Fret Tang ends sticking out...

[VC4Ever]

Why do builders still do this??? My guitar is fret sprouting cause of the dry winter and its annoying.

I will only buy a guitar where the fret tangs are cut short or there is a binding over it.

Will the Spring time humidity fix this or do I need to get them filed down?

 

[f550maranello2]

i just bought a music man axis 2 weeks ago and it had TERRIBLE fret ends sticking out.. it was a used guitar, its been at my house and i can already see that its almost back to normal.. i suggest keeping the neck oiled (if its not finished) and it should return to normal.

 

[ampjunkie]

If the woods are well dried out first this shouldn't happen too much.... But....

A PRS built in east coast humidity may not fare well in Vegas or California....

 

[neilli]

Yesterday I picked up my 2013 Tom Anderson for the first time in a month or so and I can feel the fret-ends - most of my guitars have unfinished necks so it's easy to just file them down and re-oil, but as I recall, Anderson use a satin finish on the necks, so I'm not sure how to approach this...

 

[Joe-TX]

This isn't normally a problem here in humid South Texas but having to run the heater more than normal this winter has done the same thing to a couple of my Charvels.
I bought an inexpensive humidifier and hydrometer at Walmart, had to keep one guitar in a separate room for a solid week with the humidifier running to bring it back to normal.
It worked like a charm.
Now I keep them all in that room and only run the humidifier when the humidity dips below 40% for too long.

 

[Metlupass2]

Last two winters I'm chicago have been brutal to some of my guitars. My Anderson's are the worst.... Which sucks. I bought a humidifier for the guitar room this year and it's been helping somewhat.

 

[Chubtone]

This is very common. The good news is that the frets will normally only sprout fangs one time. Get them filed while they are nasty and the next time the humidity gets weird it shouldn't happen again.

 

[VC4Ever]

thanks for the info/experiences

 

[Erock]

I moved last year, and had to put my gear in a basement in upstate NY. Even with a furnace humidifier running, it's been a battle keeping the humidity above 30% in winter, and below 60% in summer. I have a "clean room" where I try to maintain 35-45% RH at about 65-75 deg, but I have to constantly run humidifiers in the winter, and dehumidifiers in the summer. PITA, but you can definitely feel it in the neck/tuning stability of the instruments.

 

[xzyryabx]

if the neck shrinks during low humidity causing the frets to sprout, then you file them down, isn't that going to hurt you once the humidity rises and the neck goes back to it's old size?

also, what factors affect whether a neck will grow/shrink with he humidity levels?
I'm guessing proper "curing" of the wood would be the biggest factor.
Maybe also how the neck is finished?

 

[eecamichael]

No question a humidity issue. Here in Phoenix, I keep the humidity at 45-50% in the guitar room at all times. No issues with acoustics or electric, all on the wall.