Anybody had a re-fret done on an ebony fretboard?

[guitarman001]

My Cu24 has a maple neck and ebony fingerboard. I LOVE ebony fingerboards but have read horror stories about the board being chipped/hacked when pulling frets out since it's so brittle. Given I'm never going to sell this (and have never owned another guitar long enough to get a re-fret)... I'm hoping I never become one of those horror stories... because it's not just about money. The guitar, to me, is irreplaceable!

 

[gball]

Had it done on a Les Paul Custom once. It was done by the best-regarded guy in town at the time, but basically ruined the guitar. The edges of the 'board where the fret tangs pulled out got pulled up ever so slightly, requiring the fretboard to be sanded before the new frets were put in. Never felt right or played right again despite repeated pro setups to try to remedy the problem.

Not saying this is indicative of all ebony refrets, but it was a nightmare for me and, like you, it happened to what was a very important guitar to me - it was my very first "real" guitar, the one I learned to play on and gigged with for a bunch of years.

 

[guitarman001]

Had it done on a Les Paul Custom once. It was done by the best-regarded guy in town at the time, but basically ruined the guitar. The edges of the 'board where the fret tangs pulled out got pulled up ever so slightly, requiring the fretboard to be sanded before the new frets were put in. Never felt right or played right again despite repeated pro setups to try to remedy the problem.

Not saying this is indicative of all ebony refrets, but it was a nightmare for me and, like you, it happened to what was a very important guitar to me - it was my very first "real" guitar, the one I learned to play on and gigged with for a bunch of years.

Nightmare! Did you keep it?

Would definitely take mine to the PRS tech centre even though I live in Scotland and hope those boys would do a good job on it.

Has it put you off ebony boards?

 

[guitarman001]

Oh, how many years before that work needed done?

 

[gball]

I kept it for a while, yeah, but I eventually decided to get rid of it because I had a hard time playing it at that point and needed something I could use live. I greatly regret that decision now, both because of the sentimental value of the guitar and the fact that, despite everything, it was the best LP I ever owned even now after having another 10-12 over the years.

I'd had the guitar since I bought it new in 1978 (it was '77) and this refret nightmare happened in 1999, so I got 21 years of joy out of it before that happened. SO there is that.

I have only had one other guitar with an ebony fretboard since then, and I do think the experience had something to do with that. Believe it or not, I am actually interested in the LPC's with the Richlite boards because I think they would be easier to refret in the long-term.

I do hope it works out with yours. Sounds like a great guitar.

 

[John Beef]

Start watching this video around 1:56 to hear PRSh talk about the fretwire.

Speaking as a jaded consumer, this is a company produced video, right? And you have to take it with a grain of salt because you don't know what's PRS sales propaganda, and what's truth, right? I have had my Custom 22 since 2006 and it has been my main player since then. I have not needed a fret level/crown (let alone a refret) in almost 8 years now. I had a Japanese Jazzmaster that I bought in 1995 and by 2000 I had worn the frets out completely. So, I am sold on the PRS fretwire and PRSh's statements here.

If you love your guitar the way it is, it is unlikely you really need to worry about whether or not your ebony board will get marred when you refret it, because you probably won't need to.

 

[guitarman001]

Great video, thanks. Here's hoping...!

21 years, wow! Still, sorry to hear how it all ended!

 

[Brad737]

I had my 56 Les Paul refretted by Phil Jacoby at Philtone. He did a masterful job. I'll echo John's point though. I've never had non-stainless frets wear as well as PRS.

 

[László]

Lots of folks here have many guitars and won't wear out the frets in their lifetimes because they rotate them.

However, for players like me that rarely have more than a couple at a time, the good news is that PRS frets really do wear very well. My son's main guitar was a 1998 CU22 Soapbar that was in our family for 14 years (I bought it back from him at one point). The frets showed amazingly little wear. And he has a heavier touch than I do.

I suppose one's mileage may vary depending on one's fretting hand, but when I sold the guitar the buyer asked me if it had ever been played, the fret wear was that minimal.

 

[guitarman001]

I'll have to watch that video again but what material are PRS frets? Nickel? Supposedly stainless steel lasts 6x longer..?

 

[gush]

I had a charvel model 4 that had worn frets when I was done with it and my 2003 L.P. was worn pretty bad when I got rid of it last year. The 97 CE24 I picked up needed fret work too. I had a local guy level the frets and not im not happy with it. Should have sent it to PRS and I still might.

 

[gball]

I'll have to watch that video again but what material are PRS frets? Nickel? Supposedly stainless steel lasts 6x longer..?

It's not really specific about the material. I will say though that after a year of playing it there is no discernible wear on the frets of my Mira whatsoever. I have other guitars that I bought around the same time (including an SE) that have a small amount of noticeable wear.

 

[PlayPRSs]

I love stainless steel frets for the feel, playability and durability. I have had Jim Crawford of Jim Crawford Guitars do all my guitars and have literally handed him brand new out-of-the-box PRSs to get setup and have stainless frets put on. Jim has done stainless steel re-frets to my guitars with ebony, rosewood and maple necks, binding or no binding, with zero issues. He takes a great platform, like a PRS guitar, and takes that guitar to a whole other level; they play phenomenal and are truly an extension of the player…

 

[László]

Stainless does last, provided it's the correct Rockwell hardness. But other materials can last, too.

Paul Smith believes that the material he uses sounds better. That's why he prefers it to stainless. Fret wire does come into direct contact with the strings, so obviously it's going to have something to do with the sound, however subtle.

But everyone should follow their own thinking on this stuff. Nothing wrong with having other preferences.