(belated) NGD! Lefty Agile content, and unfortunate fret problem :/

[carbon]

Hey all,

Finally got around to putting pictures up for my Agile Septor 727 Elite! I was fortunate enough to score this thing at b-stock pricing for a minuscule chip in the tip of the headstock (which would eventually happen anyways with how clumsy I am lol), and I couldn't be happier with it. Almost... I'll save that for later, now for pics!

Mandatory box pic

Here it is!

Mmm dat neck

Gotta love the neck-through

Back of the headstock, with my weird string gauges

Both of my 7's

And now, the one thing that I wish wasn't happening, and have no idea on how to stop.

The frets are cracking the finish on the sides of the neck!!
I don't know how to go about preventing this from happening further, and I'm not quite sure how it happened in the first place . I'm pretty sure it has to do with temperature fluctuations (it has gotten quite cold here, thus the heat has been bumped up) and/or humidity, but I have no idea what to do to go about preventing this from happening further . Any advice will be much appreciated! Thanks for looking!

 

[Miek]

I wish I could help you with the fret thing, but grats anyway. How's it compare to your Schecter?

 

[thesimo]

looks like u cant, and it will get worse because the 12th and 13th frets aren't fully into the fretboard, only way u can fix i think (I'm no luthier) is to take frets out and trim the "leg" so when compressed into the board it doesn't go sideways into the finish.

 

[SirMyghin]

That is going to happen with fretboards that have finished edges. It has to do with the expansion and contraction of the board due to temperature and moisture (mostly moisture). You cannot really avoid it, but it is nothing to worry about. It is just fret sprout and in this case they carried the finish over the fret ends entirely.

 

[GuitaristOfHell]

That is going to happen with fretboards that have finished edges. It has to do with the expansion and contraction of the board due to temperature and moisture (mostly moisture). You cannot really avoid it, but it is nothing to worry about. It is just fret sprout and in this case they carried the finish over the fret ends entirely.

My SG did that awhile ago or something similar, my frets popped up at the edges which gave me a nice pinch and bleed in a slide . You should be fine though.
Anyway Congrats!

 

[SirMyghin]

My SG did that awhile ago or something similar, my frets popped up at the edges which gave me a nice pinch and bleed in a slide . You should be fine though.
Anyway Congrats!

I just took mine down on the ASAT special with a file, something about guitars going from California to Ontario (Canada) seems to make this fairly prominent in my stable...

 

[Rorschach]

Hey, sorry to hear about the frets.
No such problems with mine..
But, damn...the top on your guitar, wow.. Mine looks more or less like shit. Yours is the best I´ve seen, congrats!

 

[carbon]

Meik - The only thing that the Schecter has on it is its single Bareknuckle Painkiller with a 5 way selector knob, and that's really it lol, the Agile is my first active pickup guitar and it has been growing on me. The action on the Agile straight out of the box was lower than anything I had been able to coax out of the Schecter at that point. Access is way better too, what with no bolt filled heel in my way lol.

SirMyghin - Fret sprout? I didn't know there was a technical term for it, thanks for the knowledge! I'll probably take a file to it at some point, but I'm definitely going to wait til I can do the most careful job possible, which means better files for me first.

GuitaristOfHell - Thanks! I'm glad I haven't pinched/cut myself on it yet, it is "thankfully" only on the top side of the neck, but it has happened on every single fret once past the body, and my thumb doesn't make it's way up to the top side of the neck much.

Rorschach - Best you've seen? Many thanks man! I wasn't expecting it to be anything too special, as I only paid $600 and was planning on repainting it flat white down the road anyway. The pictures came out fairly flattering too, so it may just stay as is for now.

 

[Skin Coffin]

Congrats, dude! Agiles are indeed awesome looking guitars. Good luck with the repair!

 

[bostjan]

Oh no! They assembled your guitar backwards!



Just kidding! Happy NGD!

What tuning?

 

[SirMyghin]

SirMyghin - Fret sprout? I didn't know there was a technical term for it, thanks for the knowledge! I'll probably take a file to it at some point, but I'm definitely going to wait til I can do the most careful job possible, which means better files for me first.

No problem, it is yet another reason I like oil based neck finished, that only fill the pores no surface. You feel nice wood, fret sprout is easily taken care of, and you don't stick. I have a few tung oil axes and a G&L with satin (G&L makes a satin I don't even notice is there). My next will also have an oil neck. Unfortunately as your guitar is an offshore import it has seen a lot of climates. Ideally a guitar would be left where it was made and these problems would be less prominent (or certainly take a lot longer to occur).

 

[carbon]

Skin Coffin - Thanks! Definitely going to be taking my time on fixing the problem, I'd probably cry if I ruined this thing lol.

bostjan - Haha well I got assembled backwards too so it all works out . I either have it in G# standard or drop F#. I've been testing out assorted combinations of string gauges since my local shop had a sale on strings where I scored a ton of packs for about $4 each. Best part about it is I don't anticipate breaking my highest string as easily now since it's a 14.

SirMyghin - I guess the unfinished neck would be the big thing I wish this had (aside from passive electronics), I agree the feel of an oil neck is better (first time with a non oil based finish neck here), and if I could do it right I'd take the polyurethane (or whatever it is) finish off of just the neck and oil this sucker up.

 

[beneharris]

great looking guitar! I NEVER see b-stock lefties pop up, i think people snag them almost immediately. hope you can work something out with the frets

 

[SirMyghin]

SirMyghin - I guess the unfinished neck would be the big thing I wish this had (aside from passive electronics), I agree the feel of an oil neck is better (first time with a non oil based finish neck here), and if I could do it right I'd take the polyurethane (or whatever it is) finish off of just the neck and oil this sucker up.

I've done it before as an experiment, with a poly that is heavy you can use a combination of heat gun and sanding. Some people like chemical lifters but I don't find the sanding too bad. Dusty though. I have never sanded downa full blown gloss poly, just some thinner satins though.

You sand it down with some good 220 grit lightly after you get the finish off. Then you wipe it down with a wet cloth and leave it for a few hours. This raises the grain, which you then sand off lightly. You can then apply some oil, with tung oil go sparingly, wipe off the excess, apply 1 coat a day. I find 4 coats is good, and doesn't build up a residue on the outside of the neck. Some guys like to cut the Tung oil for the first 2 coats with naptha to thin it. Stuff like 'Minwax Tung oil finish' is a varnish with solvents masquerading as a tung oil, some folks like that too. Everytime I have seen someone use it they have built up a hard finish though...