Getting a Fret Job. devalues?

[Ilovetaylors]

I keep hearing about these amazing fret material.
I was thinking of getting those Jascar or evo gold fret job on my taylor.
(which one do you prefer, don't know what the difference is)

http://www.lmii.com/CartTwo/thirdpro...ader=+Fretwire

you think if you get a fret job, it will devalue the guitar any? I play really light touch on my taylor afraid it will ruin the frets. Maybe if I got some jascar or evo I wouldn't be so afraid to go all crazy.

[HudsDad]

Fret jobs are just part of normal maintenance on a guitar. If done properly, it should have no impact on the value.

[Glennwillow]

Hi ILT,

I wouldn't consider having a guitar refretted until it needs it. Jascar is good stuff and holds up a long time, but it sounds no better than any other material on the guitar. A full refret job will be $300-350 from what I remember.

Regards, Glenn

[Ilovetaylors]

oo thanks for the info!!!

Is there a difference between Jascar or evo gold? or are they the same?

[Taylorplayer]

No, it won't. George Gruhn has said that anything required to make a guitar playable is not likely to devalue it.

[murrmac123]

Originally Posted by Ilovetaylors

oo thanks for the info!!!

Is there a difference between Jascar or evo gold? or are they the same?

JESCAR is the name of the company who manufacture Evo Gold fretwire.

JESCAR also manufacture their own brand of nickel silver fretwire, and also stainless steel fretwire.

As far as your original question goes, I would unhesitatingly refret with JESCAR Evo Gold, next to stainless steel it is the most durable fretwire on the market.

As far as devaluation goes, who cares ? If the guitar plays better, that's what counts.

[Ilovetaylors]

Originally Posted by murrmac123

JESCAR is the name of the company who manufacture Evo Gold fretwire.

JESCAR also manufacture their own brand of nickel silver fretwire, and also stainless steel fretwire.

As far as your original question goes, I would unhesitatingly refret with JESCAR Evo Gold, next to stainless steel it is the most durable fretwire on the market.

As far as devaluation goes, who cares ? If the guitar plays better, that's what counts.

Thanks for the answers. JESCAR I KNOW YOUR OUT THERE, THANKS FOR A GREAT PRODUCT!!!!

[Landru]

Originally Posted by murrmac123

As far as devaluation goes, who cares ? If the guitar plays better, that's what counts.

Let me tell you - I owned a 1964 mint condition Fender Strat with frets so filed down they were useless. Did I refret with Fender wire? Yes sir! Did it devalue? Who can say - but I could now play the dang thing.

Function over form. I sold it for what I paid for it.

If you buy a rare guitar to put in a vault with all original stuff intact, that's one thing. A Taylor? Come on, man.

[arie]

re-fret and forget

[Wade Hampton]

Getting a professional fret replacement will not devalue the guitar, any more than changing the strings from the original factory set will.

But fret jobs are fairly expensive, and really shouldn't be done for mostly cosmetic reasons. It makes more sense to wait until the guitar actually needs refretting, and THEN replace the stock original fret wire with the gold EVO wire, if that's what you want.

This does raise an interesting issue, however, one that I've never seen addressed before. We're all just blithely assuming that fret replacements won't affect resale value on an instrument, but this is at least partly due to the fact that - until recently - any new fret wire was going to be the same color as the original stock fret wire.

This is just an educated guess, but I have a hunch that if you were to take a historically significant vintage instrument, such as a pre-WWII Martin dreadnought, and refret it with gold-colored fret wire, you would have an impact on that guitar's collector value. Because that wire was not available when the guitar was built.

But on contemporary instruments, it shouldn't have any effect on the value.

So if you happen to own Gene Autry's Martin D-45, don't put gold EVO wire on it!

But on a modern Taylor guitar it shouldn't make any difference in the instrument's resale value, assuming of course that the work is done cleanly and competently and there aren't any scratches or gouges inflicted on the neck or fingerboard when the work is done.

Short version:

Valuable vintage guitar? Probably shouldn't be refretted in gold wire.

Modern or post-war guitar? Have fun.

Hope this helps.


Wade Hampton Miller

[murrmac123]

Originally Posted by Wade Hampton

Short version:

Valuable vintage guitar? Probably shouldn't be refretted in gold wire.

Modern or post-war guitar? Have fun.

Hope this helps.


Wade Hampton Miller

As always Wade, you have summed it up in a nutshell.

Fact is, a guitar is either a tool or an investment, you can't have the best of both worlds.

I am currently the proud owner of a brand new Martin HD 28-VS, as I mentioned on the forum before, first thing I did was rip out the ridiculously dinky Martin frets and replace them with Evo Gold .047" high frets. I bought it for the sound, I knew I could take care of the playability. Do I care if the value drops ? Do I f...

I have owned Martins since 1970 and have had no qualms about reshaping the neck profiles on them when they didn't suit me. Same goes for the Lakewoods I owned.

If your objective is to have a guitar which plays to the best possible level, then you do whatever it takes. If your objective is to own an appreciating asset, then you lock it away, and you buy a guitar which you can customize to your heart's content.

[coreybox]

I'd wait till the guitar needed a refret before I'd do it. No use wasting that fret life!

Simply refretting a guitar shouldn't devalue the guitar.

On some guitars though, your choice of fret wire may alter the value, or at least reduce your pool of potential buyers. Ex: Super jumbo wire on a vintage fender (which stock has very small wire), or using stainless steel (which some people claim negatively affect the sound).

[Haans]

Would new tire devalue your car?

[zabdart]

Originally Posted by Haans

Would new tire devalue your car?

Now, there's a good answer!
One might add, would you buy a new set of tires while the old ones were still good?

[AZLiberty]

Originally Posted by zabdart

Now, there's a good answer!
One might add, would you buy a new set of tires while the old ones were still good?

I have often bought new tires the next day after driving off the lot. Factory tires suck, soft and squishy with lousy performance.