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Guitar Tech
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Joined: 02/20/08
Posts: 1,372
Guitar Tech
Moderator
Joined: 02/20/08
Posts: 1,372
05/29/2020 12:59 pm
Originally Posted by: hsnoeckx

looks to me like it is just the oxidation layer which is rubbed off, not really cavities under the strings, probably your guitar has been hanging in the store a long time without cleaning, something you should do to after every time you played; just wipe the strings with a dry soft cloth.

hsnoeckx is exactly right - you're looking at corroded fret-wire. Removing the strings, followed by a thorough polishing with 2500-grit sandpaper on a 'short-block' (this is a hard rubber block, that's made specifically to hold a strip of sandpaper) will make short work of this problem. However, Do Not use any sandpaper coarser than 2000 grit, for this job - sanding frets with coarse sandpaper will result in randomly lowering the frets, which would be a disaster!

Stephen White