I have a Martin D1 and when I play the 13th fret (F) on the high E string, no matter how hard I press down, the string rests on the 14th fret playing an F#. I have heard of frets rising out of the fretboard a little so I took a ruler and laid it across the frets to see if the 14th fret has risen, but determined that the 13th fret had actually sunken into the fretboard about a millimeter. Does anyone know how this would happen? Is this problem repairable and if so does anyone have any idea, ballpark, how much this will cost me?
Thanks
The D1, backbone of the 1 Series since 1996:
Yes and no, I know a little. But first, if you are the original owner it is always guaranteed for life - as long as you own it.
I was going to say I have seen it on vintage guitars where rosewood fretboards get spongy with time, if not dried out instead. Meaning they lose their integrity from sweat or dampness. Your situation is different on a new guitar.
I lost parts of this post and am just patching it together from here, sorry.
We can only speculate that since you have the neck attachment at the 14th, with the mortise beginning around the 13th which is directly over the heel, going into the tenon of the guitar's body... I guess there may be a faulty cut underneath and that the fret would sink only if the board has sunk or wasn't planed smoothly. NOW, on track, YOU were right, usually the 14 rises, as do a few others, like the 15th, 16th and so on, where there is often a hump, since the body holds them up, while string tension pulls back the preceding frets into a bow, and if there was too much bow at any time, or if the neck and truss rod were inherently weak, then a 'stacking' or domino effect occurs from the joint on.
Here's a link, and I've quickly found that you have a mortise and tenon for sure, which is controversially considered inferior to the dovetail joint. http://m2w.net/wiki/index.php/Mortise/Tenon
And this is Taylor's mortise and tenon, and Gibson has them too, certainly in solid bodies. You can see the potential for a flaw, and there's a good view of the fretboard underside.
So, the first way to fix it is by having an authorized Martin Service Center repair it. It will always be a luthier job. It may be possible to repair with a larger fret which would look out of place, or maybe with a specialized fret consisting of expanding cleats, that spreads the wood on both sides, and hopefully produce a little rise.
If you had to pay, you would also need a fret leveling, and maybe dressing, for $150 - $200. The other method is to remove all frets, level the entire fretboard, and install and dress new frets. The cost on that can vary extensively.
Like a bird on the wire,
like a drunk in a midnight choir
I have tried in my way to be free.
The guru of Martin repairs is Frank Ford. He posts lots of informative "how to" stuff on his website at http://frets.com/ that will give you an idea of what's involved.
"A cheerful heart is good medicine."
$150??? You can get a single fret replaced and leveled for $10 to $15 bucks around here. For $150 you get the entire neck re-fretted.
I agree though, if you are the original owner, give Martin a call. They probably have a authorized repair shop near you.
$150??? You can get a single fret replaced and leveled for $10 to $15 bucks around here. For $150 you get the entire neck re-fretted.
I agree though, if you are the original owner, give Martin a call. They probably have a authorized repair shop near you.
Right, I hope Martin will fix it. I've been thinking about it all night (true - I just didn't sleep for other reasons :roll: ) and it was the fact that Martin uses CNC, in that link I gave about the "1" series, and no more dovetail joints unless you go 'higher up' - well, anyways, the CNC machines and computer numerical cutting just should NOT make mistakes. :shock:
Really, my occasional Luthier used to give me his special deal many years ago which was $120 for a fret dress and leveling when he charged everybody else $150. I think he'd be at $200 now, and this is Canada, it is also the North where guitar shops can occasionally be 400 miles or 8 hours apart. Actually I'm going to Winnipeg tomorrow, which is that exact distance.
Anyhow, I think that the Twelth Fret which is probably the best, in our hub of Toronto would charge more than my repair guy, but here's he how he stuck it to me and lost my business forever, unfortunately...
A fret popped out of the neck, or actually just popped 'up' on one of my Squier Strats. I took it to my repair guy and he sells these Squiers for $199. So, he charged me a mere half of that, or $100 to glue down the fret and clamp it overnight! That's what I would have done, but I thought it wasn't an official type of repair, and that it would take more expertise, like replacing the fret, and smoothing out the board from splinters or whatever.
OMG, I have not seen that man for any more repairs, and not bought any more $1400 Strats or Teles from him, let alone pricier Guilds and Gretsch.
That's my story, and I'm stickin' to it! :lol:
Hey really, good luck with the D1 - I think it is the laminated neck that causes this issue now, though some would say they're better, and Framus used to make them like that, but, ummm.... they seemed to have some problems in the old days, also went out of business. :? Also, Framus didn't set their necks in, on the acoustics that I had, they were bolted on. So, no dovetail or mortise with a laminate neck until Martin decided to go that route.
I didn't care for the laminates anyway, and we'll see how far it goes with Martin?
Like a bird on the wire,
like a drunk in a midnight choir
I have tried in my way to be free.
Framus was reborn in 1995. They make some very nice guitars.
I started with nothing - and I've still got most of it left.
Did you know that the word "gullible" is not in any dictionary?
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