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what do you call the fretjob where you put laquer on the sides of the fretboard to make up for the sanded sides of the fretboard?


mbengs1

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I got a refret for an Ibanez rg550 before. the refret ruined the guitar. it felt so far from the original it's a waste. The fast neck feel of the Ibanez wizard neck wasn't there anymore. what could've been done to fix this?

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Maybe it was due to you being used to worn frets?

 

Without seeing the work I could only guess what your issue is.

There can be many things involved, the size of the frets, the leveling, were they properly crowned, was the nut raised or replaced, was the action properly set or is the action higher then it was to avoid fret buzz due to in level frets.

 

Granted changing frets is a fairly serious restoration which does affect all your adjustments and therefore the instruments playability. Its something you do as a last resort when there's no meat left for leveling and crowning. It doesn't matter what instrument it is, they will all play differently but its hopefully better then it was with low frets.

 

The quality of a refret comes down to how experienced the person doing the job. Did they use the same frets or did they use a heavier gauge. Were they hammered in or glued in. How much material had to be removed leveling them. Did they leave the tops flat or did they crown them nicely. A really big item when it comes to bending strings is how polished they are. If they are flat and rough it can be very tough to bend strings as well as needing more finger pressure to hold them down to avoid string buzz. Highly polished properly crowned frets can play like butter.

Because you typically have to replace the nut with higher frets too it can completely change the feel.

 

Luckily all those things can be fixed. The question is can you diagnose what is actually needed. The guitar may have been set up properly but what can often happens is the relief changes once strings are back on there under tension. A luthier may loosen the rod before pulling the frets, then level the fretboard by sanding it before replacing the frets. Getting the truss tension set back up properly can take up to a month.

 

I finished building a guitar a few weeks ago and just put my second set of strings on it yesterday. I've had to level the frets out twice and tweak the truss up and down in tension to find the sweet spot where it plays best. I think Its about as good as its going to be now and the microtonal changes that occur after letting it set overnight disappear quickly after playing and tuning it. Getting that balance between proper Tone, and playability takes a bit of time, especially after a refret when new frets are wedged into the slots and the fret board wasn't to expand.

 

I suggest you play it for a few weeks then get the action re-tweaked (if you aren't able to di it yourself). Don't just trust the tuner either, use your ears. and listen for how much tension the strings have, If the tension is too great you'll lack bass response. If its too slack you'll have too much. If you do any tweaking do micro tweaks then give it time to change. Play along to commercial recordings too. Its one of the quicker ways of finding out weather tone vs intonation are good.

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Is this the work of your usual "luthier"? If so, I'm not that surprised he messed up your guitar. He doesn't seem to do very good work. It sounds like he messed up when filing the fret ends and decided to sand and refinish the sides of the fretboard and neck.

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Why don't you post some pics so we can see the quality of work. Makes it allot easier commenting when you can see what was actually done.

I dislike playing devils advocate but you do have to bevel the fret ends and if you don't want to have those jagged edges ripping your hands up when you slide up and down the neck you have to take those edges down to wood level, and if the factory frets were lacquered over he may have done the same.

 

We are taking you word that it was actually botched. Without photos how would we know if its actually botched or just you not being used to having new frets in there? I'm not doubting it has a different feel, all guitars will, but anyone who says they remember how new frets felt on a guitar they may have owned since it was new isn't being realistic. Players adapt to an instruments playability just like you do playing different instruments. If you liked the speed of worn frets then maybe you shouldn't have had a refret or maybe you should have low profile frets put in (which they do make)

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I got a refret for an Ibanez rg550 before. the refret ruined the guitar. it felt so far from the original it's a waste. The fast neck feel of the Ibanez wizard neck wasn't there anymore. what could've been done to fix this?

 

It wasn't refretting the guitar that ruined it. The guitar was ruined by poor workmanship.

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