Will bigger/taller frets help with sticky board?

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chris_johnchris_john Frets: 162
I have a sweet MIJ 80s Squier Strat with vintage low/thin frets. The neck is lovely and  action is perfect for me, but as soon as I get hand sweats my fat fingers start dragging on the board. Considering a refret to medium jumbo. Would this help remedy the situation? 
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  • BridgehouseBridgehouse Frets: 24578
    Do you mean on the top of the board? I presume this is a maple lacquered board?
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  • Can you still buy fastfret? A bit o'lube could be just the ticket. I assume it's a maple fingerboard?
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  • chris_johnchris_john Frets: 162
    edited June 2018
    Do you mean on the top of the board? I presume this is a maple lacquered board?
    Sorry, I meant my fingers are sticking to the board. It is a rosewood fingerboard. The problem is I have very sweaty hands once I start playing. Because the frets are so low, my fingertips touch the board and it feels very sticky. Also, I don't have slender little fingers, instead I have chubby round fingertips. Just wondering if the extra fret height would help.
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  • chris_johnchris_john Frets: 162
    Can you still buy fastfret? A bit o'lube could be just the ticket. I assume it's a maple fingerboard?
    I use fastfret and Finger-ease spray. It feels good for about 30 minutes, then the sweatiness kicks in and it's back to sticky city.
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  • FelineGuitarsFelineGuitars Frets: 11495
    tFB Trader
    yup 
    Taller frets mean less fingertip contact....

    Many guitars have a re-sale value. Some you'll never want to sell.
    Stockist of: Earvana & Graphtech nuts, Faber Tonepros & Gotoh hardware, Fatcat bridges. Highwood Saddles.

    Pickups from BKP, Oil City & Monty's pickups.

      Expert guitar repairs and upgrades - fretwork our speciality! www.felineguitars.com.  Facebook too!

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  • chris_johnchris_john Frets: 162
    yup 
    Taller frets mean less fingertip contact....
    Cool, thanks. Medium Jumbo seems to be popular these days, so I will look into that.

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  • sweepysweepy Frets: 4158
    Have you tried Buffing the fingerboard to smooth it off ? A refret will not be cheap and not far off what the guitar is worth 
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  • chris_johnchris_john Frets: 162
    sweepy said:
    Have you tried Buffing the fingerboard to smooth it off ? A refret will not be cheap and not far off what the guitar is worth 
    I haven't tried. Any tips on how to do that? Saving money is always good, but tbh, I really like this guitar. It just sits in my hand perfectly and has real 'mojo'. I previously owned an American Deluxe and I couldn't vibe with it at all. This relatively inexpensive guitar just feels right - asides from the problem with my sweaty hands.
    Anyway, if buffing helps, I am willing to try..
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  • sweepysweepy Frets: 4158
    edited June 2018
    There are a few different techniques a lot depends on how open the pores are and rough the fretboard wood is ? Some people swear by using various grades if wet and dry whereas others use a sharp flat edge and effectively scrape the wood "flat"
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  • skunkwerxskunkwerx Frets: 6838
    So I’m not alone! 

    I have a problem whereby my fingertips get grippy as hell. Certain guitars are better for it, but its always there for me. 

    I used to do this thing of running each of my fretting fingers down the side of my nose, right in the crease.
    Usually slicked up my fingers for a while real good.
     Its like fast fret but worked better, was free, quick and the oils never ran out. 

    ^ thats grim right? Well theres a player out there that slicks themselves up on chicken grease.. which I wouldnt recommend unless you like your guitars going rancid. 

    I doubt much of the below will apply for you if it only happens on this one guitar, but figured I’d share anyway. 

    I also have very dry hands/skin so I need to moisturise them everytime after I’ve washed them, which I imagine doesnt help callouses much at all, and also means my hands are constantly moisture laden with palm oil. But what can I do.. 

    First noticed this problem on an Epiphone Les Paul about 4 years ago when I properly started playing again, and my God did I notice it. Seriously it was like my fingers were made of rubber, and the guitar was made of sandpaper. Bends were nigh on impossible and slides were completely impossible. 

    Now that epiphone had medium frets and a rosewood board, and it was a very open pored board too.

    I tried everything at the time, polished the frets, changed string gauge and brand, oiled the fretboard with all imaginable oils, washed my hands before playing, etc etc. 

    Nothing made a difference.
    So I tried a few other things... 

    I scraped the entire fretboard with a razor blade, which is something a few blokes on MLP recommended to remove any dye. No joy though. 

    I used naphtha/lighter fluid which cleans the board great and evaporates quick but needs oiling after, but to no avail. 
    Then tried dunlops equivalent 2 stage fretboard cleaning and conditioning products but same results. 

    I tried using loads of talc powder on my hands. No joy and it was messy and smelt. 

    Like yourself I tried fast fret and XLR8, which helped for all of 5 minutes then seemed to just make it worse. I also wondered if the mineral oil which is fast fret would do my skin in by constantly using it. 

    I went to the doctors to see if I had a nickel allergy or a skin problem which could be causing it, but the gp was next to useless and didnt want to know. 

    Tried changing moisturisers to no avail too. 

    In the end I gave up. 



    2 of my other guitars, an Esp and a Chapman both have XJ frets. 
    The Esp has a rosewood board but the grain is tight, and the Chapman has an Ebony board with even tighter grain. 

    Initially the chapman was bloody draggy as well. But after several lemon oils its been fine ever since. 

    However after playing a while on either guitar, my fingers do not slide as freely. I guess its sweat, finger oils and my callouses becoming moist and softer as well. 

    Now I never really got to the bottom of it. 
    I presume its half my biology thats at play here because if it wasnt then everyone would experience this, but the reason I know certain guitars are partly to blame is because its worse on some over others. 

    I have a Prs se tremonti which I believe has medium frets on a rosewood board, and its deffo the worse of the 3 I’ve mentioned so far. 

    I began to wonder if stainless steel frets would make a difference, or perhaps a maple board. 

    I recently bought a cheap Squier Affinity tele which has a maple board, medium jumbo frets and the fretboard laquer is incredibly thin, to the point of me wondering if its laquered at all! 
    But it plays fine, atleast as good as my others. I get shitty grippy times after the usual amount of playing, but no worse than my other guitars and certainly nowhere near as bad as the Epiphone. 

    Heres my original thread on it if you’d like to have a looksee: http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/95993/sticky-strings-or-frets-or-fretboards-idk/p1


    For me this issue is most noticeable on the treble strings. 
    I tried cobalt strings and coated strings, which felt great and slippery on the bass strings but no different on the trebles.. 
    I also noted that thicker plain strings for example that of a .10 set, seemed worse than that of a .09 set. 


    Its true that taller frets or a scalloped board means less fingertip drag, and hopefully that will work for you! 
    I was certain in my case that the strings themselves felt grippy after playing a little while, even after cleaning or replacing them, and that some kind of buildup occured somewhere which was also present on the frets..
    Mate, it drove me insane, and still kind of does cos I wish I knew the answer! 

    I’m sure the board has a role in it though. 
    Whats the grain/pores like on yours? 

    I should add even on my xj fretted guitars, my fingertips come into contact with the board during bends etc. I dont have great technique but my fingertips are just soft and fleshy and just seem to contact the board a lot. A lighter touch helps a little, but correcting years of habit isnt fast or easy and tbh, I’m not sure I fret too hard anyway.. how do you bend without digging in?! Haha. 

    Hopefully a refret would solve this for you. 
    But its pays your moneys takes your chances. 

    On the epiphone I had I’d polish the frets, oil the board and 
    It would feel fine for 5 minutes of play then just go back to sticky central. 
    But on my others, I oil the board and give it a decent wipe, sometimes repeating once if the cloth is still dirty after buffing the lemon oil away and usually they play nicer for quite a while. 

    Maybe try this first if you havent cleaned the board and frets recently. 




    Do you have other rosewood guitars that dont drag as much?
    If so play one for a while and notice whether your fingertips make contact with the board, and if you experience stickyness when they do. 

    Let us know how you get on man.

    N btw, Feline guitars in Croydon, if you’re local.
    Would recommend them if you decide on a refret.  




    The only easy day, was yesterday...
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  • cbakaycbakay Frets: 67
    edited June 2018
    yup 
    Taller frets mean less fingertip contact....
    Cool, thanks. Medium Jumbo seems to be popular these days, so I will look into that.

    Medium jumbos won’t be enough. I went to 6100 jumbo for a few reasons. One of the same as yours. Best is try it out in a shop first. Even with 6100 there’ll be some. I can’t comment to other methods others have suggested...but probably addressing source would be better fix. 
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  • chris_johnchris_john Frets: 162
    I played a cheap Asian tele copy and the frets were definitely larger. However, I didn't play long enough to ascertain if the sweaty hands would still be a hindrance. It did feel easier to play and  get the  big bends, though. I guess that's where this particular seed was planted in my head lol. 
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  • DrCorneliusDrCornelius Frets: 7069
    Just saw you were in Hampshire , if you are anywhere near the A36 then it could be worth going up to Salisbury to see Nick Marchant. He has refretted a couple of my guitars now and he’s very reasonable (I think the last one was £120) nd does a great job.
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  • DefaultMDefaultM Frets: 7271
    Get Dunlop 6000 size frets. Your fingers won't be touching the board with those.
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  • flying_pieflying_pie Frets: 1806
    Is this a constant problem or does it go away for a short time with new strings? 

    I'm a sweaty player and find that when my strings are a bit gunky then it gets really sticky and I can't play solos well at all (relative to my usual average ability). It goes away for a while when I put new strings on. 

    FWIW I use medium jumbo frets.
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  • RolandRoland Frets: 8590
    Before you do anything expensive or irreversible try talcum powder on your fingers. It works for Jeff Beck. There’s a video where he walks on stage and claps his hands in the spotlight to cause a cloud of dust. Works for me, but irritates the hell out of my singer.
    Tree recycler, and guitarist with  https://www.undercoversband.com/.
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  • I re-fretted my Takamine E series to get taller frets and it definitely improved my perception of the play ability.
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  • ESBlondeESBlonde Frets: 3576
    Before you spend a fortune on a refret, take the strings off and apply 'boiled' linseed oil. Let it sit for 10 mins and wipe off the excess. Leave the guitar overnight or even a few days (the oil sort of hardens slowly. Restring and play, it gets better with time and will cost about the same as a high street set of strings. Raw linseed oil on the other hand will help keep the fretboard from cracking and repell water etc. Boiled has a soft sheen that feels good under the fingers and fills the pores of the timber.
    BEWARE disposing of the rags used to apply and wipe off the linseed oil, they have been known to self combust on rare occasions.
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  • valevale Frets: 1052
    edited June 2018
    if you get very tall frets & you are used to very low, if you have a particularly heavy grip you may find you are wrenching a little sharpness into the mix.

    though that small extra distance the string has to travel from fretboard to fret-crest with a tall fret may seem marginal, if you are gripping tight & also adding a twist (eg if you play thumb over style, which adds a little angle to your wrist) you would be surprised how much it can raise pitch.

    obviously only a fraction of a semitone, but enough to have you reaching for the tuner & checking your nut & bridge for intonation issues. & tall & fat frets will compound that.

    if the frets are in good condition i would say leave them alone & focus on getting the board right.
    hofner hussie & hayman harpie. what she said...
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  • WezVWezV Frets: 16541
    The test for me is whether you can do clean pull offs/hammer ons all over the neck. If you can’t it is frets rather than feel of the board.  

    I am just refretting a beautiful 67 Fender neck at the moment that sounded awesome and played great.  But try any hammer on/pull off stiff and if died on its feet 

    so if its just sticky, but you get clean notes, focus on the finish.  If the notes are clean but it feels awkward,focus o. The finish 
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