Arr! My instruments are shrinking!

[wilper]

Right, where I live it gets very dry in the winter. That dehydrates everything, including my tappers. :-(

I have a nice Stu Box guitar, but now it has shrunk, so the frets stick out a bit on both sides of the neck. Can I expect the neck to grow again when summer comes and the air gets more humidity?

I know a luthier that can file down the frets so my hands don't scratch against them when playing, but should I?

Stu sent my guitar just before the fires we all read about, so I guess it must have come from a pretty dry climate already. It still sounds great though.

[lwclaypool]

I can't answer your question directly but I can comment on a prevention approach. I also live in an area with broad humidity swings, dry in the winter, wet in the summer. I run a pair of humidifiers all winter, have about two weeks where the humidity is fine in the spring, run a pair of dehumidifiers all summer, then have about two weeks where the humidity is fine in the fall. With this approach I keep the humidity in my studio between 35% and 40% year round and the instruments stay stable.

[strictlybox]

wilper,

Here at the geographical center of the Universe, lovely Howell NJ USA, the climate varies all over the map, humid - dry, hot - cold, and all the rest. My 4 Box Guitars react quite peacefully, yes there's some expansion & shrinkage and I have a few sharp fret ends, doesn't bother me too much. Re-expansion never matches shrinkage so an occasional sharp edge always remains, these will be treated someday. Of all the Touchables i've owned and played, Box Guitars remain the best in this regard. My newest Megatar is too early to tell; my BluesBuster Megatar is really bad, older Toneweaver not too bad. I've a vintage Coral Electric Sitar and a 70's Korean Strat that show some signs of shrinkage/expansion but their fret ends are treated such that nothing's cat claw sharp. Most of the bodiless tappers i've had were horrible both in sharp exposed fret ends and, due to their minimal finishing, grains actually pulled out of the wood to the point of splintering, newer instruments may be better but i'll never know !!

My recommendation to you would be to wait a few climate cycles and then have the fret ends treated.

[traktor]

Hi, Glenn,

What a timely posting.

I just recently set up a Dread Pirate Topaz posting (at http://twitter.com/TraktorTopaz) on this subject. In the later part of the article, you'll find some suggestions about preventing this 'shrinkage'.

You can see it here -- http://megatar.us/DRYWOOD

-- TT

PS: And of course, if you were following the Dread Pirate Topaz, you would have already known about this. [clears throat] Hmmm.

[strictlybox]

Actually we've two issues here, the first being wood expansion and contraction, the second being fret end treatment. Wood expansion and contraction's gonna happen no matter what, and fret ends should be treated such that personal injury cannot happen, and I mean smooth ends even if they protrude !! I have enough problems right now keeping my hands out of harms way, my instruments should not compound that problem !!

[PhoBucket]

I agree with Loren that trying to moderate humidity in your home, or at least the main instrument room is important and helpful. I never thought about it much until I got my upright, but since then it has always been on my mind. Huge acoustic instruments are sensitive to humidity like you wouldn't believe.

Problems rarely develop with my electric instruments, but that may be becuase I use a humidifier. The harpejji frets are slotted into the middle of the instrument, so there are no protruding fret ends there.

[strictlybox]

Right, where I live it gets very dry in the winter. That dehydrates everything, including my tappers. :-(

I have a nice Stu Box guitar, but now it has shrunk, so the frets stick out a bit on both sides of the neck. Can I expect the neck to grow again when summer comes and the air gets more humidity?

I know a luthier that can file down the frets so my hands don't scratch against them when playing, but should I?

Stu sent my guitar just before the fires we all read about, so I guess it must have come from a pretty dry climate already. It still sounds great though.

Wilper -

Stuart makes a few products that may help you in maintaining your Box Guitar, Beezwax Wood Treatment in particular. Checkout his website for info.

[strictlybox]

Hi, Glenn,

What a timely posting.

I just recently set up a Dread Pirate Topaz posting (at http://twitter.com/TraktorTopaz) on this subject. In the later part of the article, you'll find some suggestions about preventing this 'shrinkage'.

You can see it here -- http://megatar.us/DRYWOOD

-- TT

PS: And of course, if you were following the Dread Pirate Topaz, you would have already known about this. [clears throat] Hmmm.

TT,

Read it, and if fret ends were properly finished I wouldn't care all that much about shrinkage (fretboard).

[traktor]

Glenn,

I'm not aware of any way to finish the underneath edges of fretwire, where the wood is, and if the wood shrinks away from the metal, then the metal is exposed.

The only fretboards that I know that do not have this vulnerability to too-wet wood or too-dry storage are bound fretboards, where the fretwire does not go to the edge of the fretboard. Rick Turner once showed me how they're built, but it's not a swell idea on tapping instruments, as it would add needless width to the fretboard.

The best cure for preventing fretends jutting over time, that I know, is to make sure wood is adequately dry, and then to store instruments safely. One of the reasons we moved to making our own laminated neck-through instruments was to obtain better control of the dryness of the wood.

The instrument that you are describing, if I understand you correctly, is one of our earlier bolt-on ToneWeavers? While it's true that our factory is better at fretwork now than 6-7 years ago, I *think* that the fretends were properly handled. I was trained by Bruce Sexauer, who's a world-class luthier.

Nevertheless, without seeing it I cannot tell where the "fault" may fall, but if the fretends are now protruding, then it cannot be very comfortable to play, and this kind of problem can be fixed easily enough. Though, I would hope that you are storing your instruments safely, because protruding fret-ends are just one of the symptoms of too-dry storage.

If you would like to have this fixed, and/or you feel there is some flaw in the fret preparation, I'd be happy to talk with you about repairing it for you. You have my phone and email, so let me know what you'd like done.

[Tom Drinkwater]

I have many different guitars, basses and other stringed musical instruments both solid body electric, hollow electric and acoustic instruments like harps, cello, violin, mandolins etc. Here in Maine we have extremes like Loren has and I have never had a problem with fret ends on a finished instrument. I recently bought a baritone conversion strat neck for a project guitar that I have laying around and left it unfinished for about 2 days and the frets were protruding from the edge of the board a good bit. I filed them off in seconds with a diamond sharpening stone and haven't had an issue since. You will find this problem mainly with wood that hasn't been air dried for several seasons. Even kiln dried lumber shrinks alot when it gets exposed to the lack of humidity up here during the winter. Wood doesn't just dry out, it changes structurally while it air dries over time. That is why some wood is easy to work even after being kiln dried and then about a year later it is like carving into stone. Some woods are the opposite and are easier to work after air dried. If you cut the fret about a tiny bit short and cut the tang off from the very edges of the fret you can minimize the damage when the wood shrinks. Over time most of my instruments have evened out with the climate changes. I have a cheap Alvarez nylon string that is built well with good stable wood and I have yet to adjust it. I also have a very nice Carvin acoustic that during the first winter it was in Maine developed a hump in the fretboard that rendered it unplayable for the whole season. It eventually evened right out, no more hump. Guitars are so strange.

[traktor]

On some older instruments we trimmed tangs with a type of diamond file, but these days we cut a bit of the tang off.

We trim frets to length after installation for exact fit, and then round their ends with a combo of Stew-Mac special purpose and triangular fiiles.

Tom, how do you cut the fretwire a little bit short?

[strictlybox]

>>The instrument that you are describing, if I understand you correctly, is one of our earlier bolt-on ToneWeavers? While it's true that our factory is better at fretwork now than 6-7 years ago, I *think* that the fretends were properly handled. I was trained by Bruce Sexauer, who's a world-class luthier.

TT,

No, both Toneweavers are "OK", it's the BluesBuster equipped Meg that's really bad............and it's a seasoned veteran, not your updated fretwork.....

No way is my storage "too dry" for any given length of time, NJ weather's all over the map..........

Why aren't fret ends simply rounded ??? Am I missing something here ??

[Tom Drinkwater]

There is a tool called the Fret Barber that allows you to trim the fret down and dress the ends before they are pressed in. I think it is sold through Stew Mac. I haven't used this yet but I have played guitars that have the fretwire cut slightly short and you could use the Fret Barber for that. The result of having the wire cut a bit short is a nice smooth edge like on a bound fingerboard. I still hammer frets in so the all of the dressing is done after installation. I think I am going to buy the fret barber and start pressing the frets in so in a month or so I can probably give better advice. I must say I love the fret work on my Megatar. I have never had an issue with the Megatar at all and the frets are nearly perfect. They are on par with every high end guitar that I have played including PRS, Gibson, Soloway, Alembic, Taylor etc, etc. The only guitar that I have played that really shocked me was Jamsires Linc Luthier baritone. It has a 28" scale length and plays like a much shorter guitar. The edge of the fretboard is rounded over and the frets are huge and perfect. The finger board is finished with some sort of clear material, maybe an epoxy, and the fret ends are really smooth and the whole thing feels like liquid. I have never felt a guitar like that before.

[traktor]

Hi, Glenn,

I cannot see the instrument, and so asking me again what's wrong ... is just not going to help us.

Again ... you have my phone ... you have my email ...

(I tried to phone you to inquire, but the number I have is old, and not in service.)

Whatever it is, fretwork is easy to do, so it should be easy to fix. Therefore ... contact me and I'll see what I can do about whatever it is ...

[Tom Drinkwater]

http://cgi.ebay.com/Fret-Vise-Tool-by-Luthiers-CoolTools-Smooth-Fret-Ends_W0QQitemZ370181344085QQcmdZViewItemQQptZGuita r_Accessories?hash=item370181344085&_trksid=p3911.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1205%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C 240%3A1318%7C301%3A1%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A50

This is the link to that device that I mentioned. It isn't a Stewmac tool like I thought.

[strictlybox]

I've been PM'ed recently regarding a perception someone has that my posts constitute "Megatar Bashing" :confused: and am taking the time to assure y'all that it was neither my desire nor intent to bash Mobius Megatar. That said, my time is better spent practicing and that's exactly what i'm going to do !!!

[strictlybox]

Hi, Glenn,

I cannot see the instrument, and so asking me again what's wrong ... is just not going to help us.

Again ... you have my phone ... you have my email ...

(I tried to phone you to inquire, but the number I have is old, and not in service.)

Whatever it is, fretwork is easy to do, so it should be easy to fix. Therefore ... contact me and I'll see what I can do about whatever it is ...

Thanks Traktor, but I never asked you what's wrong in the first place. I could send you pics, but what good will that do ??

Yes I have your phone and email, and there's nothing I need/want you to do for me, so I've not used either.

Fretwork is indeed easy to do and I would not bear shipping costs and would have the work done here in NJ, when the time comes.

My phone number is readily available, try whitepages.com, type in Glenn Drakeley and NJ and voila, Glenn's phone number.