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Been a year since I got my axe and I guess I'm a pretty agressive bender and during restringing, I noticed my frets are building up notches where the strings rest. I know I can plane (or have them plained smooth), but at what point would you consider refretting? I have "jumbo frets". Love'em big, shiny and smooth!

thoughts?

Take it to a qualified luthier.

sanshouheil wrote:Take it to a qualified luthier.

oh sure, give me the safe and easy answer

LOL ... best I could do .

Only when they cannot be re-dressed any longer. 20-50 years depending on your playing style. My 55 Les Paul and 67 SG still have the original frets.

TheJohnny7Band wrote:Only when they cannot be re-dressed any longer. 20-50 years depending on your playing style. My 55 Les Paul and 67 SG still have the original frets.

good to know. thanks!

when you notice flat spots or divits in the frets , theyll need leveling & recrowning this can be done a few times before you notice bending become harder just depends on your amount & stye of play

It also depends on the type of frets you have. I have a 1997 American standard Strat. I play it in standard tuning it has stainless frets. It is time for me to get a new STRAT. This guitar is getting harder to play. As long as I have been playing I can tell when its time. Bottom line YOU KNOW WHEN IT IS TIME!

By the way I know all about fret wear! I can wear a guitar out in 10 years after that Its Time for A NEW STRAT!

When it starts getting out of tune on your basic chords, most guitars seem to notch where we play our major open chords, take the strings off and look at the D Maj area, LOL.

I would crown them a couple of times just to get more wear, but depending on the guitar, if its not worth a whole lot, then I would just trade the guitar off for another, refretting can get expensive, now if its a keeper guitar get it redone.

Good Luck

I had a big Epiphone (Made before Epiphone was a second line) and I played it until there were even big holes in the fingerboard. I kept it alive by dressing the frets until they looked more like they were drawn on the wood. When the holes in the Rosewood were a tad unbearable,I filed the wood down. It needed a new fingerboard anyway. Then the frets looked like silver plated wood, but it was still playable. I finally had to retire it and go to another guitar.

I was going to send my Epi to a shop where I knew the luthier was capable of not destroying it, but he died before I could get it to him.

Since I had sent a custom shop Gibson to the Custom shop for repair, and they had it for almost a year, I didn't want to do that again. To top that off, they ruined the guitar that I had sent to them for repair. When I got it back, it wasn't even playable.

I would just have someone who does work that you are satisfied with top them. Too often I have seen refret jobs that didn't turn out that well. Eventually they would keep popping up. When you pull a fret from the wood, the teeth on the bottom usually pull up some wood with them when they come out.

If you have jumbo frets you shouldn't have to replace them. Get them dressed, and if you still have problems either refret you get a new ax.

SirJamsalot wrote:Been a year since I got my axe and I guess I'm a pretty agressive bender and during restringing, I noticed my frets are building up notches where the strings rest. I know I can plane (or have them plained smooth), but at what point would you consider refretting? I have "jumbo frets". Love'em big, shiny and smooth!

thoughts?

I suspect that Frets are really just guides on the finger board, more than they are functional. I say this cause if you removed them, you'd still be able to pluck a first position C note for example. (If you can remember precisely where it is on the finger board..) So, I guess I'm saying... The only reason you might re-fret is if they presented an obstacle to your sound from the strings... And before I'd re-fret, I'f probably just file down the ones that concerned me...

That's my story and I'm sticking to it..

PaperDog wrote:

SirJamsalot wrote:Been a year since I got my axe and I guess I'm a pretty agressive bender and during restringing, I noticed my frets are building up notches where the strings rest. I know I can plane (or have them plained smooth), but at what point would you consider refretting? I have "jumbo frets". Love'em big, shiny and smooth!

thoughts?

I suspect that Frets are really just guides on the finger board, more than they are functional. I say this cause if you removed them, you'd still be able to pluck a first position C note for example. (If you can remember precisely where it is on the finger board..) So, I guess I'm saying... The only reason you might re-fret is if they presented an obstacle to your sound from the strings... And before I'd re-fret, I'f probably just file down the ones that concerned me...

That's my story and I'm sticking to it..

Kinda ...sorta there are fretless guitar & bass players ,but most of the funtion of the fret is intonation and worn frets affect this . also playing styles come & go what was cool 20 yrs ago might not work for a player today . Les Pauls at one time were refered to as" fretless wonder" with very little height . this was during an era when heavy strings were used & very little bending was going on , by 1975 super large frets were popular for lots of bending & easier vibrato.I once had a bc rich refretted with fretts so large you could push toward the fret board & get a 1/2 step bend (1977 mockingbird very dif from todays bc rich). so there are more reasons to refret than just worn frets & each individual has their own feel they like .

blues edge wrote:

PaperDog wrote:

SirJamsalot wrote:Been a year since I got my axe and I guess I'm a pretty agressive bender and during restringing, I noticed my frets are building up notches where the strings rest. I know I can plane (or have them plained smooth), but at what point would you consider refretting? I have "jumbo frets". Love'em big, shiny and smooth!

thoughts?

I suspect that Frets are really just guides on the finger board, more than they are functional. I say this cause if you removed them, you'd still be able to pluck a first position C note for example. (If you can remember precisely where it is on the finger board..) So, I guess I'm saying... The only reason you might re-fret is if they presented an obstacle to your sound from the strings... And before I'd re-fret, I'f probably just file down the ones that concerned me...

That's my story and I'm sticking to it..

Kinda ...sorta there are fretless guitar & bass players ,but most of the funtion of the fret is intonation and worn frets affect this . also playing styles come & go what was cool 20 yrs ago might not work for a player today . Les Pauls at one time were refered to as" fretless wonder" with very little height . this was during an era when heavy strings were used & very little bending was going on , by 1975 super large frets were popular for lots of bending & easier vibrato.I once had a bc rich refretted with fretts so large you could push toward the fret board & get a 1/2 step bend (1977 mockingbird very dif from todays bc rich). so there are more reasons to refret than just worn frets & each individual has their own feel they like .

I did Not know that ... Alas I have learnt something new ... Thanks Blues Edge!

Good input - thanks. I wouldn't be able to play fretless, Paperdog. I have a hard enough time playing a Les Paul because I'm a chronic string bender. Grinding strings against the fretoard would just pepper the floor with sawdust

Per the redressing - a few spots during bending are starting to a little "grind" feeling. I suspect that if I don't polish out those rough spots, the frets will eat my strings alive

So yah - thanks. I wasn't sure if refretting was worth while - it's a cheapo guitar, so I'll probably gettem polished out and buy a new $200 dollar wonder guitar if I detect failure

Thanks!