Poorly finished frets

Hola uke experts.

So I bought this little Samick and I really love the way it sounds. I noticed, however, that the edges of the frets are sharp-- they seem not to have been shaped and finished properly. They slightly scrape my nails as I brush by.

How difficult would this be to fix? could I attempt to do it myself?

Thanks!

Sometimes low humidity can cause the fret ends to poke out, if it continues to remain dry, it can start affecting the body and crack. Although I'm pretty sure most Samick's are laminated bodies, the necks are not and subject to more fluctuation.

I would first try getting a planet waves or herco instrument humidifier at your local music store or online, put it in the case and let it sit. You want shoot for about 50% humidity with most instruments. My Taylor guitars like 47% on the dot at 72 degrees... finicky! My ukes are less finicky and accept flux from 45-55% at 65-75 degrees. I keep my instruments on the wall in my little music room. In the winter I use a room humidifier, in the summer I use a silica based "damp rid" de-humidifier. I have a planet waves hygrometer that measures the levels and check it daily.

If the humidity doesn't fix it, then take it to a local guitar tech and they can lightly file the fret ends and polish them up. I do all my own set ups on all my instruments and bought some tools that do the fret level, crown, bevel, trim and polish from stewart mcdonald and ebay. They are for more experienced and take practice to use them without damaging instruments. Best to find a pro!

Good luck and get it fixed so you can keep playing comfortably!

Thank you! Great advice.

I agree with everything Flyingace said; however, I have found that once frets start to protrude from a dry fretboard, they almost always need to be filed. It's also very possible that, as with many mass-produced instruments, final finishing of the frets was simply neglected. In either case, filing fret ends is a pretty simple task for an experienced tech, and should not cost too much or take too long.

RichM said:

It's also very possible that, as with many mass-produced instruments, final finishing of the frets was simply neglected. In either case, filing fret ends is a pretty simple task for an experienced tech, and should cost too much or take too long.

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I would say that this is the main cause (humidity will definitely play a factor, don't get me wrong), as most mass-produced companies do not have the extra manpower to dress the frets on every single instrument that goes through their factory.

A big factor is how bad are the frets sticking out ?
I have had good luck using a nail buffing block on fret ends when the ends are just a minor bit to long.
Humidity is a big factor on the finger boards since most are not finished.
I find that using a finger board conditioner both cleans as help to keep the finger board more stable.
If your uke is a little dry, I would polish the fret ends before humidifying, when the finger board expands the frets will be just inside the edge.

You can polish the rough ends to make them a little less sharp. I use 600 and 1500 grit emery clothe. However can buy fret end polishing tools from Stewart Macdonald and that would work too. I've never had to actually make frets shorter, but I often find the ends are sharper than I would like - guitars, banjos, ukes - and mostly on the 1st string side where your hand rides up and down the neck. On, ukes, sometime on the 4th string side because the thumb hits the fingerboard at the high end. It's not unusual - a luthier would do it for you if you like. Fret finishing - happens every day!

doug

wendellfiddler said:

You can polish the rough ends to make them a little less sharp. I use 600 and 1500 grit emery clothe. However can buy fret end polishing tools from Stewart Macdonald and that would work too. I've never had to actually make frets shorter, but I often find the ends are sharper than I would like - guitars, banjos, ukes - and mostly on the 1st string side where your hand rides up and down the neck. On, ukes, sometime on the 4th string side because the thumb hits the fingerboard at the high end. It's not unusual - a luthier would do it for you if you like. Fret finishing - happens every day!

doug

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Brilliant, this is all great help.

I can't say if the problem is from dryness or original to the piece. I know the owner I bought it from purchased it in '07 and I doubt he was thinking about his humidity levels I do think that it would be pretty irritating for anyone to play it in its current condition and that he hasn't played it in a long time, so I'm sort of guessing it happened over time.

I'm going to try to gently buff them as suggested but not take it too far-- will take it to someone with a little skill and some proper tools if I can't address it easily.