Re-fret

damomeasa

Looks like i need a total re-fret (on an SG). can people reccommend the best place/person to go for and post what they'd imagine a decent price for the job would be? i'm in dublin.
thanks.

Beecher

Derek Nelson, his number is in the resources sticky. Expect to be paying €300-€400.

TelePaul

You can't buy a new neck on an SG no? Ah good ol Fenders

damomeasa

Beecher wrote:

Expect to be paying €300-€400.

OMG!

Doctor J

A guitar has to be in pretty **** shape for a total refret. Do you actually need to get it refretted or do you just need the frets levelled and dressed?

Beecher

damomeasa wrote:

OMG!

It might even be more if the neck is bound but Derek Nelson is really the only person in Dublin who I would trust with something like this. If you are willing to post it abroad you'll find a lot of good luthiers in England who'll do it for around €200 but shipping will cost €50 both ways at least so you wont be making much of a saving.

Something to consider if you are getting a refret is that you can get stainless steel frets installed which made bending easier and should never wear out during the guitars lifetime. Its harder to work with stainless steel compared to normal fret wire so it might cost more and some people say it can make the guitar sound a little brighter which may/may not be a good thing for you.

damomeasa

i've always messed up the frets on every guitar i've ever owned because of my problems of sweating some kind of acidic crap out of my fingers, which rusts the strings almost instantly, and in turn causes the frets to be worn down really quickly. i've tried to lessen the impact of this in recent years by constantly changing strings but fret wear is very noticable in many places on my SG, and last weekend i noticed a horrific buzz off my low E at the third fret.

maybe i should just ring derek nelson, but i've to go off on tour on thursday and i'm totally torn between taking this, my pride and joy, and trying to ignore the buzz, or dropping it in for repair now and using an inferior guitar for the tour.

thanks for the help anyway guys.

NeMiSiS

That to me just sounds like.. the frets need to be bevelled. That aint such a big job at at all.. lot less that a refret..
TK

feylya

NeMiSiS wrote:

That to me just sounds like.. the frets need to be bevelled. That aint such a big job at at all.. lot less that a refret..
TK

Don't you mean levelled?

NeMiSiS

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Tools/Files/Fret_Beveling_Files.html
I might mean both.

feylya

Bevelling the frets won't do anything for the playability of the guitar. Shouldn't even be needed after a level.

Gary ITR

damomeasa wrote:

my problems of sweating some kind of acidic crap out of my fingers

You should take a long hard look at your diet

Voodu Child

my problems of sweating some kind of acidic crap out of my fingers

Onkle wrote:

You should take a long hard look at your diet

or maybe create a secret alter-ego and start fighting crime 'sweaty-acid-fingers man'

-=al=-

i also sweat that acidic crap too. Its a pain in the arse

the trem is ****ed on my RG from it, god bless wd-40, no theres a right handed trem in the whammy bar, the lefty one broke, that trem withstands so much abuse its not funny

feylya

TBH, washing your hands before playing helps. A lot.

Karl Hungus

feylya wrote:

TBH, washing your hands before playing helps. A lot.

I cannot agree more.

I generally wash with an antibacterial handwash, and it really helps.

-=al=-

yup a lot, I wash my hands a stupid amount of times a day, i think i have issues! I also keep a towel beside my amp and give the gutiar a wipe after i play, but its jus enivitable =/

feylya

Sweating if you're playing hard is inevitable but if you wash your hands just before you play, you get rid of any gunk that's on your hands and clears the pores in your hands. Of course, wiping down the guitar after playing will help a lot too.

Voodu Child

I was about to disagree that sweaty hands would cause your frets to wear faster, but I suppose if you're playing with rusty cruddy strings, they would probably be a bit harder on the frets.

I would have thought they'd have to be rusty in the extreme though, to actually grind the frets down more than a clean set. You shouldn't be playing with rusty strings no matter how sweaty your hands.

feylya

The way I'm thinking of it is if you left corrosive sweat on the frets after playing, it would eat them away. Just think of SRV. His guitar tech had to place the volume pot in a zip lock bag to stop SRV's sweat from destroying it.

Voodu Child

feylya wrote:

The way I'm thinking of it is if you left corrosive sweat on the frets after playing, it would eat them away. Just think of SRV. His guitar tech had to place the volume pot in a zip lock bag to stop SRV's sweat from destroying it.

Yeah, could be, I don't know exactly how corrosive human sweat is.

I'd have doubted it could physically eat into the depth of a fret (whatever about stripping the gold plating off your hardware).

But I suppose anything's possible. All the more reason to keep your baby clean

damomeasa

you're right, i just made it all up. my guitar's actually fine.

feylya

Pictures tbh.

damomeasa

don't seem to be able to capture any detail of the wear. it's happened to every guitar i've ever owned though, so i'm not really too bothered if any of you think too highly of your own oh-so-informed opinion to believe me.

feylya

Are the pits directly under the strings?

And loose the attitude. We're trying to help you here.

damomeasa

i know most of you are, i just got offended because i've lost a few guitars to this problem and i know that it definitely does exist.

but yes, the pits are directly under the strings, and they are by far the worst around the parts of the neck where i'd be playing more. conversely the frets are fine under my high E and above the 12th, where i don't play too often.

feylya

That's normal wear. My guitars have the same pits, usually on the unwound strings around the 3-5th frets. Nothing to do with corrosive sweat or anything else. If that's what you have, then a fret level is all that's needed. Bit cheaper than a complete refret.

Johnny Storm

My 2c

That anti-bacterial stuff can have a very bad effect on your skin. I never use it anymore.

Stainless steel frets are the biz. The SS frets on my 2003 Parker have absolutely, literally no wear at all and they are great to play on.

Getting a cloth under the strings and wiping off the crud can extend fretlife beacuse the crud can act as an abrasive (that must be true because I read it on the internet)