chinese guitar project

[simon1138]

Hello,

I have a Chinese guitar that I bought and it has some fret buzz problems. On closer inspection I find that some frets are higher than others and this would require some sorting. I did notice that the frets are not seated completely, I can get a 0.15mm feeler gauge under the edges. Is this normal/acceptable?

I don't want to have to try and press it down as the guitar is nice looking and seems to play well other than the fret buzz and some minor electrical problems. 

My question is, if the frets have this slight gap would it matter much?

Can I just take the frets down with some wet and dry paper and remove the buzz, or would the slight gap still cause a problem?

Edited February 20, 2017 by simon1138

[curtisa]

9 hours ago, simon1138 said:

My question is, if the frets have this slight gap would it matter much?

Depends.

If the gaps correspond to frets that are introducing buzz you can either attempt to reseat them by pressing or hammering, or re-levelling to reduce their height.

If the frets with gaps do not align with high frets then I'd leave them as-is, and deal with the others separately.

If they're loose in the slot (you can close the gap just by applying hand pressure) or the gap is getting bigger over time, you're going to have to re-seat the frets and get them to stay put somehow. Maybe wick some CA into the fretslot and clamp, or remove the old frets and install new ones with a wider tang.

 

9 hours ago, simon1138 said:

Can I just take the frets down with some wet and dry paper and remove the buzz, or would the slight gap still cause a problem?

Levelling high frets is usually a bit more involved than simply sanding down by hand. To get decent results usually requires sanding/filing against some kind of flat reference surface, recrowning and polishing, which will inevitably mean that several (possibly all) frets either side of the levelled frets will need re-finishing too. On a cheap guitar it could be a good excuse to learn how it's done without fear of making a mess of an expensive instrument? Lots of sites describing the process out there.

It may also be worth checking if the setup is a bit off too, as fret buzz can be introduced by poor adjustment of several parameters. Maybe the neck doesn't have enough relief (too straight or backbow), or the action is too low?