The case of the odd fret sprout.........

C

Castodader

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The guitar that I got for the equivalent of the money required to buy a few lunches appears to basically never have been played looked like a good deal, I had the fine pawnshop gentleman put the thing in my hands..... I was pretty pleased with how it felt, but it had loads of fret sprout........only one ONE SIDE OF THE FINGERBOARD. Not at all a deal breaker and I figured it out quickly:

I first found this guitar probably a year ago and had it on my mental list of "cheap guitars I might buy" and it has been hanging on the wall, close to the floor for at least that length of time. The side of the fingerboard that was next to the wall has almost zero fret sprout and the side of the fingerboard that was facing away from the wall and toward the rest of the shop had loads. So, it appears that just being toward the wall was enough not to sprout that side and the other side was out in the air conditioned shop and was sprouting.


Pawnshop guitars are funny and funky and sometimes just a big WTF........:)
 
Oh, also, I have not tried to correct the fret sprout as of yet. I figured I would let it hang here on my wall a while before I address it. Giving it some time to acclimate to my room. The fret sprout seems to be gradually unsprouting for the most part just due to having the fingerboard hanging parallel to the wall.
 
Fret sprout has nothing to do with how a guitar is positioned. It has to do with neck wood shrinking when the climate is dry. Then is the time to address it, not when the wood took in some humidity and swelled. If you heat your place in winter, that'd be the time.
 
BGood said:
Fret sprout has nothing to do with how a guitar is positioned. It has to do with neck wood shrinking when the climate is dry. Then is the time to address it, not when the wood took in some humidity and swelled. If you heat your place in winter, that'd be the time.
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I suspect that Casto is making humor. He's really rather accomplished when it comes to these things. We know him as Dadocaster in other locations...

The "time to acclimate" part is kind of a give away that he knows all too well what he's doing...

And I'll add that, depending upon the angle of incidence to sunlight and or heat/cold sources, the position of the guitar might indeed have a lot to do with it.
 
Beveling files are cheap at TEMU. Like under 15 bucks. Or get a flat stone. Those are cheap as well. Most of the time, my cheap beveling file takes less than five or six passes along the neck and then I touch if with a fret file and automotive sanding sponges. If you have central heat, the winter is the best time to attack those pokey rascals.
 
When I read the title I thought this might have been about an episode of Perry Mason and The Case of the Odd Fret Sprout.

Initially the pawn shop owner was arrested and charged with this heinous crime only to have Perry get a confession out of his assistant who filed only one side of the fret board to gaslight buyers and indeed the pawn shop owner himself. The assistant was convicted and sentenced to a life of watching Dan Erlwine videos sponsored by Stew-Mac.
 
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