justdrawinglines - Posted - 04/08/2011:  12:04:23

So there is a new Deering Sierra at a local music store that I am considering purchasing. The price is really nice and i really like this banjo. However, i have a question. Some of the fret slots look as if they were cut too deepas the bottom of the metal fret doesn't quite go all the way down to the bottom of the slot. It's not the case on one side at all, and the other side where it's happening there are only about 7 or 8 where this is the case. The frets are nice and tight to the fretboard.

Any thoughts? Thanks for any insight on this.

DeanT - Posted - 04/08/2011:  12:57:28

I am no expert, however, my Deering Goodtime is also like this. You can hold it up to the light, and see all the way through the neck, under some of the frets. The Goodtime has minimum finish, so it shows up real well. My quess is that Deering does this purposely, so that the fret tang doesn't bottom out, risking raised frets. It's much more important that the fret itself is down on the fretboard. A slight gap under the tang would also make sense, in giving the fretboard room to expand and contract, with temp and humidity changes, without frets raising. Also, and this is just a guess, but I'm betting that all the slots and frets are cut and fitted to the same dimensions, and have the same gap, but some may be less or more filled with paint or finish than others.

Edited by - DeanT on 04/08/2011 13:05:52

scooter46 - Posted - 04/08/2011:  12:58:19

justdrawinglines - Posted - 04/08/2011:  13:03:34

Thanks so much for the quick responses!

I did call$ eering and they said the same thing. The place I'm getting it from is a Deering dealer and the price they're giving me is $1600. There isn't a real banjo market around here and it's been on the wall for a year now.

I'm very excited! This is only my second banjo. I finally started taking lessons and feel that I'm outgrowing my little budget Mastercraft.

Thanks again!

beegee - Posted - 04/08/2011:  14:10:29

The fret slots should be deeper than the fret tang. I would prefer that the visible part of the slot be filled with a shellac stick burned in and then the finish carried to a unifoirm line on the fingerboard. Of course, if the fingerboard is bound, you never see the gaps.

rudy - Posted - 04/08/2011:  15:11:58

Hi justdrawinglines,

Welcome to the forum!  You'll most likely get more responses to your question over in the building, setup, and maintenance section of the forum.  Here's this area of the forum's heading and sub-heading:

Tech Talk:  A new forum created to discuss equipment and techniques involved with audio/video recording and live stage sound.