charvel wildcard neck question

[jackson111]

I have a dead calm aqua wildcard (wildcard #4) I have had it about 3 to 4 years, It is my main guitar and I have played probably close to 80 3 hours show with it. I have noticed that on the low E string I lose my sustain after about the 12th fret. it almost sounds like the notes are almost fretting out but still makes a sound. it is very slight at the 12th fret and only gets worse from there. I can raise the action to about .014 and it gets much better the problem is my Jackson dinky I have switched to has action of .006, which is what I am used to, so 0.014 is hard to play not to mention intonation problems. I haven't checked my frets yet but is it possible to have to level frets after only about 4 years? I have never leveled frets before. I got all the tools (fret rocker, stewmac diamond files, stewmac fret leveling file, calibers to check fret heights, a good straight edge and feel gauges). I have a wi14 washburn idol that's is a pretty cheap guitar I am going to levl first before I work on my baby.

I have tried to maintain my neck the best I can, so I hope I have not caused this problem. I use lemon oil on the rosewood fret board. I put a little on leave it about 3 minutes and wipe off the access. I also use a light coat of lemon oil on the maple neck let it set the same amount of time then wipe it down. if this is bad what can I do to protect it in the future.

 

[Archer250]

Re: charvel wildcard neck question

I have a dead calm aqua wildcard (wildcard #4) I have had it about 3 to 4 years, It is my main guitar and I have played probably close to 80 3 hours show with it. I have noticed that on the low E string I lose my sustain after about the 12th fret. it almost sounds like the notes are almost fretting out but still makes a sound. it is very slight at the 12th fret and only gets worse from there. I can raise the action to about .014 and it gets much better the problem is my Jackson dinky I have switched to has action of .006, which is what I am used to, so 0.014 is hard to play not to mention intonation problems. I haven't checked my frets yet but is it possible to have to level frets after only about 4 years? I have never leveled frets before. I got all the tools (fret rocker, stewmac diamond files, stewmac fret leveling file, calibers to check fret heights, a good straight edge and feel gauges). I have a wi14 washburn idol that's is a pretty cheap guitar I am going to levl first before I work on my baby.

I have tried to maintain my neck the best I can, so I hope I have not caused this problem. I use lemon oil on the rosewood fret board. I put a little on leave it about 3 minutes and wipe off the access. I also use a light coat of lemon oil on the maple neck let it set the same amount of time then wipe it down. if this is bad what can I do to protect it in the future.

Dude. I have my frets leveled every TWO years... Four years sounds like a sure way to cause a problem for me, especially if you like to bend past the 12th fret. Also, what you've just measured is probably neck relief, not overall action. Neck relief makes strings feel looser while making it a bit harder to play in the middle of the neck. For problems that manifest past the 12th fret, it's more prudent to raise the action at the bridge.

 

[jackson111]

Re: charvel wildcard neck question

oh yeah your right I was speaking of the neck relief. I measured the action (bottom of string to top of fret at 12th fret) and the Jackson has 2/32".

 

[Archer250]

Re: charvel wildcard neck question

oh yeah your right I was speaking of the neck relief. I measured the action (bottom of string to top of fret at 12th fret) and the Jackson has 2/32".

That would be... medium-low for high E and way too low for low E, IMO. But it might be best if the frets are leveled first before doing anything...
Of course, before doing that, you should use a straightedge to check whether the frets are already acceptably leveled or not.

 

[jackson111]

Re: charvel wildcard neck question

I was going to start by adjusting my truss rod to get my the neck flat, then I was going to check the frets with my flat edge and my fret rocker. then if it does have high or low spots then I was going to mark them all with a sharpie, and use my fret leveling file till I get all the tops of the frets level, then rond then polish. sound right?

 

[Archer250]

Re: charvel wildcard neck question

I'll sit out of this one at this stage. I've never leveled frets by myself, you see