Hi Sterling,
I just went through the exact problem as you w/ the first fret not 'lying down'
about a month ago. I was also hoping on a piece of advice that wouldn't lead to
removing and more carefully retying one. Yes, they are expensive at that
diameter. Forgive me for watching and waiting for what other, more experienced
players chimed in with.
It's interesting that it will fold nicely at one point but if the fret gets
rotated where that fold moves toward the string it won't lie down again. The
possible lesson here is to not let that happen as we tie it. Cold comfort, I
know.
I found a way to keep pressure on that one raised area (after breathing warmly
on it for a few minutes) over a few nights and it did eventually drop to an
acceptable height.
Btw, this occurs on a 6c w/ fairly low action (MHaycock). I did raise the nut
w/ a few paper shims to accomodate the tastino and where MH originally spec'd
1.0mm for the 1st fret, I now use 1.15. I've tried to keep records lately to
make refretting go easier but it's still the one operation that will enevitably
take all afternoon and more fret gut than I'd like to use.
Sean
On Jul 16, 2013, at 6:08 PM, sterling price wrote:
Hi-
There was no problem when this lute had just -slightly- smaller frets.
I was hoping there would be some remedy I could do without putting new
frets on as they are quite expensive at this size. I tried loosening a
fret and working it a bit to soften the edge but it wasn't successful.
I might try a few other things though.
As RE the high action of this lute, I have the same plan that I think
Larry K Brown worked from (its the J.J Edlinger 1732 13 course).
Anyway, the neck angle and enormous belly scoop/dish shown on the plan
result in a high action. I realize that this feature need not be
utilized in the copy lute though.
--Sterling
__________________________________________________________________
From: Michael Vollbrecht <[email protected]>
To: sterling price <[email protected]>
Cc: "[email protected]" <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, July 16, 2013 3:22 AM
Subject: Re: [LUTE] Big Fret Help
Had the same problem recently, moving from .80 to .95 frets and in my
case the remedy consisted of two things:
First, I had to "reform" the fingerboard a little bit with a scraper so
as to get it a little bit curved (it was actually curved the wrong way
from the 4th fret up...). This might not be necessary in your case,
just
check with a metal ruler.
Then you need a VERY smooth round fingerboard edge - if the radious is
too smaall the fret is lifted up from the board: a bit more scraping
and
finishing touch with some sanding did it for me. If your lute neck is
veneered (like mine) however, be careful when rounding the edge - you
can easily work through this thin layer...
In addition to all this, I wrapped the fret gut a couple of times
around
a long needle nose plier, mostly the part for the knot and where the
edgdes would come: this makes the gut much more flexible, the knot is
easier to tie and the gut follows the edge much more smoothly.
Hope this helps!
Michael
On Mon, 2013-07-15 at 15:29 -0700, sterling price wrote:
> Hi all--
> I recently changed the frets on my baroque lute (after many years
of
> service). I went up from 1.10 mm to 1.20 mm on all frets. The
problem I
> am having is there are a few frets that are not sitting all the
way
> flat under the first course so it has a 'choked' sound on some
notes. I
> know this wouldn't happen if the fingerboard was more curved or if
I
> used smaller frets(not an option). Any advice on how to get these
big
> frets to stay flat would be great. And yes they are very tight.
> Thanks,
> Sterling
>
> --
>
>
> To get on or off this list see list information at
> [1]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
--
References
1. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
