. You could take it to a tech if you really wanted to fix the problem too.

[lonote]

Thanks for the responses. I know how to do the work and have the files I need to do it. To be honest, I have 4 basses that I'd work on (if I decided to do it) and I don't know if I want to spend that much time if I can avoid it. The last couple of days have been a bit warmer and rainy and the sprout problem is now lessening as each day passes by. I think I'm going to wait and see what spring brings. Thanks again, guys.