Question about fret wear

jimzucco

jimzucco

New member
Hey all. I came home today with a used stratocaster and when I tested it out at the store it was awesome. Sounds great, plays great, all good. So I got home took off the crappy old strings and cleaned it up and noticed that the first fret, and only the first, is worn really flat towards the b and high e. Sure enough, after re-stringing the first fret is completely dead on both strings. Every other fret is fine. So I'm wondering what would be the easiest remedy. A whole refret seems overkill. Is this something I could attempt to fix myself or do I need to take it some place thanks for reading.
 
Re: Question about fret wear

You can replace individual frets, but it is a job that requires some skill and several tools. You are sure that it isn't a problem with nut slots that have gotten too deep?
 
Re: Question about fret wear

Sounds like they are just fretting out on the second fret

Can you raise the action a bit

Or level the frets/ lower the second fret

Or the bridge may have settled a bit with the new strings

*(Sent from my durned phone!)*
 
Re: Question about fret wear

It could possibly be the nut, that did cross my mind. However the fret is visibly worn and just by eyeing it up I'm pretty certain that's the issue. I would love the issue to be the nut heheh as I have a nice bone blank sitting around. Perhaps I'll do the upgrade and see if it changes anything, though my gut tells me that it won't help. I think I may invest in some tools and learn a new skill. Any recommendations there? Thanks for the replies guys. Much appreciated
 
Re: Question about fret wear

When I get noticeable fret wear it is time to save up for a refret. Some big fat wide and tall Stainless Steel done by a world class professional. Of course after he does that a setup is part of the high dollar charge so it will come back perfect and never need any sort of work on the frets ever again. By far the best thing you can ever do to a guitar as far as value to me.
 
Re: Question about fret wear

If the rest of the guitar plays fine, and your happy with the fret height, you should only replace that one fret. Its unnecessary to level the entire neck for one fret. Take it to a shop and have them pull the first fret and match it up with the height of the second fret. Unless you feel comfortable and have the tools to do it yourself. It's not a difficult procedure.
 
Re: Question about fret wear

And, btw, check the string clearance of the first fret from the nut. To do this, hold your strings Down on the third fret and see how far they are from the top of the first fret. They should not touch the top of the first fret. If they do, you need to have your nut shimmed or replaced.
 
Re: Question about fret wear

Do what InbredJunk said before anything else. Check the string clearance to see if you need a new nut. I've seen a lot of guitars with wear on the first 2 frets that still played fine. You aren't going to do much bending there, so a few divots will not hurt anything. You cannot just lower the 2nd fret to compensate because then your 3rd fret will be high, and then your 4th, and so on. You can always buy a new neck and sell that one on Ebay. Can you get a refund on the guitar?
 
Re: Question about fret wear

You can also check string height at the nut with a set of feeler gauges. With no strings fretted, measure from the top of the first fret to the bottom of each string. All of the strings should be .030" from the top of the first fret to the bottom of each string tuned to pitch.
 
Re: Question about fret wear

Pic?

Of course it can't be the nut if the fretted note is hampered.

If thingie was playing fine with the old strings then the new strings have less pull and the action is lower. If you want to stick with that product in that gauge then you would loosen the truss rod a bit so that the action is like it was before. If thingier was actually fine with the old strings.
 
Re: Question about fret wear

Well, uOpt is right. If you want to play with higher action it should work. If you ever decide to lower your action, you will have to replace the first fret. Might as well do it now and get it out of the way. You will have to do it down the road anyway as the fret wears.
 
Re: Question about fret wear

Wait a min

Is the fret low or has it got divots?

If it's low and smooth then the previous owner probably purposely buffed it down

If it's got divots
Then as Mr B said it ain't gonna hurt

If it's fretting out on the second fret
Just buff the second fret down a bit

If it was fine with the old strings but now is bad

The string change did something

Did you change gauge


*(Sent from my durned phone!)*
 
Re: Question about fret wear

Thanks for the great responses. Where do I start. Im fairly sure it's not the nut, since the open strings are fine. I'll check the clearance and post a pic just to make sure. It's also not an indentation, the fret has been smoothed down whether it was intentional or not I don't really know. Thirdly, i don't want to return it as I got it used and I won't find another like it there and they probably won't help me anyway (the store with guitar and center in the name =) and similarly, i don't really want to sell the neck, it's great other than that one fret. I think I'm going to change out the nut anyway since I have a bone blank here and I'm going to put some thicker strings on as it has nines and they feel terrible anyway.

A complete refret is something I'll consider if the price isn't crazy. Has anyone else out there heard of heightening a fret using solder? I've read about that but it seems like a stretch.

Hey thanks again everyone.
 
Re: Question about fret wear

ehdwuld said:
If it was fine with the old strings but now is bad

The string change did something

Did you change gauge


*(Sent from my durned phone!)*
Click to expand...

I'm thinking this was part of it. I'm not sure what gauge was on there. I think they were tens. I put nines on since they're what I had laying around. I almost always use elevens or tens and so first thing tomorrow I'm going to change to elevens I think.
 
Re: Question about fret wear

Frets get little notches there all the time. An unwise previous owner probably smoothed them out. Just have that one fret replaced. The cost should be extremely minimal. The other option is to have the rest of the frets leveled to match that one fret, but that is really wasteful IMHO (and you might not like the low frets in the end anyhow). A complete refret for that is ridiculous. The problem has nothing to do with the nut or string gauge.
 
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Re: Question about fret wear

Change strings first
You can raise a fret by wedging a chisel tip.under the fret and prying up

But don't do that just yet
It's smooth for a reason
Either it was meant to be lower

Or was polished to hide wear before sale
(Very unlikely)

*(Sent from my durned phone!)*
 
Re: Question about fret wear

Well ive decided im going to try replacing that single fret. I am very interested in learning this skill anyway so I'll just invest in some leveling and crowning tools
 
Re: Question about fret wear

Sigh.

One more time.

If it was fine with the previous strings your new strings have less pull and you need to correct the truss rod tension to get back to the same action.

That is THE reason why you now have a problem, by your own words the guitar was "awesome" in the shop. Messing around with the answers you like better is all fun, but if you want to fix it then there you go.

Also, pic.
 
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