Fret buzz help

Hello,

So i recently made my first ukulele from a kit which had only the wood, nothing was previously put together. So after i did all the body work and thought to myself, hey this looks pretty good, i went to put the frets on and once they were all on it was completely unplayable. In doing so i realized i did push too hard on some of them and bent them, so i ordered new frets. I now just put these new frets in and im positive none are flattened or bent, however the ukulele is still unplayable. When playing the 1-3 frets theres buzz and 4 is played as 5, 6 as 7 and i believe 8 buzzes intensely.

I really dont know what to do to resolve the problem, and i was hoping to give it as a valentines day gift, so im hoping i can do something about it.


thanks

Your question is too vague for me to be of much help. I'm not sure what you mean by bending frets and you didn't say how you installed them. Do you know about fret dressing? My suggestion is to check out Frank Ford's website. It's very easy to follow. You'll learn more about fretting and fret buzzing that you've ever dreamed possible. Good fret work is a demanding and exacting job, one not to be taken lightly so don't beat yourself up over it. You have plenty of time to remedy the situation by Valentine's day.
Here you go:

http://www.frets.com/FretsPages/Luthier/Technique/Setup/BuzzDiagnosis/buzzintro.html

What i mean is that when i play at the first-third fret i get a buzzing thats like a sitar kind of buzz, but at the 4th fret it sounds the 5th fret, so the 4th and 5th have the same tone.

When i put these frets in i cut them to length and shaved down the little teeth on them so they would fit in the fret slots with less trouble. Before this set i couldnt push the other frets in due to the teeth being too large, so i had to try and hammer them in, gently tap i was told. However when i would do this it would either flatten the fret or actually bend it, so the fret would have a kink in it. Basically both of those things were making it nearly impossible to level the frets.

The newer frets i put in today however are definitely stil rounded, so the flattening is not an issue here, and im almost certain they arent uneven, as i paid close attention to the height of each fret. All I can think of is maybe a bow in the center of the neck? The problem with both sets of frets was at the 4-5-6-7 fret range. I also am going to try to get new strings, because my strings i have seem to actually have a nick or flattened spot on them by these frets for some reason, which also might attribute to the problem.

Yes, frets.com is the best site.

What is the string height over the 12th fret? It shouldn't be insanely low. I get by with two mm, but I play like a wimp. Those I set up for others are higher but never above 3 mm.

And what size fretwire are you using? Smaller sizes are fiddly and leave little room for flattening and re-crowning. I use 764 mandolin wire, I press them in with a make shift press that works fine.

www.argapa.blogspot.se/2013/07/new-gadget-for-fretting.html

http://www.argapa.blogspot.se/2013/10/fretting-fretboarding.html

You don't have to buy a lot of equipment, but you should know what equipment there is and what problem each tool solves. And trust Stewmac to have a tool for every problem imagineable, big or small.

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Fretting_supplies/Measuring/Fret_Rocker.html

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Fretting_supplies/Leveling.html

Be sure to check that the fretboard is level too. Good luck, you'll be fine.

Sven

Go to the Stew-Mac website and search for "fret rocker." This is a small metal piece with four sides of unequal length. It is a great way to find high spots on the frets. You don't need that particular tool, just something with a straight edge that allows you to bridge three frets at a time over the entire length of the fretboard. Use this and mark the high spots with a Sharpie. Then run a long file evenly along the fretboard until all the Sharpie marks are gone. Repeat this exercise until none of the frets "rock" and all the high spots are gone. Finish off by recrowning the frets (Stew-Mac sells a took for this, too) and polishing them. Finally, set the action so that the height of the strings above the frets is low enough for comfortable playing but high enough that no frets buzz. These operations are not difficult... unless you don't have the right tools or enough patience to do it right.

Your 5th fret is probably too high. It might cause the sitar sound and definitely the problem with the 4th fret. Just fret the 4th and see if you have any space under the string at the 5th. Its probably hitting.
The sitar sound might also be the saddle. Make sure its not flat on top but rounded