One high fret

[topper]

I seem to have one slightly high fret on my bass. It's the 14th fret and when I play at that fret on the A or D string I get a noticeable buzz. I don't get this on the E and G strings. I can get rid of the buzz by raising the action.

Here's what I'm wondering...

Do I need to send this bass in for a full level, crown, polish, set up or would it be possible for me to level out this one high fret myself without hundreds of dollars in tools and years of experience?

I'm fairly handy and have been doing my own set up (truss rod, action and intonation) for years.

Any suggestions?

[perucci]

I'm not luthier (or technician), but I have been reading-up on this...
...one of the better ways to really isolate a high fret is by having a "fret rocker", which spans 3 frets. High frets become obvious, since the "fret rocker" will rock back and forth when the high fret is in the middle. Since distance between frets vary, you'll need a few different (small) straight-edges for this. Stu-mac sells one for about $20, as I recall.

Once a "high fret" is truly identified, the question is why? Is the fret loose? Per my reading (not experience), handling a loose fret is done by:

• First, try to push-in the fret with a small hammer (PUSHING *not* hitting!), with the neck resting on something firm. If the fret holds, stop!
• If pushing it back in does not work, superglue works wonders. Essentially, you mask-off the fretboard, let some watery super-glue flow over the fret and sink into the fretboard, then wipe off the excess (quickly!). For this, I'd suggest doing some reading first...

If the fret is simply high, due to poor construction or warpage of the neck, a wee bit of filing is needed, but I'd suggest reading-up on this. After you file-down the fret(s), you need to carefully round-off the top of the fret, otherwise intonation will suffer.

Note: While I'm not experienced at this, I'm trying to learn how to do some of my own fretwork, so my comments here are a long-winded way of "bumping" this thread.

[fretlessrock]

A fret rocker is a great tool for finding high or low frets. since it only spans three frets at a time you don't have to flatten the neck to do an inspection. If the neck has a LOT of relief, then you might have to adjust it.

You don't say what kind of bass you have. If it is a very valuable instrument then you might want to leave the learning process for a beater and have a pro do the work. OTOH, the biggest improvement for almost every affordable bass that I have seen is a setup and a fret job. Even the Lakland Skyline basses that I have seen, which have above average fretwork for the $, can use a little help.

Nothing magic about treating a high fret once you find it. It has either come loose (sprung) from the slot, or it was not leveled correctly in the first place. If it is sprung you can apply a little thin CA to the underside of the fret and use a soft-jaw clamp to re-set it. It would be better if you had a caul that matched the radius of the board, but for a single fret you can do without it.

If it is just a high fret, or if it is still high after being reset, you can mask the fretboard with tape and use a jeweler's file to get it level with the others. Try to maintain the profile of the fret, and leave it a shade high and then polish with wet/dry paper to remove any scratches. This should get rid of the fret buzz if you run even a little bit of relief in your setup.

Fretwork can be scary because a mistake can mean more work and more chances for mistakes. It helps to have good tools, a good workspace with good lighting, and a magnifier setup is a great help. If you were going to do a complete refret, or a level and dress, then you would be better off with a set of purpose-made fret files, a few high-quality straightedges, and some specialty tools for setting and leveling. But for spot work you mainly need to be patient and be able to use a few simple tools well.

My $0.02

[topper]

Thanks for the tips. The bass is a Spector Euro I got used. Its a great instrument, I've just been changing my playing style and trying to get away with a lower action. When I lowered the action this one fret started to buzz. All others are still good.

I live in a small town, there's a good guitar tech about an hour away, but in order to get him the bass, I'd have to leave it at the local shop until he comes and gets it... etc. until a month later I get my bass back.

Does the fact that I only get the buzz on the D and A string make it more or less likely the fret is sprung? I can get the E and G down to just a hair above the frets and not get any buzz all along the neck. A & D get super low too, but then just buzz at this one fret.

[fretlessrock]

I would not do any work until I had put a straightedge across the problem area. You don't even need a "real" straightedge. I have a Stewmac fretrocker and it is not a high-tech piece. It is well designed in that the three lengths allow you to bridge only three frets at all areas of the fingerboard. If you had a few gauge blocks, or even a good plastic straightedge improvise if you have some straight heavy plastic strip, you could see where the fret was high, and level the fret across its width to get rid of the hump. If yours is high in the middle of the neck then I'd look at both a high fret, and inconsistent saddle height. You might have the middle saddles too low and a problem that wasn't noticeable is now an issue. But either way, there is probably a high fret.

I find it, mask it, mark it with sharpie, make stop marks based on the straightedge, get most of the way to level, then repeat once, then polish the fret.

I'm not pushing tools at all, but the three things that changed my ability to do setups was a fret rocker, a 24" straightedge, and a fret crowning file. A set of radius gauges and a set of feelers are also cheap and useful. Actually, a flat file (jeweler's set, or small cheapie minifile set) is easier to use at first because you can see the contact point, where the crowning file is concave.

What I can tell of my experiences in watching a few professional fretwork sessions is that the biggest difference is that I lacked the confidence. The work was pretty much what I expected. But having a good reference like a straightedge or a radius gauge means that you know when you are done, instead of risking taking off too much material.

[GlennW]

A plastic credit card would be fine for a straightedge in this case...maybe even edgeways.

From your description the card should rock on the 15th fret.

[Hullaballoo]

I suggest if your fret IS high, and you've checked that it IS firmly seated, then get some sort of straight-edge/sanding block, wrap it with fine sandpaper/emery paper etc,, and after masking off the adjacent parts of the fretboard to avoid scratching, run it from one end of the fret to the other, following the curve as far as possible, keeping the straight edge vertical to the face of the fret. Frequent testing will tell you when you've got enough off (it won't take much), then get some of the new abrasive pad material that looks like washing-up pad, and draw it across the fret several times along the line of the neck, from both directions, and that will round it off nicely. I have done this sucessfully several times, and although the first time I was terrified, It only took the first sucess to make me realise that there isn't much to worry about. Do the sanding gently (but firmly enough to get the job done) and keep checking - it doesn't take much to get even a high fret level. Good luck

[topper]

I used the credit card test suggested and determined that yes one fret is very slightly high. I tried re-seating it but honestly, with just some c-clamps and wooden shims as cauls, it was hard to do anything very effective. I'll try the emery paper idea. Thanks!