frets squished and cut

[wilkinsi]

whilst the strings do not make contact with the frets (whilst not in play obviously), i've noticed dents in the frets to such the extent they look like i was pressing down too hard. is this common for jackson imports (in comparison to USA selects), or have i been playing with high action for too long or what?

[Nazgul]

Something like this? :

http://www.frets.com/FretsPages/Musician/GenSetup/Frets/FretsViews/wornboard02.jpg

I have those starting to show on my Jackson Stars too (not so visibly though). But only under some frets of the high E string and a little under the B string. Anyway, that's because of a lot of (ab)use. The guitar has more than 500 hours of playing in little less than half year of owning it!!

[Budman68]

Actually that is called the fretboard, not the frets, and is it possible you keep your fingernails long? I've seen some that have long nails, and they dig into the wood eventually creating divots like that. Quiality of wood would come into play as well. If it's softer, it can be manipulated much easier.

[wilkinsi]

i always cut my fingernails. even when i haven't, i used my fingertips, my nails don't touch the frets. that pic is exactly what my frets look like. i've owned the guitar approx 14 months without a setup, and now get some buzz on the first couple frets on top-e. the cuts/mashed effect only appears on G and B which i play more than the others.

would this damage happen to a usa select, or are the frets all made of the same material?

[AdRock]

i always cut my fingernails. even when i haven't, i used my fingertips, my nails don't touch the frets. that pic is exactly what my frets look like. i've owned the guitar approx 14 months without a setup, and now get some buzz on the first couple frets on top-e. the cuts/mashed effect only appears on G and B which i play more than the others.

would this damage happen to a usa select, or are the frets all made of the same material?

If you play alot or are real hard on the neck when playing, the frets will look like that no matter what brand or or how much you spent on the guitar. You can have the frets dressed to solve the problem.

[MountainDog]

I've often wondered how those dents in the fret wire gets there. None of my purchased new guitars have these, even after years of playing or storage in their hard cases. Many of my ebay purchased used guitars have these dents. I've often thought these could occur from people leaning the guitar fretboard side against an amp or something when they aren't playing, or from keeping the guitar in a gig bag and maybe loading it in their car fretsidedown or putting things on top of the guitar. From what I've noticed, the heaviest dents occur frets 1 thru 4 or so, which would support my idea of leaning the guitar against something contributing to this.

I've noticed a pattern of guitars I've purchased in their original hardcase off of ebay have none or fewer of these dents, while guitars purchased with no case or only gig bag have more of these dents.

As a result of my theory that these dents occur from pressure of something pushing hard on the strings, when I sell a guitar, I cut some thick newspaper sheets and place it between the fretboard and strings in the hard case when I ship as added protection (like that Wolfgang plastic piece that goes between the frets and strings).

[Bert]

Nah, it's just playing wear. Some people fret a lot harder than others. Get the frets dressed/crowned and you should be good to go.

Stainless steel frets are a bit more resistant to this kind of wear, but are expensive, and lots of manufacturers don't even offer them (I don't think Jackson offers them any longer) because they are so hard on tools.

[wilkinsi]

The thought had occured to me, MD. It could be that I always place my guitar face down on my bed to clean the back of the neck, thus putting pressure on the strings to dig into the frets. It's either that or I've been playing harder than usual whilst the action was quite high, or, the action is now much lower with new strings, or possibly a combination of these.

[wilkinsi]

dress the frets? i don't know any luthiers over here. perhaps i should indeed buy a dk2 and swap necks (oooh! then i'd have sharkies on my WRMG )

[Speiro]

dress the frets? i don't know any luthiers over here. perhaps i should indeed buy a dk2 and swap necks (oooh! then i'd have sharkies on my WRMG )

I have a guitar shop about a 20 minute drive from me that do fret dressing and full set-ups but I'm miles away from you unfortunately.

[Nazgul]

That pic I posted in my first post...I meant the metal fret, not the fretboard itself.

[Budman68]

I see, I was thinking he meant the wood itself, I didn't think he'd already have dents in the frets so soon, my mistake.....

[toejam]

Nah, it's just playing wear. Some people fret a lot harder than others.

Yep. It happend on my old Kramer, since that was my only guitar for quite a long time.

[JACKSONFREAK]

Nickle frets ware out faster than the stainless steal ones. But nickle also creats a warmer tone than the stainless. So its a toss up. But nickle is usualy whats on most guitars from the factory. Just get the frets dressed and adjust your monkey grip on the strings. lol Oh also certain strings will make your frets ware out faster too like Dean Markley Blue Steel. I had those on my Stealth Pro once and it wore my frest out faster then the regular dean MArkley strings.
Gil

[wilkinsi]

i've got super slinky 9's. perhaps i should get d'addarios...