This is fairly common with old banjos where the wood shrinks to the point of the fret wire end protruding. Given that you banjo is now in a different environment that where it was made, my suggestion is to get the frets dressed. If you got a case humidifier, then the jo will go in and out of two environments each time you take it out of its case, and start reacting to those two.

Thanks for a quick response! Yes, I was thinking that was the way to go but didn't want to put out money if humidifier would do it. Makes sense that each time I would take it out of case. I would most likely have the issue crop up.

The confusion for me, was I have had an awesome Nechville Galaxy Phantom shipped new several years ago from Barry at Banjo.com and I have an old Gibson '27 converted with a Frank Neat Neck. neither of these 2 has had this issue.

Also, the clawhammer banjo, was a brand new make by a highly recommended builder here on BHO. ( I didn't mention name as I am not looking to put out bad feelings specifically toward the builder -although, I had already had a negative feedback from builder about other issues with the banjo when I first received it) So the fret issue is just adding to my unhappiness with the banjo)

If you’re handy and have steady hands you can do it yourself. Just go slow.
Regarding the builder. Really depends on what you paid. If I bought a new banjo for $1,000 I would expect a few imperfections. It usually means they are more or less hand made. And at that price point he’s not making any real money.
Now if you paid $2,800 it’s a different story. I’d want perfection.
Just my opinion.

I’ve had the problem you mention too. Also related to my banjos’ being in a dry environment. I’ve been able to and successful at addressing it, but in order to do so bought a fret end dressing file from Stew-Mac. Tho a bit pricey, it’s proved invaluable in my avoiding damage to the banjos’ fretboards. I still go very slowly and deliberately. (Good luck with your banjo, regardless of the course you choose.)

Case humidifiers is a good idea regardless. Other, more severe problems, could show up if your banjo gets too dried out for long.

Your fretboard could potentially swell up again if properly humidified, making the fret ends not stick out anymore. But you probably need to get them dressed. My experience, also living in a very dry climate half the year, is that no matter how much I try to keep humidity levels good, most of my fretted instruments need to get the frets dressed once sooner or later.

There is a procedure for filing those fret ends. Get the proper file and use painters tape on either side of the fret so that you don't put notches into the fingerboard. Better yet, find a reputable luthier and have them do it. It takes patience and a wee bit of skill to get those frets just right. Humidifying the instrument will not remedy the situation. It happens and should be addressed.

I've had this problem with several new banjos over the years. Better not mention the brand names. POOR WORKMANSHIP is the explanation not humidity. A good luthier can file them down for you. I've tried it myself with a fret file but the results weren't good.

I'll have to disagree with some of the comments made here. I certainly wouldn't consider myself an accomplished banjo builder, but I have built more than 30 and an additional 30 necks. In my experience, despite the fact that fret edges were made silky smooth at the time of each fret job, virtually all of the fretboards have developed more prominent fret edges over the first 3-6 months. This seems to occur no matter how long the fingerboards have been dried and acclimatized in the shop beforehand. I may be doing something wrong, but this is a very consistent finding. I routinely have to go back and redo the edges and I would definitely not attribute it to poor workmanship. Revising the fret edges is a simple process, but having special tools will make the job much easier. I'd like to hear from other builders to see what their experience has been.

There are two ways you might go about filing those fret ends. I too live in a dry climate and have had many instruments banjos and otherwise that have needed some level of fret dressing.

If you were to take it to a luthier, they might take a large file to the edge of the neck lengthwise and hit all the frets at once in a methodical long sweeping motion. Once the fret sprout had been ground smooth, they would hit the corners of each individual fret with a smaller file. The only issue with this method is that it takes great care to not mar up your binding or the edge of your fret board, and even then it is inevitable that you will lose at least a small amount of material at the edge of the fret board. I would not trust myself with this method.

The second way to approach it is to forgo the large file, and just use the small file to work on sharp fret corners one by one. This method is more time consuming, but it does mean you are less likely to booger up your neck. The results are less dramatic than if you were to use a large file as previously mentioned. But you can get your fret ends at least smoothed out so that while they still may be technically felt as you run your finger over them, they will feel smooth and not at all sharp so as to snag skin.

A good way to test you got them all at the end is to run a cloth up and down the neck to see if the fabric snags anywhere.

Also, if you do choose to humidify at some point, do it AFTER you work on the frets. And it is also important that if you do decide to start humidifying that you commit to it and keep it consistent. The real danger in damage from humidity or lack thereof comes from rapid changes in moisture levels which can cause cracking and warping.

I bought a brand new limited edition Cherry Goodtime, and the fret sprout was so bad, I got cut and bled, just trying to play it.

I watched a few youtube tutorials on fret end filing. Ordered a nice flat file, fret end file, and pack of micro mesh pads, and did it myself. It was a breeze, came out beautiful, and I used my new skill to spruce up the fret ends on my other banjos.

Make sure and get a specialized fret end file, which is smooth on two sides, and only has teeth on the side that contacts the fret. Makes the job much easier, and no slips or accidents.

This is completely normal and isn't a manufacturing defect in any way. Wood is wood, and if it goes through drastic changes from very humid to very dry, there are going to be problems. On top of that, most instrument builders don't have the luxury of working with wood that's been dried and stable for many years and the new instruments they make will require many tweaks in the first few years.

A bit of personal experience to illustrate this point: I moved from the relatively climate stable midwest (Kansas) to Chile about 3 years ago. Here, the humidity is 20% in the summer and 80% in the winter and it wreaks absolute havoc on all of my instruments. I've had to dress the fret ends of all of my instruments because it just isn't possible to keep them in a 45% RH perfectly climate-controlled environment. Last summer I had a skin head burst on my banjo due to the dry air. The action on my acoustic guitar changes so drastically between the seasons due to swelling/dehydration of the spruce top that I made two bone saddles to accommodate this: a tall "summer saddle" and a low "winter saddle".

Long story short, it's totally normal, not a defect. Dress the fret ends and enjoy your new banjo.

-TD

Some of us put the new unfretted neck in a very dry environment for upwards of a week before fretting. This may or may not help with the problem.

Wow, guys, I am touched by each of you taking so much time to share. This is comforting regarding the issue, as I realize it is more common. I was just surprised ( as I mentioned the issue not showing up on my other 2 ). I do have a music shop that does basic fretwork, so I will chat with them to get a sense of expense. I poked around on the Stew Mac channel mentioned above and watched some dressing videos for this issue. So, not certain now which way I will go HOWEVER, your shares have really helped. Thanks again!!!

I use a diamond coated hone block, 400 grit for that job. Yup, it's a common job pretty much regardless of what kind of climate you live in. They're easily available and not expensive.

The edges of the block make sure you won't scratch the neck and/or finger board. Doing all frets shouldn't take much more than 20 minutes.

https://www.harborfreight.com/4-sided-diamond-hone-block-92867.html

Added: it's a lot easier to do than you might think. It would actually take a lot of serious doing to screw up the job with one of these.

As an energy auditor, I think everyone should have temperature and humidity gauge in their home. Musicians and others who care about fine wood furniture definitely should. Stability is probably better than any particular value, so I wouldn't try just change the humidity around the instrument, unless your climate is just a desert.

There are many things one can do to stabilize and improve the humidity in one's home (depending on one's climate of course). Many also help general energy performance of the building.

Thank you kindly.