Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Tech => Topic started by: Hammerheart on May 15, 2013, 09:58:20 PM
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Hey guys. Not been around in a while.
Picked up my Jackson RR24 that has been on a hanger for a while. This guitars neck used to be beautifully finished but all of a sudden the edges of every fret have gotten sharp as hell! Has the neck shrunk? I've noticed a couple of small cracks in the ebony board too. A bit worried. What could have happened?
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Aww shite man. That sounds like the ebony hasn't been dried enough. Same thing happened to Keith Merrows Strictly 7 Signature with an Ebony Board:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=574116622617041&set=pcb.574128132615890&type=1&permPage=1 (https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=574116622617041&set=pcb.574128132615890&type=1&permPage=1)
Hope a luthier can sort that out somehow :(
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Ebony is well known for shrinking - and these days timbers don't have the luxury of waiting 20+ years in a luthier's stash getting seasoned and settled like they did centuries ago.
A good tech (someone like myself) will be able to sort out the sharp fret ends - they should also check to see if the fret heights have been affected also by any shrinkage - a little light fret dressing may be needed if the shrinkage has affected that too.
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Just checked my Kevin Bonds Sig Jackson as that has an ebony board. It's the same :(
It's not too bad at the minute but it gets progressively worse as you move up the neck towards the body.
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Maybe Jackson just uses Frets that grow over time? *runsawayandhidesbehindawall*
In all seriousness, the frets will need some work as Jonathan has pointed out. Some Lemon Oil should help to seal the Fretboards once they are fully hydrated again.
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Hi Guys,
just have to point out, i've noticed cracks in the fretboard of my rr24 as well. doesn't look so bad but it's still cracks...
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My Mockingbird - my only guitar with an ebony board - also has some sharp fret ends, plus they seem to be lifting out of the board a little.
It really does seem to be a common problem!
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Late reply. Been on holiday for a week. I'll pop it over to you at some point Jonathan.
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yeah, unfortunately its just ebony doing what it does. all wood does it to a certain degree but ebony does seem particularly prone to excessive shrinkage
now we seem to be getting different weather patterns you will spot it more and more, most of our US friends are a lot more used to dealing with seasonal set-up issues than we are over here
have it looked at professionally. try to pick the point in the year where its at its worst, usually when humidity is lowest. if you get them filed back and redressed at the worst time of year then generally they don't need doing again