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Epiphone Les Paul Custom arrived today; look beautifuls, plays ok (strings need a change and action needs reseting), but yeh pretty happy with it.

Anyway was playing and noticed a problem with the 2nd fret, at the high e string. When I play a note it buzzes and dies out quickly; the string appears to rattling against the 3rd fret. However, playing notes at the 3rd and 1st fret both sound fine.

Does this indicate the 2nd fret is too low on one side? If so, how does one fix this? I assume if the 3rd fret was too high it could be filed down, but the fact that the 1st fret works fine tells me that isn't the problem.

If this is a big issue I may just have to send it back to the person I bought it off (ebay); it's just not worth the money and effort getting a £100 fret redress on a £200 guitar.

it costs you that much to get your frets re-dressed?
thats insanity.
you could do it yourself, way back i told mezz how he could do it easily, and he pulled it off with great re-sults on his manolion.
is it used or new?
if its new you much as well see if you can score anyone without much hassle.
but if its used, may as well get the work done.

robert(original) wrote:it costs you that much to get your frets re-dressed?
thats insanity.

Sadly yes. I live in London and I don't have a personal guitar tech, so I'd have to take it to Denmark Street. Fixing a faulty pickup switch cost £30 there, a setup £50. I'm just guessing a fret level + setup will cost around 100. I wouldn't do the work myself, it's a set neck so it it goes wrong, the guitar is screwed..

robert(original) wrote: if its new you much as well see if you can score anyone without much hassle.
but if its used, may as well get the work done.

It's brand new and never opened BUT bought off a private seller on ebay, so I'm not covered by Epiphone's warranty. I can demand he take the item back I guess, but it's alot of hassle..hmm..

that blows, maybe if the neck had more relief, but that still doesn't change the fret issue.
normally that would cost like 30-50 usd around here. just straighten out the neck, level the frets, crown em, polish em and presto, its better than new.

Did you buy from this guy here? ebay seller happybusinessman. I bought a dot off him last week and there is a rattling note on the A and D strings at the 14th fret. Been a bastard to return to, he checks his emails late at night and i work all day so a recollection is a pain.

I suppose i could live with it, but the principle is the same, a guitar marked NEW as mine was shouldn't have a wonky fret. Would some heavier strings and a raised action/more neck relief help this?

this is the one he bought:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 0266028154

These sound like slight seconds to me ?

I know a guitar shop up north that sells primarily seconds, as new ...

aphasiac, there are a couple of fairly decent 'how to' vids on you tube regarding re-dressing frets...

It looks quite appealing to me...

Shoudln't have bought a fucking silverburst guitar. There's your problem.

You are being punished for buying a les paul.

Just a little sandpaper and patience. It's not hard.

DuoSonicBoy wrote:Just a little sandpaper and patience. It's not hard.

Still a les paul.

wait.


so every thing on the guitar is fine, plays great except the low end of the 3rd fret is hitting before your finger?


just go to the fucking flea market and buy a file for 50 cents and file that shit down a little.

robroe wrote:wait.


so every thing on the guitar is fine, plays great except the low end of the 3rd fret is hitting before your finger?


just go to the fucking flea market and buy a file for 50 cents and file that shit down a little.

If the third fret was too high and needed filing, wouldn't all frets below it buzz?

This isn't the case; the 2nd fret buzzes, but the 1st fret works fine. That was my original query; does this indicate the 2nd fret is too low, and if so how does one fix it?

sorry i had it the other way around.
did you try jacking up your e string saddle like a quarter turn? or a full turn? or like just crank that shit until it works.
if it doesn't work by tweeking the saddle height then your fret is too low.
pop it out and put in a new one.


im sure any random mom and pop guitar shop in town (read: not GC) would have an extra fret laying around they would sell you for 2$

pop in the new one and then go buy a file for 50 cents and continue with my advice from previous post.


i don't think that re-dressing the entire neck would be worth it since you only have a problem on one string on one fret.

Grrr, i guess i could replace the fret.

but its the principle; it's a NEW guitar! i could have bought a white or black epiphone for way cheaper, but I paid extra for this one cos it's new and silver. This will bug me and mean i can never enjoy playing this thing; I'll message the seller..

aphasiac wrote:

robroe wrote:wait.


so every thing on the guitar is fine, plays great except the low end of the 3rd fret is hitting before your finger?


just go to the fucking flea market and buy a file for 50 cents and file that shit down a little.

If the third fret was too high and needed filing, wouldn't all frets below it buzz?

This isn't the case; the 2nd fret buzzes, but the 1st fret works fine. That was my original query; does this indicate the 2nd fret is too low, and if so how does one fix it?

it could also mean the third fret is too high... generally you can't level one fret... you will have to consider the whole area... even 3-4 frets up. Get yourself a level first and work what it protruding, if anything. If a fret is sunken that's not so good.

robert(original) wrote:that blows, maybe if the neck had more relief, but that still doesn't change the fret issue.
normally that would cost like 30-50 usd around here. just straighten out the neck, level the frets, crown em, polish em and presto, its better than new.

This is what you should consider and there are good links on you tube about how to do it.

Last time I fished them out for a friend it took me ages to find but if you will consider it I will look them up again.

O

Make sure that it isn't the truss rod. Try loosening it up just a little bit.

I had dead frets on my Blazer that I fixed with a file and some sandpaper, but that's a 26 year old guitar. I understand your not wanting to go this route on a brand new guitar.

Alternatively, see if you can find a tech that will just replace one fret. Most tech's will tell you that you need to do a full fret dress on all the frets to make it even across the guitar, but this is usually because it gets them more $$ and is relatively simple for them to do.

holy cow:

http://www.portobellomusic.co.uk/repair.htm

i could get it redressed and have them look at the pickup selector switch (it's loose and cuts out if you flick hard - typical epiphone) for £45. thats damn good price.

Seller just emailed asking if i recieved the guitar - i will explain the issue to him.