when one fret sounds like the fret down the neck.....

ok this is kinda strange but it seems its pretty common. my acoustic guitar has a 12th fret that sounds like the sound doesnt exist. instead it sounds like fret 13. and fret 13 is starting to sound like fret 14! how could i fix this problem?

Sounds like you have high frets.... More common in bolt on style neck guitars, rosewood fretboard guitars, and acoustic guitars where the neck is glued to the top of the soundboard...

What most likely has happened is that you've gotten some moisture of some kind either under the fretboard or in the slits where the frets are installed. That has caused a small amount of swelling and has very slightly pushed those frets out enough to cause them to fret the note a fret higher than you have intended.... It is pretty common and the way to fix it is to either have the frets recrowned to take off the small amount the causes the buzz. However a partial or full refret and fingerboard leveling would be the best thing you can do.

It sounds like bad news... but it's pretty common. Take it into a tech and have them look at it. They'll probably tell you what I just told you but if there are any other issues they may be able to address them as well. They can also point in the direction of where to get the work done if they can't do the work themselves.

Good Luck

OK, I know this sounds ridiculous :o ... but....

Are your strings bent? My mate dropped a guitar strings down, and the strings bent around the frets so a couple of them sounded the same...

Adam's gonna be right, but thought it was worth throwing in!

Also, when was the last time you changed strings? Could just be worn out strings.

One thing I forgot to mention is that if the fret buzz isn't too terribly bad and the frets are raised too terribly high it might be possible to counteract the raised frets by raising your action a tiny bit... Some people don't like to part with their low action... I prefer higher action to lower action given my style... But if you think you can be comfortable with raising your action just a tiny bit you may want to try that... It will save you money (for now) since you won't need to have the fretboard leveled or refretted......

The way you can do this is get an allen key for whatever bridge type you have.... If it's a strat style bridge or a Floyd Rose style bridge that has individual saddles... all you have to do is detune the strings... and adjust each saddle by raising it. Start with very very very small amounts. If you raise it too much you may knock the intonation off slightyl... So raise all the bridge saddles by giving it a quarter to a half of a turn. Retune the strings play the notes that are around the high frets and see if it helped... You can repeat the process as necessary... or until the action is getting too high for your comfort level.

Just another suggestion. If you don't feel comfortable you can take it to a tech and they will do the adjustment and probably give you a full set-up which inculdes adjusting the intonation of the guitar...

Good Luck

Originally Posted by: renOK, I know this sounds ridiculous :o ... but....

Are your strings bent? My mate dropped a guitar strings down, and the strings bent around the frets so a couple of them sounded the same...

Adam's gonna be right, but thought it was worth throwing in!

I second this. Check this first. One time i put a little kink in the g string while stretching it. I couldn't figure out why one fret sounded goofy. It was the string. Before you screw with the truss, change the string...or better yet go to a teach.
GOod luck bud.

thanks for the info. the strings are brand new. poshphor bronz. it may have been moisture that has made its way into the wood. i didnt touch the guitar for a month. but i do recall when my ninth fret all the way to the 20th fret sounded like the same note-so what i did was take a flathead scewdriver and pushed some of the fret bars ( 9-20 ) up and pushed them back into they're original places and the frets sounded as they did before all that one note mess. but when i try to do the same thing to the 12th fret bar it doesent change a thing.....maby its time for a new guitar....