2001 Fender Sting P Bass fret wear

[ahdunno]

I normally play a J bass but I picked up a Sting P Bass for cl for $600. The bass is cherry but the guy had rotosound on it. The frets are gold-ish but the string wore off some of the gold plating and I see some silver.

Is this really bad? My goal was the get a lighter bass to practice with and wanted to try the La Bella flatwounds.

Do you think its worth to refret?

or

Slap the flatwonds and let it be?

Looks great and sound good but the cosmetic part of it is bugging me.

Thanks in advance!

[bolophonic]

If the bass sounds good, then don't be a weenie about some fret wear.

[michael_atw]

I've yet to come across a bass that I found to have too much fret wear. Of course, there are many...but I personally find it to be much more a guitar issue.

[testing1two]

It's likely that the "gold" coloring is the tinted lacquer used to finish the neck. On maple fingerboard instruments, the neck and fingerboard are sprayed, frets and all. As the frets are leveled the lacquer is removed from the very tops of the frets, but not the sides. It's not too difficult to remove all the lacquer from the frets with a razor blade if it bothers you.

[ahdunno]

Thanks! I couldn't image rotosounds chewing up the frets so quickly. I've been using them for the last three years on my Geddy Fender with no problems.

[jbednarski]

Originally Posted by testing1two

It's likely that the "gold" coloring is the tinted lacquer used to finish the neck. On maple fingerboard instruments, the neck and fingerboard are sprayed, frets and all. As the frets are leveled the lacquer is removed from the very tops of the frets, but not the sides. It's not too difficult to remove all the lacquer from the frets with a razor blade if it bothers you.

+1.

I got my Sting a few years ago and it's one of the best basses I've ever played. Enjoy!

[john grey]

Different fret wire has differing percentages of nickel. This in turn can affect the fret's hardness level and some dent / wear more than others. Overall this means very little. The style of playing (i.e. Slap) promotes excessive denting in one area for a protracted period of time in soft fret wire. Occasionally this can cause a problem in poorly seated frets in that the tang of the wire may loosen. But these are extreme exceptions.

However the coloration is generally finish (as mentioned above), especially on a maple fret-board.