Fret Assessment?

[ChrisN]

I've got an older Gibson electric that I bought used (before I knew very much) and lots of its frets are flat-topped from bending. There doesn't seem to be any buzzing, but I understand that fine buzzing can occur when the string contacts mostly/only the leading edge of the flat-topped fret, leaving the string to vibrate and contact the trailing edge. Better to have a rounded top.

The guitar's nice, but I don't necessarily love it. I'm not sure I'm going to keep it, sell it, fix it (if necessary), or leave it alone, but I'd like to get an idea of how to evaluate/describe the frets' condition, in the event I wanted to describe same in an ad, or wanted a luthier's bid.

How to evaluate whether, overall, this is a simple level/crown/polish? Replace one or more frets? Better off with a complete refret?

I assume original fret height vs current fret height is a factor, and that I should be able to measure original fret height via the highest frets with the least wear.

Any tips like, "if your flat-topped frets are X% of their original height, replace that fret," and similar, appreciated. I'm happy to be pointed to another info source, as well.

Thanks

[ChrisN]

And to the responder who sent me the PM, but who elected not to receive PMs, I respond here:

I appreciate the info on the choices, which I understand, but my question was more along the lines of "how do I evaluate the frets' condition?" in order to make that "what to do?" choice. Do you have some guidance on that? Thanks for any help.

[rmp]

level/re-crown should do the trick unless the frets have already been leveled/re-crowned a few times which if you bought used, no way for you to know.

what year is this one from?

And how do the first 2 or three frets look? if you have groves that look a bit deep, or you can feel with your finger nail, it's probably time for a level / re-crown anyway.

[ChrisN]

Originally Posted by rmp

level/re-crown should do the trick unless the frets have already been leveled/re-crowned a few times which if you bought used, no way for you to know.

what year is this one from?

And how do the first 2 or three frets look? if you have groves that look a bit deep, or you can feel with your finger nail, it's probably time for a level / re-crown anyway.

It's a '93 Gibson LP, frets and board look original.

Frets at 1-3 look fine, no divots/grooves in any of the frets, actually. It's just that the tops are off the mountains on most of the frets, leaving plateaus/mesas, from lots of string bend over the years.

[B. Howard]

Originally Posted by ChrisN

I've got an older Gibson electric that I bought used (before I knew very much) and lots of its frets are flat-topped from bending. There doesn't seem to be any buzzing, but I understand that fine buzzing can occur when the string contacts mostly/only the leading edge of the flat-topped fret, leaving the string to vibrate and contact the trailing edge. Better to have a rounded top.

The guitar's nice, but I don't necessarily love it. I'm not sure I'm going to keep it, sell it, fix it (if necessary), or leave it alone, but I'd like to get an idea of how to evaluate/describe the frets' condition, in the event I wanted to describe same in an ad, or wanted a luthier's bid.

How to evaluate whether, overall, this is a simple level/crown/polish? Replace one or more frets? Better off with a complete refret?

I assume original fret height vs current fret height is a factor, and that I should be able to measure original fret height via the highest frets with the least wear.

Any tips like, "if your flat-topped frets are X% of their original height, replace that fret," and similar, appreciated. I'm happy to be pointed to another info source, as well.

Thanks

Lot's of Gibson's fret work leaves a wide flat crown on the frets from the factory. This is something they have done especially on LP models through the years..... You need to judge based on actual wear. Do you see any small divots under the stings on any frets? Any places where the crown is smeared from bending ( visible by a change in width of the flat crown on an individual fret)? Fret wear is usually regarded in a % of life left.

[ChrisN]

Originally Posted by B. Howard

Lot's of Gibson's fret work leaves a wide flat crown on the frets from the factory. This is something they have done especially on LP models through the years..... You need to judge based on actual wear. Do you see any small divots under the stings on any frets? Any places where the crown is smeared from bending ( visible by a change in width of the flat crown on an individual fret)? Fret wear is usually regarded in a % of life left.

Closer inspection confirms uniform flat tops on all frets, even the highest (arguably least used?), except for multiple frets up/down mostly the G string (a little on B) that show some excess flaring (width), relative to the rest of those frets, suggesting some amount of G string bending. That's the smearing I think you mean.

No divots on any frets.

I thought all frets arrived new with rounded tops and that my frets were pretty worn, so this was yet another learning day.

How should I treat the smearing to get things "right"? Just round (crown) the sides up a bit to eliminate the excess width?

[B. Howard]

Originally Posted by ChrisN

ow should I treat the smearing to get things "right"? Just round (crown) the sides up a bit to eliminate the excess width?

No that will do nothing except cosmetically. The only way to remove wear is to actually level all the frets down to the lowest wear point and then re-crown and polish. The crown is wider because the top is lower.....

When to do fret work is always a bit of a personal thing..... Some people notice wear immediately when they play and others are more tolerant of it.

[mirwa]

Off topic, No disrespect to Brian and if that’s the terminology he uses for reference that’s his right, I just think smearing in a metals term is a bad reference. I use to file and rework aircraft properlor blades in my younger years, the process of mechanically working with the file on the leading edge of the prop would cause a smearing situation on the aluminium so much so we would chemically etch the surface to remove said smearing.

On topic, Having a flat top on the fret is not IMO good, intonation definetly can be improved moving the crown (centre) of the fret back on the original tang line.

Steve

[ChrisN]

Originally Posted by mirwa

Having a flat top on the fret is not IMO good, intonation definetly can be improved moving the crown (centre) of the fret back on the original tang line.

Steve

Does that mean you're in agreement with Brian that making it "right" (assuming one did anything) means a full level/crown? That makes sense, as simply re-crowning the now-shortened (height-reduced!) frets will place them out of level with the rest, introducing other issues.

[mirwa]

I would relevel and crown.

Steve

[ChrisN]

Originally Posted by mirwa

I would relevel and crown.

Steve

Roger that - thanks to you and Brian (and the rest! - I just always wanted to say that).