Refret a MIJ Esquire Custom

[JM3]

I picked up a MIJ Esquire some years ago in a used shop and want to know if anyone here has done thier own refret on a rosewood tele neck?
Thinking about doing it myself as I have gotten really good at repairing guitars and this is s big step into unkown territory

Repair shop price will put the guitar at aloss if i ever desire to sell it

[JM3]

OH well i guess no one here has done a refret on thier own?

[cwilliamrose]

I can say I was tempted. But I don't want to make my Mustang a test case and that's the only guitar I have that needs fret work. I'll wait until I can have it done by a pro. If I had a cheap guitar that I wasn't attached to, I'd probably give it a shot.......Bill

[Direstraits]

I don't know what prices are like on that side of the "pond" but in the UK a re-fret would cost about £100 on a Rosewood neck. I had a 80's MIJ Strat maple neck refretted & the fretboard sanded off & re-lacquered for about £150 by my local luthier. Money well spent as I have no intention of selling the guitar, and 20 + years of use had worn the frets well down in places. I would consider this essential maintenance rather than worrying about losing money if you decided to sell it in the future.
- If you mess up a re-fret it's going to be worth a lot less, and if it really needs doing & you have it done by a pro you will have made the guitar more "sell-able" than one with worn frets.

[kaicho8888]

FYI: Here are videos of refretting. It's a little long but interesting.

http://www.youtube.com/user/smbstres...5E8BFC21B63A99

[Mesotech]

I was going to suggest watching those videos as well. Very imformative, and at the end you may feel it is more economical to replace the original neck with an aftermarket or parted fleabay special.

For me, the videos illuminate a need to lots of time to do the job, but also show the number of relatively expensive tools you'll also need to do the job properly. The cost of the tools alone was enough to deter me from ever attempting my own refret job.

[DanD]

You may also check around to see if any of the local luthiers have purchased a PLEK machine.

There's a shop in Norman, OK that PLEKS for $180. Good people and good guitar work.

The PLEK takes a lot of the tedius labor and guess work out of a refret.

After the frets are removed and the board leveled all that needs to be done is setting in of the new frets and a little fret end finishing. The PLEK will take it from there.

Yeah, your looking at $250 - $300 but that neck will be something special when it's done.

You may get lucky on the 'bay and snag a nice MIJ neck for $175 - $250 but there's no guarantee it'll be right.

I've gotten lucky on the 'bay and snagged some really nice necks and also gotten a few duds that were in excellent condition.

Necks are really a crap shoot if you can't play 'em first.

Personally I'd rather put 3 bills into a neck I know will be right than hafta' purchase one or more at $200 to get a good one.

YMMV

[mageerc]

Another thing to consider is after purchasing all the tools necessary to refret a neck, you're well into or over the price of a professional refret...

[JM3]

Thanks for the great info

I like the neck a lot big C neck with no skunk stripe,I love it but it definatley will need frets soon and i probably will go with meduims or jumbos
Guess I'll use the the luther here in town