#1
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Fret wear
The four frets nearest the nut on my fifty-year-old guitar have small dints in them. You can deduce from this that I am mostly using open chords.
I don't think that the tone is affected, and I can bend strings with no problem. Do you think I should be concerned about the frets? Thank you in anticipation. |
#2
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Derek Coombs Youtube -> Website -> Music -> Tabs Guitars by Mark Blanchard, Albert&Mueller, Paul Woolson, Collings, Composite Acoustics, and Derek Coombs "Reality is that which when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away." Woods hands pick by eye and ear
Made to one with pride and love To be that we hold so dear A voice from heavens above |
#3
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I’m finding out slowly that even though this forum is filled with good guitar players, having a tech available with equivalent skill isn’t a given.
You can prolong the life of frets 4 to 5 times over by having the frets dressed. I don’t know how to do it but my guitar tech does. Finding one in your area or beyond through word of mouth is a good way to approach it. |
#4
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If it's not bothering you then don't worry about it. In the future you might need a partial refret. If it has not been done before then you can have the frets dressed and breath several more years of life into it.
Some people are really hard on the "cowboy chord" frets. I had one customer come back for a partial refret after only one year. |
#5
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Pretty soon the frets are too low. One or perhaps two rounds of fret dressing is about it.
__________________
Derek Coombs Youtube -> Website -> Music -> Tabs Guitars by Mark Blanchard, Albert&Mueller, Paul Woolson, Collings, Composite Acoustics, and Derek Coombs "Reality is that which when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away." Woods hands pick by eye and ear
Made to one with pride and love To be that we hold so dear A voice from heavens above |
#6
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Hi, I'm an old heavy handed bluegrasser and have been very heavy on frets - It happens -and with bad technique like I've had - it happens more.
My 20 year old Collings dread has had three refrets. I'm a bit gentler now but if you can get 50 years out of a set of frets - you are doing VERY well, and if they don't affect the sound or the feel -no need to worry .. but personally I regard fretwire as a consumable but as said -finding someone who does good refrets can be a challenge.
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Silly Moustache, Just an old Limey acoustic guitarist, Dobrolist, mandolier and singer. I'm here to try to help and advise and I offer one to one lessons/meetings/mentoring via Zoom! |
#7
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It's like wearing out the tires on your vehicle--it means you're getting out and playing!
I am embarrassed to say that I play so little that you can't tell by looking at the frets on my guitars.... |
#8
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#9
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The obvious solution for prolonging fret wear is to buy more guitars and spread the wear out between them!
A fret dressing helps if there's still meat on the fret, but I've had a few where I just should've bitten the bullet and gotten a refret. I'm not a fan of small frets (though I can see the benefits) and the guitar just stopped feeling "right" to me. |
#10
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Short and concise.
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#11
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I'm in the if it isn't affecting play, let it be camp. However, when it reaches that point, I'd re-fret those that need it. I had the top 4 frets replaced 3 years ago on my lower priced USA Martin (12 years old) at GC. The tech added a bone saddle and did a proper set up. Very happy with the results all the way around.
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#12
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Brilliant plan! It's been my strategy.
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#13
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________________________________ Carvin SH 575, AE185-12 Faith Eclipse 12 string Fender RK Tele Godin ACS SA, 5th Ave Gretsch G7593, G9240 Martin JC-16ME Aura, J12-16GT, 000C Nylon Ovation: Adamas U681T, Elite 5868, Elite DS778TX, Elite Collectors '98 Custom Legend, Legend LX 12 string, Balladeer, Classical Parker MIDIfly, P10E Steinberger Synapse Taylor 320, NS34 Yamaha SA503 |
#14
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#15
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I don’t worry about dents till they start to buzz when the action is set properly. I played a lot over the past 55 years, and my 26 yr old Olson has had the first 5-6 fret wires replaced 3 times. Had it checked right before I retired (and gigs slowed substantially) and at that time the luthier thought if I kept playing at the same rate, it’d be a few years before they needed dressing again, and that the fretboard has one more partial re-fret at least. I wouldn’t worry about yours at all. |