Very important ?

Well this morning i was pickin around on one of my mandolins. I wandered down past the 10th fret because i was playing Rocky Top and that is one of the only songs that goes alway up there.

Anyway i noticed that on the E string the 13 and 14 frets were playing the same note. It discouraged me. But when i went a played down at the 15 it was right back on track. Is this because the fret space is too small in between. Or is it just a little flaw of somesort?

It sounds fine but the 13 and 14 on the E string play the same note. All the other strings are fine though. What is the reason for this? Give me explanations please for a worried mando man.

[Martin Jonas]

The only explanation for this that I can think of is that your 14th fret is a good deal higher than the 13th, so that when you fret on the 13th, the string actually touches the 14th, and so plays the F# instead of the F that you've fretted, accompanied by quite a bit of buzzing, I would have thought. I suggest you put a straightedge over those frets and check whether they're level.

Martin

[fatt-dad]

Yeah, and your action may be too low too!

f-d

If i can live with it can i just keep it like it is for a while? Its great until you get down there. And i dont go that far often. So can i live with it?

[Billiam]

My Weber had the same situation when I got it (used, not factory fresh). The action was set very low, less than 1/16" at the 12th fret. Raising the bridge a bit fixed it, all frets now sound the correct note.

[sunburst]

If i can live with it can i just keep it like it is for a while?

Sure, but it isn't that hard to fix. A luthier, or anyone who knows how to level frets, can probably drive the high fret back down, though it might have to be glued to get it to stay there.
What you really need is a fret level and re-crown, but, if you just want to get by for a while, why not fix that one fret?

[mandoJeremy]

It is a high fret problem or way too low action.