Freting out on small E and B string

Thu Mar 11, 2010 1:08 pm

This happend on bending ,starting at fret 8 to 10 .Action is medium, i can get you messurment later.I use GHS Electric Guitar Eric Johnson Signature Set .010 - .050, regular tuning.
I tried a new set of strings, no change .
It is a legacy 2006. one of the first with new neck(maple ,maple cap) and it was plek i think.
I did no do any major change in set up, but i did change the vibrato block with a callaham.

It been doing that for some time . but i find it more and more anoying.

Do i have a neck problem, or just need to work on setup.

By the way ,i am very well equipe to do serious setup, but this is my baby, an i work close to a year to pile up money, so that make me very shy of doing anything on this guitar.
Ok ,i did change the block but that was easy, just some screw.

Re: Freting out on small E and B string

Thu Mar 11, 2010 6:27 pm

Sorry guy, but no one can tell without seeing it :searching: But from what I hear, it needs a good set up.
Let us know what you find out.

Re: Freting out on small E and B string

Fri Mar 12, 2010 6:19 am

fall/winter has been very strange here, and a local violin guy told me that all his client came to him a lot this year, lots of big humidity variation, so my legacy may have been affected, so truss rod adjust and all set up for me.I have good equipment to do that.lots of fun.

Re: Freting out on small E and B string

Fri Mar 12, 2010 1:07 pm

Fretting out issues can arise from a number of things. First, a neck with a radius of 7.5" is much more likely to have these issues than a flatter neck, say one with a 12" radius. If the neck has a downward bow, these issues will most likely occur in the upper register, whereas an upward bow would be more likely to cause these issues in the lower register. Of course, adjusting the truss rod solves these problems. It seems kind of strange that you'd be fretting out at around the 8th or 10th frets, so it sounds like it might be an issue with a fret or two being a little too high. If this is the case, and if the neck is straight, a light fret leveling/dressing would remedy any high fret issues. It's really quite amazing how common of a problem this is where many players aren't even aware of it. You can check this by simply placing a straight-edge over the neck, that is, provided the neck is straight to begin with. If push comes to shove, you can always raise your string action to solve the problem, but that's certainly not a very good solution for many folks.

Re: Freting out on small E and B string

Fri Mar 12, 2010 5:39 pm

i just check my neck, and i have a bow ,so truss rod work this weekend to start.and then we will see. thanks

Re: Freting out on small E and B string

Sun Mar 14, 2010 12:18 pm

Just to clarify something, I believe my terminology wasn't correct regarding upward and downward bows. It's actually just the opposite as I described. Sorry about that!

Re: Freting out on small E and B string

Sun Mar 14, 2010 1:18 pm

did291 wrote:i just check my neck, and i have a bow ,so truss rod work this weekend to start.and then we will see. thanks

Truss rod adjustment and string height re-set usually fixes a fret-out. I'd adjust about 1/4 to 1/2 turn initially and re-tension the strings. Don't force the wrench.

Hazy

Re: Freting out on small E and B string

Mon Mar 15, 2010 2:08 pm

Check your bridge saddles' radius. This gets out of whack often. The radius of the saddles at the bridge should match the radius of the fretboard. Use a radius gauge to check the fretboard (probably 12" radius) and then set the bridge to match.

Use the procedures in the FAQ to do the set up, and adjust from there.

Bill