Refretting your PRS

Mirroredas

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For the guys that like that one PRS so much that they abuse it all the time, even if there are others in the collection, how often did you have to refret your main one (if ever)?
 
In almost 40 years of playing I have never refretted an instrument. The closest I would have ever come was my '88 BC Rich Gunslinger. I played that thing until the frets had divots and were flattened. I just gave it to a kid instead of messing with it. It was a great guitar, but the idea of refretting has always seemed alien to me....
 
I wish I was like that. I have an SE I bought in 2013 that needs one. :(

It's a curse, lol. I'm just enough of a brat that if a guitar gets that worn down I just replace it. I have never kept/played a guitar so exclusively to wear it down. Even the Ibanez I got in '87, and still have, has near perfect frets. I play with light strings and have an exceptionally light touch also. In a lot of ways I wish that I had one guitar that just connected with me that much. Even my current left overs - the pink sparkle CE, my SC245, and my P22 - don't speak to me enough where I have ONE guitar I gravitate toward. I rotate them constantly. Shoot, in reality my Warwick bass gets WAY more action these days since I am mostly composing using the keyboard. Guitar has become the tertiary instrument....
 
Only one of my guitars has been refretted...the 79 Les Paul. Had the original frets leveled and crowned 3 times before replacing them all. I let my luthier talk me into installing 6100s, which was the best decision I’ve ever made. One of my Strats needs new frets but I can’t bring myself to get it done yet. It feels and sounds magnificent and I’m afraid to change anything.
 
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Only one of my guitars has been regretted...the 79 Les Paul. Had he original frets leveled and crowned 3 times before replacing them all. I let my luthier talk me into installing 6100s, which was the best decision I’ve ever made. One of my Strats needs new frets but I can’t bring myself to get it done yet. It feels and sounds magnificent and I’m afraid to change anything.

Regret is a fickle thing...
 
Only one of my guitars has been regretted...the 79 Les Paul. Had he original frets leveled and crowned 3 times before replacing them all. I let my luthier talk me into installing 6100s, which was the best decision I’ve ever made. One of my Strats needs new frets but I can’t bring myself to get it done yet. It feels and sounds magnificent and I’m afraid to change anything.

If it ain’t broke...
 
I’ve only had one guitar refretted. Haven’t owned any others long enough to need it. My main players now have SS frets except for my P245. I will refret that with SS one day.
 
Was thinking of refretting my 86 Japanese Strat with larger fretwire, but then again I do not play it enough to do it. The 513 has that covered...
 
Does anyone know if the PTC will do refrets with stainless steel or is only option the original fret material?
 
I have yet to need a refret on a guitar. My Tele which gets the most heavy play has been dressed and recrowned a couple of times. I'm thinking that when it comes time for a refret I might just put on a new neck. Kinda have a hankering for a roasted maple neck. My oldest PRS, 2001 McCarty, doesn't really get heavy play. But now that I think about it I should probably give the frets on that a good look at. Doubt that they need replacing but I bet they could at the very least do with a good polishing.
 
My 3 (Korina McCarty, Sc245, ME1) all have Jescar 57110 Stainless Steel since around 2011. No wear in sight since then!

I prefer the larger frets and the slicker feel with SS.
 
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I play fairly heavy handed with 10's & 11's, so I wear frets down fast. I also have played a lot of clean single note jazz lines in recent years, so when frets are not tip top condition the tone really suffers, especially on the top string. Because of that, not having a platoon of PRSi, and my HB being my main axe, I've had it refretted twice since it's birth in 2000. The last one was with stainless steel frets and after playing it for some time, the frets are still in perfect condition with no signs of wear.
 
I've had to refret my main guitar twice in 10+ years (but the last frets they put where too soft). Judging by your experiences, I'll have to accept the fact that it it'll happen with a PRS as well and just get a good luthier to do it in the future if needed.
 
I'm not scared of a refret at all. I didn't give the frets on my Silver Sky a day of playing before I ripped them out and put in Jumbos. But I'm also not afraid of a mod. I've put a new fretboard on one of my PRSs....which was costly, but not anywhere in the realm of building a private stock...so I suppose that justified it.

Point is, a refret can be a great thing and can allow you to further craft the guitar to your hands and your tastes. Or, maybe it's simply necessary maintenance. If it's the latter....it took me about 8 years of heavy playing and crowning before conceding to a refret.
 
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