vintage Fender radius fret out

W

WhoFan

Tommyologist
so... today for the first time i found some places on my Custom Shop 66 strat that have some fret out on bends... never seemed to notice it before... maybe with the change in weather the neck and wood is moving a little... not sure...

i guess i could raise the action a little but it feels great where it is saddly...

besides a fret dress to flatten out the radius of the top of the frets higher up on the neck, (kind of like a minor compound radius deal), or having extra high action i guess not much can be done...

what you guys normally do about it on a true vintage spec neck...
 
Re: vintage Fender radius fret out

I play better on a strat with high action than on my Ibanez with low action, maybe you can get used to it, too? A fret-dress is always worth doing, dunno if the Custom Shop did it already perfectly.
 
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Re: vintage Fender radius fret out

ya i guess i'll raise the action... this is the first time i've noticed it... i have a feeling it must be the change to fall weather here in Canada having some effect... for the last 10 months that i've owned this strat i was amazed how well it played for a true vintage set up neck... something has changed of late... maybe once the climate settles it will stop moving around
 
Re: vintage Fender radius fret out

You'd have to re radius the fretboard to make it stop fretting out if you want to keep the strings real low...just raise the action...works fine!
 
Re: vintage Fender radius fret out

If you have a free hand you could counterbend somewhere left of the fretting hand. That gets you the tension with less motion.
 
Re: vintage Fender radius fret out

Or if the trem is floating, you could always pull up on it. However, if you do set it to float, forget playing an open string and a bent note at the same time.
 
Re: vintage Fender radius fret out

How big of a bend is it that's fretting out? For instance, I only worry if I can't a 1 step bend on my strats. I don't really bend any more than that. So I adjust my action to let me do that.
 
Re: vintage Fender radius fret out

Grandturk said:
How big of a bend is it that's fretting out? For instance, I only worry if I can't a 1 step bend on my strats. I don't really bend any more than that. So I adjust my action to let me do that.
Click to expand...

it starts fretting out with 1 step bends... but it's mostly in the one spot on the neck... the G and B strings from the 15th-21st fret areas... i'm not too worried about it... in fact i was expecting the fretting out to be far more pronounced on a Vintage spec strat.... it was a shock when i first brought this strat home how well it played with no fret out...
 
Re: vintage Fender radius fret out

WhoFan said:
it starts fretting out with 1 step bends... but it's mostly in the one spot on the neck... the G and B strings from the 15th-21st fret areas... i'm not too worried about it... in fact i was expecting the fretting out to be far more pronounced on a Vintage spec strat.... it was a shock when i first brought this strat home how well it played with no fret out...
Click to expand...

a - there might be a hump or rise in the board that's causing that.

b - check the level of the frets, some might be worn and low which would also cause that.

c - you can also correct that by shimming the neck at the front - i.e. to angle the neck slightly forward.
 
Re: vintage Fender radius fret out

Frets can shift as the fingerboard wood swells or contracts under humidity changes. Frets can lift if they are not properly seated. Fret levelling and reprofiling will cure uneven crown heights.

The usual answer to living with a vintage fingerboard radius that chokes out is to raise the action and work a bit harder. Sorry.

It is worth it.
 
Re: vintage Fender radius fret out

The end of the neck always rise....
Typical strat behaviour....
Get the frets planed and all that jazz....
Can give you and easier action to use...but the tone goes off somewhere along the road.
 
Re: vintage Fender radius fret out

That's the joy of playing a 'real' Strat, the vintage radius is the only true Fender radius to me, I just don't care for "9.5 with 6105 frets, as this seems to be the Custom Shop way to go. I learned on a transition logoed 1965 Strat and to me, though the action is higher, hell Jimi played on a "7.25 radius and did ok!!
I find it a joy to dig into the strings to bend the notes and the rounded radius is great in the first position chords.
One of the regrets on my 2004 YJM Strat was the "9.5 radius, I so much wanted the scalloped neck to have the "7.25 radius, as the action os high anyway, but no choice, also sold it to help get my killer NOS 1993 Washburn SS80 Quilt top!!
yngwie308
 
Re: vintage Fender radius fret out

BEFORE YOU DO ANYTHING ELSE.....

Get a radius gauge and make sure that the radius of the saddles matches the radius of the fretboard.

You can find the radius gauges at Stew-Mac. A good tech should have them. You should get a copy of Dan Erlewine's "How To Make Your Electric Guitar Play Great"--he has some plastic gauges in the back.

You may have adjusted the action, or some of the saddles have slipped over time. Often if the saddle radius is too flat compared to the fingerboard it will fret out. This single adjustment has made a HUGE difference in all my guitars. I play mostly G&L Legacy-bodies; but even filing the Tune-O-Matic saddles on my Gibsons to the correct radius has made a wonderful difference.

Sure, truss rods do go out of adjustment as the weather changes; but this is a sure-fire way to make your guitar play great.

Good Luck!

Bill
 
Re: vintage Fender radius fret out

my jaguar has a single dead fret.

15th fret, D string.

7.25 radius.

maybe something isnt kosher with the setup.
 
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