How bad is this fret wear?

[christobass 416]

I wanted to know what you guys thought of this fretwear: http://img418.imageshack.us/my.php?image=zon7ma5.jpg
How do you fix frets in that kind of condition? It's a zon bass, obviously, so would extra care need to be taken when fixing hem?

[Philbiker]

Originally Posted by christobass 416

I wanted to know what you guys thought of this fretwear: http://img418.imageshack.us/my.php?image=zon7ma5.jpg
How do you fix frets in that kind of condition? It's a zon bass, obviously, so would extra care need to be taken when fixing hem?

I don't see any playing wear at all in that picture. Let me take a picture of the neck I took off my franken-P if you want to see some fretwear.

That looks like it just needs to be polished. It's real easy to do so, do you know how?

[ebe9]

It does not look that bad.

The frets just seem a little "rusted" or dirty, more than anything.

I have seen two 1970's Ibanez Jazz copies recently that are in need of some fretwork. Loose about another millimetre and they are as good as fretless.

[Nick Ioannucci]

it looks like it just needs a little tlc. clean that baby up!

[christobass 416]

Originally Posted by Philbiker

I don't see any playing wear at all in that picture. Let me take a picture of the neck I took off my franken-P if you want to see some fretwear.

That looks like it just needs to be polished. It's real easy to do so, do you know how?

Actually, no, I have no idea.
I'd definitely would like to see a pic of your bass. I guess I don't have a very good idea of what fret wear is.

[ldervish]

Fretwear is a groove or dip worn into the fret by the string vibration. It is directly beneath the string, in the positions where you spend a lot of time or press/attack really hard. On my basses it is most noticeable on the 5 lowest positions and the larger strings.

Yours seem to be dirty or corroded as others have already said, not fretworn, and can be cleaned/polished easily.

[Philbiker]

Here's my well worn neck. The fretwear is not so bad that it is unusable, but it's worse than it looks in this picture. You can see the grooves in the frets from playing notes. I used to love Rotosound strings, which are famous for destroying frets.

[christobass 416]

Oh, I see. Thanks for all the tips!

[splodge]

Originally Posted by Philbiker

Here's my well worn neck. The fretwear is not so bad that it is unusable, but it's worse than it looks in this picture. You can see the grooves in the frets from playing notes. I used to love Rotosound strings, which are famous for destroying frets.

aha now thats good fret wear

[morf]

Looks like my p bass deluxe's frets. Rotosounds I put on there ate through them.

[Uprightboy]

Have a luthier "DRESS" those frets. Maybe $40-50. You'll be happy. Your frets look to have a long life ahead of them. It's probably just oils and salts from your hands when you're playing it that makes them look so gritty. Some people wipe their basses down after playing them to keep that from happening. I say, "Wear your bass all the way out and worry about nothing." Keep palying it a couple years and then show us some "fret wear"!
_Burney