Frets

My frets are getting really shabby. Flatspots on basically every fret. It looks cool because they are all shiny , but it't not cool when it comes down to playability , as you can imagine, there is a lot of fret buzz, and I have changed my action to high. Anyway, I have decided to get my guitar refretted but I don't know anything about it. Is there somethings that I should know? Like is there different types of frets available or is there a limit to the number of times that you can refret your guitar? Do they dig up your fretboard in the process to pulling out the old ones?

higher frets allow easier bending because you can get your finder
under the string and push. lower frets dont affect your intonation
as much. we have a tech come in to GC every
saturday and he does free neck adjustments for customers and
hes told me alot about frets, but thats all i can remember off
the top of my head

You can re fret the thing all **** day if you want, provided it done correctly.

Yes there are different types of frets, they vary in material, height and width, but thats all personal preference.

I prefer stainless jumbo frets myself.

no soul said:

they vary in material

Click to expand...

That would probably explain the fact that my frets are so worn after less than a year of playing, probably the cheapest frets out there lol.

no soul said:

You can re fret the thing all **** day if you want, provided it done correctly.

Click to expand...

Thats a relief , now I just need to find someone who does it correctly.

vulture2600 said:

we have a tech come in... thats all i can remember off
the top of my head

Click to expand...

I would greatly appreciate it if you could remember the other bits that the tech told you.

Thanx guys

I love stainless frets. I have them on 3 of my 7 electrics. The others will get them when it's time. You won't have to worry about a refret any time soon with ss frets, either. I'm not sure why anyone wouldn't get them... although the tech I use does complain a little that they're a pain to work with. Worth the extra $20 to me though.

Warmoth has a great page profiling fret sizes. I've found that their dimensions listed should be used as a ballpark measurement, as most frets vary a little depending on the distributor.

I'd recommend a new (bone) nut install at the same time - it will need to be cut for the new setup.

Ask around for good tech references. Even then, check out the guy's work if you can. Where I live, there are two ex-PRS guys that are highly recommended. One (www.philtone.com) did a complete SS refret on a Gibson for me last year, and the work was impeccable. He was moving his shop and unavailable earlier this year for some other work, so I took that to the other ex-PRS guy. I was really disaspointed with his work, even though he spent 20 years with PRS, and charged considerably more. Lesson learned on my part.

Ask if the tech has a PLEK machine. Check out his previous work: Look for mirror like finishes on the frets, nice clean ends, consistency on the entire fretboard, and play every single note on the guitar to see if there are dead spots. Bend all the notes, too. See if the tech is willing to take some time to watch how you play, and see what YOU want for your setup. That second guy I talked about did what HE wanted... and didn't have any time to sit with me when I went to pick up the guitar.

Figure around US$300 for a refret.

Let us know how it goes.

Wow thanks for that jong, lots of healpful tips there, the price is a bit meaty thou, hmm... Now i'm thinking it would probably be best to just continue to save up for my second guitar, don't think I'm ready to blow half of what I have on a refret. We'll see how it goes. It's barable for now I guess, considering my action is high and all.

Well thanks guys, I'll be saving some of that info coz it was very helpful.