So my eagle needs planing / refretting :(

[FredZepp]

zguitar71... is that a new guitar 2010/2011 ?

 

It would seem that a dealer would catch that much of an issue. It looks like someone tried to reset the frets or something.

There are no new people working at Heritage, only experienced.... so who did this?

 

Never on this site have I seen one near that type of problems, there seems like there is a story there. It's hard to imagine that it left the plant that way.

[DetroitBlues]

I'd be sending those pics to heritage and having them take a look at that. I cannot believe it came from them. It goes against everything I've heard about Heritage.

[zguitar71]

I've heard that they're improved now with the new owner. Have you checked out the new instruments? Also, I guess one trick is to buy through jay wolfe who apparently returns any instruments that are not made properly so you can be sure of getting a good one. If you buy used (like I did) you should probably figure on the fret level or refret. I was looking at a used sweet 16 recent and the dealer admitted to me it needed a planing. So, folks can say they're no worse than Gibson but it's just not true. I think they're great guitar and I'm one who believes that an instrument is worth working with to make right but I agree with your sentiment.

 

 

There is no way that came from the factory like that. Someone exposed the fretboard to moisture and tried to fix it crudely with a file.

 

 

Again, I am not going to make any assumptions. I believe Zguitar if that was a new guitar, if it was used then who knows who worked on the guitar.

 

I am VERY picky about my guitars and I have never seen anything close to that on the 15 or so Heritages I own.

 

If that was from a new Heritage Zguitar, then I would forward those pics to Vince at Heritage.

 

I have ordered half my guitars from Wolfe and the other half from another dealer and had great luck. I do very much agree that post 2007 the quality control has increase greatly under Vince's run with the company. But again, if you bought that guitar new, sen the pics to them.

 

 

 

The number on the headstock is AA12401, which I have interpreted to mean August 29th 2010 1st out that day. I did get the guitar used but I really do not think there was any damage from the previous owner. When I got the guitar there was very little sign of playing on the frets and the guitar is in mint condition. I think in the week I have owned it I have put more player wear and scratches on the guitar than in the 7 month of its life before me. The color of the metal on the frets was uniform around the entire fret on every fret including the areas that have damage. In other words there is not any indication that any fret work has been done. The marks on the top of the 17-19th frets are on the bass side where the odds of someone playing there is next to none, I think that area is exactly like it was from the factory and the marks are from installation. The frets are all seated properly too. There is no sign of water damage that could have caused swelling to occur on the fret board either, if that had happened then there would be signs in the boarders of the binding to the neck and fretboard and separation of the fret from the binding nibs at the end of the frets. The bulge on the board starts on the treble side right about where the heel on the neck starts and on the bass side where the neck joins the body. The rise is not very big and is a common area for a rise to occur in this type of guitar design.

 

 

This picture shows the pattern. All the file marks occur on the nut side of the frets and on the treble side. The blue on top of the frets is from me. I marked them in blue to as a reference point so I can see how much I am taking off when I start the leveling process.

 

I have bought a Heritage from Wolfe in the past and the frets were nice but did need a a little leveling. I do not know where this was bought from new. I guess I cannot say without a doubt that it can from Heritage this way but all the stuff I see points to it.

[FredZepp]

Thanks for the details...

 

Get that fixed and play that axe. I believe that is a Goldtop w P90s.

[zguitar71]

Yes it is. I feel like I have been getting down on it now, but it is a great guitar and on the edge of a perfect player for me. I will fix the ugly frets in the future but for now it is all about playability. I will take some pictures of the leveling process and post them later today or tomorrow.

[zguitar71]

Here are some shots of the leveling process.

trying to adjust the fret board as flat as possible

 

Then I file the blue marks off the high spots and check it with a straight edge and then repeat the process over and over until I get the frets as flat as possible.

 

Then I spot check the frets and get individual high ones down to the level of the others.

 

This is the fret that the most material came off of. Re-crowning will be a long job for these frets. The frets by the nut and the end of the fret board do not have much removed so they should be easy.

 

I put the blue marks back on the frets and start the crowning job then the polishing.

 

I do most of the leveling work in my lap in the playing position, I will go to the bench for the crowing work.

[Jazzpunk]

I do not know where this was bought from new. I guess I cannot say without a doubt that it can from Heritage this way but all the stuff I see points to it.

 

If I was not 100% sure that the bad fret work was done by Heritage, I would not present it that way.

 

Why would the original owner accept the guitar in that condition in the first place? Seems fishy to me!

 

Good luck on fixing it up. It's cool to see the work in progress pics!

[zguitar71]

Finished!

Taped off

crowning the tops

leaving just a little of the blue mark on top

sanding the scratches off

getting there

What is left of the worst gouge on the frets

The frets are leveled to compensate for the bulge in the board the, which now looks like dip in the fret board at about the 16 or 17th fret. I did not bother polishing them beyond 1000 grit paper, the strings will do that for me. I put the strings on, adjusted the slots on the nut and no buzzes from the strings. I am able to lower the strings below my usual height and still not have any buzzing so I am calling it success. Next fall I will pull the frets and level and radius the fret board and go with a slightly shorter fret.

[zguitar71]

This shows the dip in the frets starting around the 17th fret. The reflection of the light show it well and also shows the level frets before that area.