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There is nothing more frustrating than having your instrument develop technical issues. In some cases, there are some things that just make it downright uncomfortable to play. Sharp guitar frets are one of them. They basically prevent you from playing it altogether.
There are two ways to remove sharp edges from your guitar frets. The preferred method is to restore proper moisture to the wood of your guitar neck and have it expand. The second way to fix fret sprout is to file them down and smooth them out.
What Causes Sharp Frets?
When you begin to realize the frets are sharp or stick out from the neck farther than they used to, It’s normally already pretty bad. This is how it goes for all players who begin to experience this issue. There are a few reasons why this happens.
Neck Wood Shrinkage
The frets are metal and will never shrink or expand normally, at least not any faster than the neck. The neck itself, being made of wood and a hygroscopic material, can shrink and expand by quite a bit. If the guitar is stored in a dry environment for a long period of time, the moisture in the wood will be removed.
As the moisture leaves the wood, it shrinks. The one place you will notice this the most on a guitar is in the neck. As the wooden neck shrinks, the frets will slowly begin to stick out a bit farther than they did before.
Some frets can be so sharp that they can cut your hands as you run past them. In most cases, they are annoying and prevent you from moving quickly as you play.
But it can get so bad that the guitar essentially becomes unplayable. If you have ever experienced this, you know exactly what I mean.
To truly know that your neck has shrunk, inspect all the frets. If they are all sticking out, right down the neck, then you know it is because the wood has shrunk.
Fret Sprout
Raised fret ends, also called fret sprout, are another reason why they might be like a razor. Sometimes the frets loosen or get pushed up. When they loosen, they become sharp and sometimes cut your hand. This is normally also followed with a fret buzz that wasn’t there before.
Not only is the fret end sharp, but it also comes with a funny buzz when playing. This can be fixed quite easily and will only be one or two frets at most that are like this.
Manufacturing Defects
If the guitar is new or has recently had new frets put on the neck, there is always the chance that the ends will be sharp. If this is the case, then it is due to incorrectly filed fret ends. While this doesn’t happen often, it can and needs to be considered.
It’s less likely to happen with a new fret installation. It’s more likely to happen when buying new, cheaper guitars. And just like we touched on above, it is also possible to have frets loosen up. If they were not installed right, they can loosen up and begin to cause issues.
In this case, it is always best to return to the music store or technician to have the issue looked at and resolved.
How To Fix
Sharp fret ends can be fixed, but there are right and wrong ways to do so, especially in the case of the neck shrinking. In order to properly fix a guitar with frets wider than the neck, we need to restore the moisture to the wood.
When restoring the wood to its original condition, you need to first address the room it is being stored in. Follow these 3 steps, and you will restore your guitar back to its original condition.
Step 1: Guitar Room Moisture
The first step in fixing the issue of a shrunken neck wood is to get a good humidifier. Every player should be storing their instruments in a room with proper humidity. Just as a rule of thumb. If not, your guitars will be affected in other areas like intonation and tuning.
Not to mention neck action and playability. A properly monitored and adjusted room will also contain a hygrometer. This is used to measure the humidity levels in the room.
A hygrometer will measure both temperature and humidity. Then calculate if the environment is dry, comfortable, or too moist. In order to read the humidity of the room your guitars are stored in, I recommend this device. They are cheap but effective!
Step 2: Proper Storage
You have now added a humidifier to your room. But you will also need to make sure the instrument is stored properly. The best way to do this and add moisture to the wood is to store the guitar in the case.
Also, with a proper humidity control system. D’addario makes a good one. It goes into the case and prevents the guitar from experiencing dryness.
The restore kit revitalizes dried-out instruments. If the wood has already shrunk, this helps reapply moisture to get it back to normal quicker.
The humidifier in the room will help a great deal in preventing it from shrinking again. Getting back to normal will require letting it sit with proper humidity in the case.
Step 3: Give It time and Monitor
The next step is the hardest, you need to wait and monitor the fix. For some players, the fret ends are so sharp that the guitar cannot be played. If this is you, then make sure the restore system by Daddario is being used and give it a good week.
Depending on the wood, it may only be a few days before you are at least able to play it. But expect a few weeks to be restored completely.
Continue to keep the humidity in the room up to at least 35% and store the guitar in its case when not in use. Don’t worry, you will be back in action in no time!
While you may also be looking for quicker options, just be careful with adding too much water too soon. You don’t want to ruin the guitar or the wood by doing this too fast.
Filing The Fret Ends
This next method is for those who want to resolve the issue now, or for those who have sharp fret ends and no shrinking. Let’s face it, the guitar frets are metal and can become damaged and pointed as well.
Here, I suggest you either take the instrument to a local guitar tech or obtain fret end files. A tech will be able to address the frets and make them smooth and easy to play. Or, they can alert you to any other issues that may be causing the problem in the first place.
Obtain A Fret End File
If you are a DIY kind of person, fret files are easy to get. This also allows you to get better at performing your own guitar maintenance. Which are good skills to have! Especially learning how to remove sharp edges from frets. Stewmac makes a great fret end file that every player should have anyway.
If at some point they become sharp because of damage or form a burr, you can resolve it yourself. Be sure to keep a file cleaning card to remove the material if doing some heavy fret removal. The file may get gummed up and will need to be cleaned.
File Fret Ends With Caution
When it comes to filing ends, great care must be taken to prevent damaging your fretboard. It is easy to put a nick into the board when filing frets. So before you begin to file the fret ends, get a hold of some low-tack painter’s tape. Then cover the areas that could get damaged around them.
Even the most steady of hands can leave a nick in the fretboard. And once it is in there, and the damage is done, it is not coming out easy!
