They need to be replaced every so often. Like a new set of tires, especially with a nicer product, a re-fret isn’t cheap, but they feel so much better afterward that you’re always glad you did it. Most frets are made of 18 percent nickel-silver, which is softer than your steel strings and slowly wears down with use.

A fret is a space between two fretbars on the neck of a stringed instrument. Frets divide the neck into fixed segments at intervals related to a musical framework. On instruments such as guitars, each fret represents one semitone in the standard western system, in which one octave is divided into twelve semitones.

22 frets

Taller and wider frets both feel easier to bend and play for most people, but up to a point. The extremely large frets tend to feel less playable for a lot of people. Those really big frets (esp. the 6000 and 6100 sizes) tend to work best with extremely low action.

Which size you like is purely a matter of preference, although it can affect your playing style. If you like your fingers to actually touch the fingerboard when fretting the strings, frets that aren’t very tall like the 6130, 6150 or 6230 are for you.

Bigger frets mean bigger tone, and that sounds like something we’d all want from our guitars. Fret size and shape can affect a great many aspects of your guitar’s sound and feel, so it’s worth looking at the bigger picture before jumping to any quick conclusions. The “fatter wire = fatter tone” equation is nothing new.

Most guitars needing fret work still have their original frets. This no-glue technique is good if the frets and slots are perfectly paired, but often the slots are too big: lots of air and not much coupling. The frets are only held in by their barbs.

6105 (. This design is the most popular choice thanks to their playability and grip against the fingerboard. If you’re a beginner, 6105 fret wires are a great place to start and it will be easy to find a guitar with them built-in.

And how long do guitar frets usually last? It depends on the fret material, frequency of your playing and the style of your playing. Taking all these factors in account, guitar frets life can range from a few years to even 20-30 years.

Refretting usually costs between $200 and $400, and it is worth it if you plan on playing that guitar. Especially if it is a more expensive one. Refretting cheaper guitars might not be a good idea since the whole procedure can cost more than you paid for the instrument.

If your guitar has dead spots, or areas where the buzz is noticeably worse in some areas than others, then you will benefit from a fret level, assuming you have enough height left in the frets to accommodate leveling (more below).

Typically a guitar refret will cost between $200 and $400. A fretdress, as part of a set-up typically costs between $50 and $100, and will solve most problems, without the need for a refret.

In general, you’d need one when the frets have been worn out so you don’t get good sound when fretting a string. Frets are needed to make the string work. Now, I you don’t bend strings, like jazz and most country players, you could work very small fretsl, 0.025″, measured from the fretboard to the top of the fret.

Performing a complete refret job is about as big as a job can be in guitar lutherie – but don’t let that scare you away. If it’s done poorly, you can usually salvage the job by pulling the frets again and giving it another try. It’s an extremely valuable skill to have, and the core requirement for a perfect action.

Does Refretting a guitar damage it? A bad fret job will totally destroy a guitar. Keep in mind that even a skilled luthier can refret a guitar a limited number of times before the slots start to widen. If you’re worried about having to replace them often, we would suggest getting stainless steel frets.

Refretting will not decrease the value of an instrument.

A refret can be done in 2 days if your guitar is the only guitar the guy is working on and he has the time to work a good 8 or so hours a day on it, but if he’s at a shop with a backed up queue and its busy you gotta understand you’re gonna have to wait for all the guitars that got in before yours.

Joking aside, a fret dress is a process of leveling frets with some type of flat, straight abrasive surface in order to eliminate string buzzing. When frets become worn, they actually tend to splay outward rather than wear away, which means that they tend to look worse than they actually are.

Last time I checked was about 5 years ago, and the best local shop was charging $50 for that job. The price has probably gone up some, but I’d expect it to be $75 or less. If there’s lots of meat on the frets, the remaining 18 can certainly be ground down to where the first 3 are at, and then all of them re-crowned.

When you experience all or most of the strings buzzing when played open, then it is likely the neck is back bowed (there’s not enough relief). The strings are buzzing against the first fret. The fix is simple: increase the amount of relief in the neck by loosening the truss rod.