Guitar Partial fret Dress?

[shahpur]

hi can anyone please advise me , i picked up an old Japanese Squier ( E serial ) , great guitar but the first 3 frets have some wear ( on the b and e strings ( but the other frets are in mint condition .

What i was wondering is it possible work on the top 3 to remove the indentations using an small file and sandpaper and leave the other without doing a full fret level .

Any help will be much appreciated

[BrianS.]

Re: Guitar Partial fret Dress?

No, because then your first 3 frets will be lower than the rest and therefore your strings will fret out (buzz) when you play those frets.

[Gearjoneser]

Re: Guitar Partial fret Dress?

If the wear is deep enough you should have it leveled and crowned.

If you just want to clean up the look a bit, you could use super fine sandpaper and masking tape to clean up the area surrounding the grooves on both sides of the frets. Just don't touch the tops of the frets.

[LReese]

Re: Guitar Partial fret Dress?

I'll throw this out for discussion... I did fix a fret ding this way. But best to leave something like this to the pros.

You might very well get away with burnishing the fret. I'd avoid the tops of the fret - maybe just hit it lightly. the back of a spoon thats very smooth should work well for this. Just rub on each side of the crown with a little pressure, following the crown. Don't touch the fingerboard wood - better yet, mask it off.

Again, best left to a pro familiar with the technique.

The partial level -could be possible - that is if the affected frets are slightly higher than the rest of the guitar (This is not a likely scenario). Even so IMO, a full level is a better option. But, that's up to the tech examining the guitar.

Disclaimer - I am NOT a guitar tech.

[crusty philtrum]

Re: Guitar Partial fret Dress?

If the wear has reached a certain point, a partial refret would be the way to go. Replace the first three frets and dress them down to match the existing ones.

[drpietrzak]

Re: Guitar Partial fret Dress?

You can have a partial refret done if it is bad.