# Fretboard Shrinkage: What to do?



## Grand Moff Tim (Feb 15, 2014)

I took my Ibby Premium BTB5 out of its case for the first time since late summer last night, and the fret ends that used to be awesome and comfortable are now overhanging the edge of the fretboard and shred the shit out of my hand when I play.

Is there something that can be done about this? A way to season the fretboard, or something?

Will the problem go away once the dryness of winter ends and humid spring returns?

Am I going to have to get the frets recrowned/replaced?

If it's something that's going to come and go every winter, is there something I can do to prevent that, or am I just going to have to buy another bass to play in winter and relegate this one to the summer? Hahaha.

I might be joining a band on bass soon and this is the only bass I have here in Korea, and I'd really rather not have to shred the hell out of my fretting hand every time I practice or gig.

Halp.


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## skeels (Feb 15, 2014)

You could try soaking the fretboard with lemon oil and see if that helps. 

Failing that, a flat fine grit sharpening stone will file the ends down and when the board expands back, the frets should still be good.


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## MaxOfMetal (Feb 15, 2014)

As skeels mentioned, see what oiling the fretboard does. I would skip out on the lemon oil though and just go for simple mineral oil (the chief ingredient in lemon oil, just without the cleaners etc.). Take the strings off and apply the oil with a foam brush, let it soak in for a few hours and then wipe away the excess. Restring, tune up, and let it sit overnight.

Keep it in a humidity controlled room, or keep it in it's case with one of those compact humidifiers/dehumidifiers used on acoustics. 

Over the time the wood will "season" itself and the fretboard will get more stable.


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## xwmucradiox (Feb 15, 2014)

Just take it to a repair shop and have them file the fret ends down. Youll only have to get it done once and it will be all fixed.


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## Grand Moff Tim (Feb 15, 2014)

I don't think it'd be as simple as that with this, since it's an Ibby Premium and the Premiums have those rounded fret ends. There might not be enough there to file down while still leaving a reasonable amount of fret on the ends.

Looks like I'll be needing to find out where to hell to buy mineral oil and a foam brush here in Korea. Safe money says none of my Korean coworkers that would normally help me with that sort of thing will have any idea where to get something like that.

Guess I'll just have to grin and bear it and play with a torn up hand if I get to try out for that band, since it's going to take time to find the stuff I need, apply it, and wait for it to work. Perhaps it's time to invest in a backup bass.


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## Grand Moff Tim (Feb 15, 2014)

This is what Premium fret ends look like, for reference sake:


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## Grand Moff Tim (Feb 15, 2014)

Would fretboard conditioner essentially do the same thing as straight up mineral oil? I don't really know where to go about finding mineral oil in Korea, but I have managed to find both Planet Waves Hydrate and Dunlop Fingerboard 02 Deep Conditioner on a Korean music site. Would either of those do the trick? There's also some lemon oil, if neither of those will do what I need them to.


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## MaxOfMetal (Feb 15, 2014)

Mineral oil can be found at hardware and kitchen supply stores. It's far from an exotic elixir. Heck, I've gotten it at IKEA before.


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## Grand Moff Tim (Feb 15, 2014)

And if I were back in the US, I'd pop on over to the hardware store and buy some.

Here I'm going to have to try to find some back alley mom and pop shop that will hopefully have some, and finding the store & trying to work things out with the employee there in a language I don't really have a strong handle on yet is going to be an ordeal. If there was a specific product I can find online from a Korean site, that would've been ideal.


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## Grand Moff Tim (Feb 15, 2014)

Searching Korean aggregate shopping sites for mineral oil is mostly turning up bicycle break fluid, cosmetics, and $30+ bottles ranging from 1 pint to 1 gallon. Is bike brake fluid just straight up mineral oil?


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## skeels (Feb 15, 2014)

Is it the ball ends sticking out or the tangs?


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## MaxOfMetal (Feb 15, 2014)

Try looking for baby oil, it's the same stuff. Ask your Korean friends where they would shop for a baby or where they'd get cutting boards, but please don't ask for both.  

According to Google, gwang-yu is Korean for mineral oil.


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## Andromalia (Feb 15, 2014)

MaxOfMetal said:


> Ask your Korean friends where they would shop for a baby



I do love quotes taken out of context.


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## technomancer (Feb 15, 2014)

Grand Moff Tim said:


> Would fretboard conditioner essentially do the same thing as straight up mineral oil? I don't really know where to go about finding mineral oil in Korea, but I have managed to find both Planet Waves Hydrate and Dunlop Fingerboard 02 Deep Conditioner on a Korean music site. Would either of those do the trick? There's also some lemon oil, if neither of those will do what I need them to.



Either of those should work if it's easier for you to get. I've used the Dunlop a lot myself.


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## wilch (Feb 15, 2014)

Singer Sewing Machine Oil is also light mineral oil.

I don't know how this goes with conditioning fret boards though. Might be good? Might be bad? From what I've read is a highly refined mineral oil without anything that will make it gluggy (like some forms of mineral oil).

I've only just started using it by putting it in a small spray bottle, spritzing a cloth, and then wiping down the strings.

Seems to do the same thing as Kwik Fret (re: cleaning strings), without the eucalyptus smell.


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## Pikka Bird (Feb 15, 2014)

^Yeah, I was about to suggest sewing machine oil, or the stuff you squirt into bicycle locks (NOT WD-40!!!). Mineral oil is generally not known as _mineral_ oil in non-English-speaking countries.

edit: I know we're going into semi-religious territory here, but if the oil trick works then you might want to oil the board with linseed oil to make it less susceptible to such humidity changes in the future.

...also wouldn't hurt to knock off the fret ends just slightly with a bastard file. Just enough so the problem is lessened, but not enough that the rounded fret ends will be flattened. At least, that's what I'd do.


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## xwmucradiox (Feb 15, 2014)

Unless the oil is a hardening oil it will not prevent or affect moisture exchange. That is a myth. For the most part oiling a fretboard makes it look pretty more than anything else. 

The amount of material at stake here is probably a fraction of a millimeter. Only a few swipes with a file and it will be completely gone without affecting the fret ends. The is especially true if just the tang is exposed. If the wood has shrunk enough that the actual fret is protruding then you still need to do the work. Attempting to mess with the moisture content of the wood forever in order to deal with this problem will lead to serious problems. Just get the rough ends filed down and be done with it.


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## Grand Moff Tim (Feb 15, 2014)

skeels said:


> Is it the ball ends sticking out or the tangs?



It's the ball ends. The tangs aren't visible at all.

I tried to take some pics of the overhang with my phone, but I'm not sure how obvious they are to the eye, rather than to the shredded hand:


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## Le Jeff (Feb 16, 2014)

I'm late to the party, but: Go grab any single mill file and just run it down the side of the neck. Go slow until you have a feel for it, then keep going slow until you're finished. Honestly, once you do it you'll be saying "why do we pay techs an arm and a leg for this kinda stuff?"


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## Pikka Bird (Feb 16, 2014)

Le Jeff said:


> Honestly, once you do it you'll be saying "why do we pay techs an arm and a leg for this kinda stuff?"



Truer words are rarely heard!


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## skeels (Feb 16, 2014)

I can understand you don't want to file the ball ends flat. I suppose you might have to re-round the ends ...

I mean I can see the ends sticking out but it can't be by much. I'm surprised that the round ends tear up your fingers so much.


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## Grand Moff Tim (Feb 16, 2014)

Le Jeff said:


> I'm late to the party, but: Go grab any single mill file and just run it down the side of the neck. Go slow until you have a feel for it, then keep going slow until you're finished. Honestly, once you do it you'll be saying "why do we pay techs an arm and a leg for this kinda stuff?"



Dunno what counts as an arm and a leg when it comes to this stuff, but a fret rounding/dressing costs ~$30 at my local tech. That can't be too much more than what a file would cost me + the time and effort to find a hardware store in the city nearest me and trying to communicate what I need to someone with whom I don't share a language.


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## Grand Moff Tim (Feb 16, 2014)

skeels said:


> I can understand you don't want to file the ball ends flat. I suppose you might have to re-round the ends ...
> 
> I mean I can see the ends sticking out but it can't be by much. I'm surprised that the round ends tear up your fingers so much.



Only the top of the fret is nice and rounded like that. The bottom is like a sharpened spoon .


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## Mordacain (Feb 16, 2014)

Grand Moff Tim said:


> Dunno what counts as an arm and a leg when it comes to this stuff, but a fret rounding/dressing costs ~$30 at my local tech. That can't be too much more than what a file would cost me + the time and effort to find a hardware store in the city nearest me and trying to communicate what I need with someone with whom I don't share a language.



Wow. Same thing in my neck of the woods is about $120 for work that isn't even on-par with my amateur work.


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## skeels (Feb 16, 2014)

Grand Moff Tim said:


> Only the top of the fret is nice and rounded like that. The bottom is like a sharpened spoon .


 
I use a small flat rectangular sharpening stone for fret edges and it works really well. A fine grit one shouldn't tear up the binding on your fretboard as much as a file and they should be relatively easy to find.


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## Grand Moff Tim (Feb 16, 2014)

Mordacain said:


> Wow. Same thing in my neck of the woods is about $120 for work that isn't even on-par with my amateur work.



The benefits of living somewhere with a low Cost of Living .


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## Given To Fly (Feb 16, 2014)

It's $20 in my neck of the woods and it happens to every single guitar that isn't in a humidity controlled room 24/7. I use multiple case humidifiers for my classical guitars which works pretty well. I should probably add a case humidifier to my electric guitars too.


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## Le Jeff (Feb 19, 2014)

Grand Moff Tim said:


> Dunno what counts as an arm and a leg when it comes to this stuff, but a fret rounding/dressing costs ~$30 at my local tech. That can't be too much more than what a file would cost me + the time and effort to find a hardware store in the city nearest me and trying to communicate what I need to someone with whom I don't share a language.


 I guess "single mill file" sounds specific, but it isn't fancy. It's any flat rectangular file that only has the teeth cut one way, like so:







Normally they have plastic handles but you can just pull them off to make the file easier to use on a guitar neck.

I guess everyone's time is worth something different to them, but I own 6 guitars and like to change a few of them up every so often and hardware stores are more common than techs. I've saved that $30 dozens of times over with an $8 file and a trip to a hardware store. YMMV, of course. I should also mention I bought a $15 file from Stu Mac for doing fret ends up all nice and fancy-like. It really helped me satisfy my OCD need for nice frets however, I've since lost that file and just recently moved from somewhere humid to somewhere not. Half of my guitars have needed work since I've been here and they're all perfectly playable with nothing but an $8 file at my disposal.


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## Pikka Bird (Mar 2, 2014)

*Bump* for info: Ikea Skydd is cheap and very useful. It's basic mineral oil with no added nonsense and it comes in bottles that'll last a looooong time.


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## AVH (Mar 2, 2014)

Le Jeff said:


> I'm late to the party, but: Go grab any single mill file and just run it down the side of the neck. Go slow until you have a feel for it, then keep going slow until you're finished. Honestly, once you do it you'll be saying "why do we pay techs an arm and a leg for this kinda stuff?"



An arm and a leg? Dude, really? I charge $30 to do end dressing.  Just simply raking a mill file down the side of the neck to level them off is only the easy first part..so then what about the sharp edges of the newly beveled ends? Is your completely inappropriate mill file going to smooth those off? No. And did the mill file leave any slight marks on the neck that also need to be sanded out? Likely a little yes. And what about the knowledge and proper tooling to restore those nice 'semi-hemi' ends, and then polish them off properly back to the original spec and appearance. These aspects take time, experience, and more work that how you're making it seem, so perhaps you may want to rethink those statements a little bit.


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