replacing frets

[Earl49]

Originally Posted by ljguitar

.....I play with dented frets till they buzz..... dents are merely cosmetic…for quite a while.....A dent isn't an issue (for me) till it buzzes. And after I accumulate enough dents, and one starts to buzz, that's when I set up an appointment to have it looked at. Then if needed a fret dressing, or partial refret job is scheduled.

That pretty much covers it. You can play with normal wear dents for a long time without issues, and it is really common among players who never venture much beyond the fifth fret. It's not actually a problem until you have buzzes or intonation issues. Level/crown of the first few worn frets once or twice (blended into higher frets), then replace those few shaved frets when needed. The ultimate is a full fret job replacing them all -- which also involves leveling and crowning BTW -- and is a much bigger deal, and rarely necessary.

[1Charlie]

A full refret does provide an opportunity to re-level and re-radius the fretboard, which is especially useful on vintage guitars to get rid of humps and divots.

[ChrisN]

Originally Posted by sdelsolray

New frets are not dressed, at least in the way and to the extent worn frets are dressed. If the fret wear is limited to the first several frets, and the wear is sufficient such that is creates buzzes, intonation issues, etc., a valid choice to is simply replace the worn frets with frets of the same height/width/composition as the remaining frets. With that, all frets will have the same height and future setups can be done without fret height issues.

I should have used "leveled" (relative to each other, only) rather than "dressed."

Thanks for the info. Not sure of the OP's reason for the original question, but as a newbie I spend a lot of time on frets 1-7, and it shows. Hopefully my diversions and your helpful responses have served the OP's needs, as well.