donbenjy Posted October 30, 2007 Report Share Posted October 30, 2007 Hey, I just bought a 2nd hand Parker PM10, which is a REALLY nice guitar for the money and it plays beautifully. There's only one small thing I have an issue with: The fretwire on the last fret is raised slightly from the fretboard at the end and when play hard, sometimes the e string gets caught on the lip, fretting a high d note in the middle of what I'm strumming. Now this is quite a cool sound for greenwood-esque stuff, but obviously really annoying when you're playing normal stuff! It may be that I'm playing quite hard because I'm trying to use a 30 valve amp in my halls and it's hard to find a workable volume, so I'll need to wait until I get to play it loud at the weekend before I take any action. Anyway, I'm comfortable working on my guitar, but have never done any fret work before, so what's the best way to address the problem? I could think of 3: 1] File down the tip of the fret - I don't own a suitable file though, and I would probably need to remove the whole wire and clamp it so I don't damage the neck/fretboard. I also don't have access to a shop right now, so this is probably the least likely. 2] Buy some suitable glue for frets and just put some in where it's lifting up to seal the hole 3] remove the whole fretwire and reset it from scratch. What's the best option do you guys think? with the glue, I'm conscious of getting any excess on the fretboard and neck. is that gonna be a problem or is it easy to remove with fret polish or something? Cheers guys Ben Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodenspoke Posted October 30, 2007 Report Share Posted October 30, 2007 Hey, I just bought a 2nd hand Parker PM10, which is a REALLY nice guitar for the money and it plays beautifully. There's only one small thing I have an issue with: The fretwire on the last fret is raised slightly from the fretboard at the end and when play hard, sometimes the e string gets caught on the lip, fretting a high d note in the middle of what I'm strumming. Now this is quite a cool sound for greenwood-esque stuff, but obviously really annoying when you're playing normal stuff! It may be that I'm playing quite hard because I'm trying to use a 30 valve amp in my halls and it's hard to find a workable volume, so I'll need to wait until I get to play it loud at the weekend before I take any action. Anyway, I'm comfortable working on my guitar, but have never done any fret work before, so what's the best way to address the problem? I could think of 3: 1] File down the tip of the fret - I don't own a suitable file though, and I would probably need to remove the whole wire and clamp it so I don't damage the neck/fretboard. I also don't have access to a shop right now, so this is probably the least likely. 2] Buy some suitable glue for frets and just put some in where it's lifting up to seal the hole 3] remove the whole fretwire and reset it from scratch. What's the best option do you guys think? with the glue, I'm conscious of getting any excess on the fretboard and neck. is that gonna be a problem or is it easy to remove with fret polish or something? Cheers guys Ben String gets Caught on the lip of what? If the fret is not flush with the fretboard then it has to either be replaced or modified to fit the slot 90% probability, or reseated Pushed back down maybe witha little super glue. If it is just a burr a fine piece of sand paper will remove it. If you add up all the cost do do even a simple fret job (buying tools) for one issue on one guitar you may want to just find a good local repair guy and pay them. Soapbarstrat on this forum does work through the mail. Bolt on necks his specialty. Surprised the hasn't answered this post yet?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gosh Posted October 30, 2007 Report Share Posted October 30, 2007 When you say 'raised slightly', do you mean that is has come out of the fret channel a little and won't simply tap back in? Or is the channel worn, so that if you tried to tap it home it would just pop out again? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donbenjy Posted October 30, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 30, 2007 it looks like the fret isn't curved enough to follow the radius on the neck. Although the fret seems to be seated properly, the edge of the bit you can actually see is raised in the corner closest to the body and the high e string. it isn't really noticeable until the string gets caught there really. I'll try and post some pictures in a few days if I can get that close...Anyone know how much this is gonna roughly cost me to have fixed? I've only played it for about 2 hours so far, so it may just be something I have to get used to really! It's got 9's on atm so when I put my standard 10's on the change in action/relief might means that it's not a problem anymore! So this isn't really something I can fix myself then? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gosh Posted October 30, 2007 Report Share Posted October 30, 2007 If you are proficient, you should be able to sadle the neck and tap home the offending fret to seat it fully. If it doesn't go down or stay down, then either A: there is something in the fret slot preventing it from going home fully, OR B: the fret slot has widened, OR C: is not cut deep enough. A or C means you have to remove the fret and sort the problem B means you might be able to get away with gluing the fret back in place. You could use super glue with additive to make it cure instantly (10 - 20 seconds) after protecting the fingerboard area likely to be affected with a light spray coating of lacquer allowing you to wipe away any excess glue and the lacquer instantly. You still need to clean and polish afterwards. You can add the glue, then clamp down the fret, holding it in place until set. Then simply check everything is level and you are set to go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapbarstrat Posted October 30, 2007 Report Share Posted October 30, 2007 We just had some thread about laying down the law with unruly frets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donbenjy Posted October 31, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 31, 2007 yeah, I just checked that out...tbh it really doesn't seem like its a serious enough problem to warrant reseating the frets - especially as I have no experience with fretting. Although I do usually just do all maintenance on my guitars myself and I'm not afraid to try something, but fretting seems like an art rather than a simple job. Unless you think anyone can do it if they take their time? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zyonsdream Posted October 31, 2007 Report Share Posted October 31, 2007 It is an art. If there is space between the bottom of the tang and the fret board slot you can likely just tap it back into place with a dead blow mallet. but if the bottom of the tang is seated at the bottom of the fret slot, your fret slot is not deep enough. Sometimes you can use an exacto blade to cut a bit out of the slot from the end and the use a sport of superglue to hold the fret down once you can press it in. As said earlier, if the slot is too wide you'll have to glue it to hold it down. Regular superglue will do the trick for you as it will wick into the slot with ease. You said, you don't have much experience with fretting so I included the picture so you could see what part the tang is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodenspoke Posted October 31, 2007 Report Share Posted October 31, 2007 Looks like right now we have a slight language issue. To me it sounds like the fret is raised on each end of the board not in the middle. Super Glue, some wax on the board to keep the glue off and a clamping caul. IF you need a price tell us where you are so someone can translate into US dollars. A one fret repair job may be pretty inexpensive depending on who you take it to and what they find. You may think thats the only problem and it may have several others that need adjustement. lIke some basic setup and intonation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SwedishLuthier Posted November 1, 2007 Report Share Posted November 1, 2007 A question arises: Does the Parker Fly have fret tangs? In my mind they use a composite fretboard, no fret slots and “tangles” frets glued onto the board. From the beginning they were made that way. If so, most of the prior discussion is meaningless. Gluing the fret ends are the only way. BTW, how much have the fret end risen? Try to use a feeler gauge and measure the gap between fret and fretboard. The problem could also be badly dressed fret ends. Those can catch the string. But then again, fret ends like that would be very uncomfy to play, so you should have noticed that… Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donbenjy Posted November 2, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 2, 2007 It's not a parker fly though It's hard to tell, but it kinda looks like there are slots in the board for tangs, though it's black on black, but there's definitely a change in material beneath the frets. Woodenspoke is right: it's just about 2.5mm from the end of the fret that's raised (about 3/4 of the way from the edge of the board to the e string). I think part of the problem is that the edge of the board has been very slightly scalloped - not the whole fretboard, just the very ends) - so that as the tip of the fret reaches the scallop, it sticks up ever so slightly. I would guess that the main raised part is about the thickness of a piece of paper: it's only the very end of the corner that catches the e string. yeah, it's perfectly comfy to play, though on further inspection there seem to be a couple more that are similar, but i think it's down to the scalloped edges more than anything. I did remember hearing about parker having some quality control issues, but the rest is the guitar is really well crafted. Apparently on the PM10s they use a 12" neck radius but a 10" ToM bridge too...not sure what effect this would have on anything? not sure whether I can really tell unless I made myself some templates! Cheers again guys, gonna take it in to a shop today, though I don't expect much from them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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