New Eastman acoustic - fret advice!

JoeMc

My Eastman E1OOSS arrived today, but the first 3-4 frets are not seated properly, there’s a very noticeable gap.. would you send it back? Or am I being too picky? 

It plays well and the frets have been levelled as they are, but that gap is really bugging me, or am I mad?

joeW

I’d return it and get one that’s seated properly. It would get my attention every time I played it. 

Gandalph

joeW said:

I’d return it and get one that’s seated properly. It would get my attention every time I played it. 

Agree with this ^^

guitargeek62

Oof, send it back to be replaced/sorted. I’m a longterm E10SS owner and they’re really superb guitars - assuming the frets are properly seated of course!  

thermionic

These kind of things don’t usually show up in photos as bad as they are in the flesh, but that looks completely unacceptable to me.

JoeMc

Thanks all, I’m glad it’s not just me..!

BillDL

Most likely those three slots haven't been cut deeply enough and the tangs of the frets have bottomed out, rather than the frets actually lifting.  The other possibility is that a section of the wire used is deformed and instead of the bead of the fret having sharp edges when it meets the flat underside, it is slightly rolled and has an undercut that makes it look like a space all the way to the tang.  Regardless how level they are at the moment and how solidly they are sitting, that's likely to be trouble further down the road.  Grime (and any lemon oil or similar) will get under the fret and into the edges of the slots that will eventually loosen the tangs in the slots.  It is obviously also very unsightly and it makes me wonder why that wasn't seen while it was being fretted, while the frets were being dressed, and at final inspection.

JoeMc

Yeah I think for a guitar that has been setup and ‘passed QC’ at the shop, it’s quite poor. Maybe I have higher standards, but it sounds like I’m not alone!

malcolmkindness

joeW said:

I’d return it and get one that’s seated properly. It would get my attention every time I played it. 

I agree, this problem will only get worse.

Timcito

If it were me, I'd be torn. If it sounded great and the frets didn't seem to affect anything, I'd worry that the replacement wouldn't sound as good.

Around 15 years ago, I bought a brand new Gibson CJ165 which was beautiful and sounded fantastic ... but it needed a new nut! I ended up paying for a new nut to be installed myself because I didn't want to put it through the shipping process again.