Frets dressed or Refret? in Technical Info Forum

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Frets dressed or Refret?

Author	Comment
Big Hog Boxes.auburnfootballf...	Frets dressed or Refret?	Lead	[-]
06/26/11 8:34 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Tags : None Hi All! As long as I've been playing guitar and as many guitars as I've owned over the years, I've never had to have any fret work done like frets dressed or replaced. Now, I have a problem with my Cruz. The first E string is dead when fretted on 3rd fret. Can anyone tell by looking at the pic below if fret replacement is in order, or could someone fix this problem without replacing frets. What's a ballpark cost of replacing, say, the first 5 frets? Thanks for your opinions. Big Hog Boxes 1964 Epiphone Texan, 1996 Martin D-18V, 2001 Santa Cruz VJ, 2004 Martin D-18GE, 2011 Martin D-15M "What a life a mess can be!" - Uncle Tupelo
rfwillis		#1	[-]
06/26/11 9:52 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	For mine, these frets need to be re-crowned and dressed. It's not usually a very big procedure at all. Apart from your string sounding dead, the notes will not intonate properly because you have a big flat spot over the top of these frets. I just had a quick scan around the net and there are quite a few do it yourselfers that have written articles on this. I would not hesitate to say that it could certainly be done by anyone who had a complete understanding of all things guitar. ie. the role of nuts and saddles, neck relief and fretting issues. Having said that, many of these articles seemed to me to be overly simplistic. It is all good, as long as it's a straightforward job. Once you hit a few variables, it would be a lot better to have an experienced person do it. Especially on a good guitar.
jzach46		#2	[-]
06/26/11 10:44 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I'm picking up my favorite guitar tomorrow from its third refret. It's been recrowned many times. Yours at least needs a recrown. Whether or not it needs a refret to me would depend on how your fingertips relate to the fretboard. If clean fretting requires deliberate effort, you need a refret. Whether a partial refret will do the job, I'll leave to the luthiers. I prefer a complete refret. In my opinion, there are many problems that can be resolved with a complete refret that cannot be done with a partial. Jon Z.
bryankimsey		#3	[-]
06/26/11 11:09 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I'd do a partial refret on the worn frets. It's only 5 frets and there's not an awful lot that can go wrong w/ the f/board in the span of just 5 frets. Bryan Kimsey Website Blog YouTube Coram Deo
Tom West		#4	[-]
06/27/11 5:36 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I think you could do either/or. Fretting would cost more but puts you closer to the original. Tom The person who has never made a mistake has never made anything...!
MagnusHultin		#5	[-]
06/27/11 6:47 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	On the other hand doing a partial refret pushes a full refret some more years ahead. A fret dress reduces the height of ALL frets along the neck. Next time You loose some more and at some stage You are likely to need a full refret due to low fretheight. By doing a partial refret You keep the overall fretheight more or less as is. Magnus Martin 000-16SRGT Several Goyas and Levins 1921-1974, 2 Sigmas
Buck		#6	[-]
06/27/11 8:17 AM Moderator Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I'm voting with Bryan and Magnus - partial refret. Todd Yates Martin Bracing Library Vintage Gibson Bracing Library Bracing Library - All Other Brands
Omfan67		#7	[-]
06/27/11 1:58 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I hope this doesn't feel like I'm hijacking the thread, but the it's brought up a question I've been wondering about regarding a partial vs. full reftret. I have a 000-18 that likely needs a full refret. They are fairly low height with significant wear/grooving all the way to the 12th fret . The guitar needs other work as well (neck reset, the bridge reglued and a top crack repaired) and I'm trying to keep my repair costs down--while also wanting to make it play as well as it can. I play mostly on the first 5 frets, so I'm wondering if I could just have those refretted when I do the neck reset? For my playing style/ability, it doesn't seem there would be much of an issue for me if the 6th fret and upwards were less playable than the first five. Are there disadvantages to doing this rather than a complete refret?
tippie53		#8	[-]
06/27/11 2:44 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	there are 2 ways to look at this , redress or refret . Why do one over the other ? If you redress you lower all the unused frets to match the used ones. Cheaper for the first time. If you refret the first 5-7 frets it may cost a bit more than a redress but you don't lower the remaining 13 frets.. I don't think I would worry much at this point unless you have some buzzing. I am starting to do more Stainless fretting . It may be more costly but in the long run it may be the better option. John Hall Blues Creek Guitars Authorized Martin Repair Center Hegins PA Board of Directors Association of Stringed Instrument Artisans http://www.bluescreekguitars.com
omeagerman		#9	[-]
06/27/11 2:44 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Partial refret for the op: no need to fix what ain't broke. In for a penny, in for a pound, Omfan: bite the bullet and get a full refret done while the guitar is in the shop undergoing this major overhaul. Kev. Last Edited By: omeagerman 06/27/11 2:52 PM. Edited 1 times.
warehouse41		#10	[-]
06/27/11 4:30 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I have a similar issue with my guitar. I inquired about replacing the first five frets with stainless steel frets with several local authorized martin repair stores; one refused to use stainless steel frets, the other said it wasn't possible to mix stainless frets with non-stainless steel frets and said that Martin prefers to install the stainless frets themselves. I contacted Martin to see what the cost would be, etc., they have yet to respond. Any opinions? Adam Martin DSR, Taylor GS Mini, Yamaha FG720s, Yamaha Pacifica 112v, Kala Tenor Ukulele
bryankimsey		#11	[-]
06/27/11 9:03 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	warehouse41 wrote: I have a similar issue with my guitar. I inquired about replacing the first five frets with stainless steel frets with several local authorized martin repair stores; one refused to use stainless steel frets, the other said it wasn't possible to mix stainless frets with non-stainless steel frets and said that Martin prefers to install the stainless frets themselves. I contacted Martin to see what the cost would be, etc., they have yet to respond. I do it all the time. I usually like to put SS up to 7 or 8, though. Bryan Kimsey Website Blog YouTube Coram Deo

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Frets dressed or Refret?

Frets dressed or Refret?