First Fret Question

[banjoboy]

I can get a nice clean sound out of most of my frets, but the sound I get on the first fret, especially on the A and E strings, seems a little more muffled. Anybody else have that problem? Is it because the tension between the nut and the first fret wire is higher than as you travel up the neck?

[Roger Moss]

How is your action at the nut? If it is too high, it can be difficult to press the string down close to the nut, while farther up the neck the strings become more flexible.

[CES]

What Roger said. Harder to muscle the strings down near the nut than it is on longer scaled instruments. Also, if the second fret is a little high so it touches the strings when you fret at one...

[Mando Mort]

Get a good set up done from a professional. You'll be glad you did.

[Folkmusician.com]

High Nut (difficult to push the strings so you are not fretting cleanly), High Second fret, low first fret, worn first fret, backbow in the neck... These are the main things that would cause this.

[Ivan Kelsall]

The string tension right in front of the nut is a tad high up there,it's just one of those things that you have to overcome. Even on my Ellis who's fretting / nut height etc. is as perfect as you could ever get,i have to press just a bit harder to get a clean note - just like other folk do !,
Ivan

[Pete Martin]

Get a good set up done from a professional. You'll be glad you did.

This!!!!!!!

[Simon DS]

Could be a muscle/finger position issue, but I agree about the setup. You could do part of it yourself if you are low on cash and reasonable on technical skills. You’ve probably done some already. After all, changing strings is part of the set up.
Search ‘pdf set up’ on this site, can’t remember who wrote it, sorry.
You could also, just as a cool experiment, tune all the strings down two frets (to FCGD) or more. The string tension will be lower and the tone (sometimes) has a wonderful oldtime feel. You could even try heavier strings (but only at the lower tension), though the thicker strings would be tight on the nut so I’m not sure I’d try this on an expensive mando...

[Jim Broyles]

Check this out.
http://frets.com/FretsPages/Musician...nutaction.html

[Canuckle]

Could also be a low nut or your E and A strings may have worn down their nut slots. This would reduce the clearance between the strings and the second fret when you’re noting the first fret. Sort of depends what you mean by muffled. Whether the actions is too high or too low, getting a pro setup will solve the issue.