QUESTION:
I have a 1958 Fender Stratocaster guitar. My father gave it to me years ago and now i was thinking of selling it because of a bad financial situation. I noticed the frets are very worn and the strings are buzzing . Should I re-fret the guitar and if I do how much does that affect the price of the guitar
REPLY:
I am asked this question on a regular basis . As many know in time as guitar is played the frets get grooves and wear down. This has never been a problem until te vintage guitar market took off years ago. Obviously the correct thing to do was to get it re-freted so you can play it. But things have changed over the years and this has become a real sticking point for many collectors.
I feel that if you are a player and want to keep the guitar have it refreted with correct size frets by a pro. Guitars were meant to play not to hang on a wall. I do not care how rare a guitar is if a person cannot play it what good is it UNLESS you are looking to start a collection. I have argued this for years and have gotten hate mail by the pound but a pro re fret is not a bad thing when done correctly.
From a collectors stand point all original means all original including frets. So yes a 100% original guitar is untouched and if it plays good, if it does not it is ok according to the collectors. They say let the buyer make the decision I am not touching the guitar. They have a valid point and in many cases I have done the same thing but again this was for a rare collectible guitar I knew no one was going to play.
If you re fret a guitar the value will go down slightly if it is a pro job. If you throw on jumbo frets and it looks like an animal re freted it the price is considerably less. The question is this you are looking to sell the guitar so leave it alone. Let the buyer worry about what he wants to do . If the buyer tries to get you down on the price bend a bit and say ok take $500 for a fret job and that will make him happy and you sell the guitar without laying out cash.
I am a player and always have been so i say re fret it if your keeping it leave it alone if you are collecting or going to sell it. I am a firm believer guitar should be played , turn it up . I hope this helps if you have any more questions please feel frr to e mail me here
Thank you
Jim Pasch