Re-fretting is the process of giving new life to an old guitar. I love re-fretting guitars because the process feels so right –and even better, it allows me to up-cycle old necks that would otherwise be tossed into the burner. I don’t do partial re-frets (it’s against my principles to put in 3 or 4 new frets and then have to level them down to fit in with the surrounding frets). If the guitar really needs 3 or 4 new frets then it deserves ALL new frets.
I use AllParts regular fretwire (various gauges to suit your preference) but Stainless Steel and EVO gold are also available at a premium. I don’t charge extra for bound necks. Stainless Steel takes longer to work and inflicts quite a bit of damage on luthier tools which is why it costs more – but the benefit to you is that these frets last WAY longer than the regular fret wire. A nice improvement on regular wire (in terms of hardness and looks) is EVO gold. This is as easy to work as regular wire so the only additional cost is the price of the EVO fretwire.
I am happy to re-fret necks (minus their bodies) and this also makes it cheaper for people to send via courier if budget is an issue. A full neck-only re-fret costs £160 in standard wire + £15 return P&P and includes a radius-block fret leveling, re-crown and polish.
A better option is the re-fret and full set up at £280. This price includes the re-fret plus a full precision fret levelled set up (normal price £135) with new Tusq nut and strings so with this option you’re getting a full set up for a discounted price. This requires having whole guitar (neck, body, bridge and tuners) and allows me to level the newly-fretted neck with the neck strung and under load in the playing configuration. This is 10-15% more accurate than conventional ‘strings off, neck flat’ fret levelling methods. This is because the longitudinal compression of the neck that occurs when the guitar is strung causes a slight ‘bunching’ of the frets. For this reason, a fretboard levelled with the neck flat and strings off may appear flat to the fret-rockers but when loaded, it will become slightly uneven again. Because I level with the neck curved and loaded (i.e. with this longitudinal compression in effect) the levelness achieved remains when you restring and play the guitar.
