What to do......Ibanez AEL15E-LG - worn frets..

flatfourfan

I got this guitar a few months back from someone who honestly saw me coming.

I didn't know much about acoustics, and I liked the look and overall feel of the guitar, so I did a trade.

However...............after guidothepimp had a look at it and dropped the action, it appears that the douchebag set up the guitar to avoid fretbuzz, fretbuzz that was caused by the frets being worn on the 3rd, 4th, 2nd and 5th fret and is also only worn on the 1st, 2nd and 3rd strings....the rest are fine..........I'm suspecting crap quality frets. But that's just me.

What are my options for a cheap repair? All in all, I'm in this thing for R800 and i like it and it suits my needs, all except the dead notes which is making me want to make it wall art.

The neck is bound and and so I suspect that doing a fretjob will pretty much be twice the value of the damn thing.

SO what are my options?

AlanRatcliffe

Chances are good it needs a fret dress, rather than a full refret. Binding isn't an issue with a dress.

flatfourfan

Anyone in the Pta region that could do a fret dress?

Also what's the going rate on a fret dress nowadays?

flatfourfan

R830-00 for a fret dress.

Time for a new guitar I guess........

AlanRatcliffe

How much are those new? I don't know them, but R800 seems like a very good price for an Ibby with a pickup. R800-odd more to get it in playing condition and I would have thought you're still ahead of the game.

guidothepimmp

Andries at fretshop i think is a bit cheaper

Big-G

To try and answer Alan's question, I cannot find a price in SA for one new, but they were going for 250 british Pooonds, which would currently work out at around R4k here, probably more once shipping and taxes were accounted for, so R1650 TOTAL, to get this guitar up and running is still pretty good!

Having said that though, there are mega bargains to be had on GT if you can be careful and patient enough. I've seen several rather decent acoustics that have been selling for between R1k and R2k. So they can be had if you look hard enough.

If it was my acoustic, and I was happy with the sound, and feel of the guitar, then I would most probably have the first 5 frets replaced altogether. It would be worth the investment if the guitar fits. If however, my intention was to replace the guitar for a higher level one a little down the line, then I wouldn't bother, and would either continue playing it as it is until it became unbearable, or I'd find a super cheap replacement, or try and make a plan to afford the better model sooner.

Hope that helps?
Regards
G!

Tokai-SA

Give Wayne Coughlan a call, he's in the Pretoria area.
082 334 5607

Agree with Alan, most probably just needs a fret dress.

flatfourfan

Spoke to two guys and R700-R850 is the norm it seems, all depending on if they can be saved or not.

The guitar in all honesty is all that I need at this stage, if I can get a few years out of it until I've progressed to the stage where I can justify buying something better, then I'm happy. Plus I play electric about 90% of the time and this much less.......but It's getting addictive.

So if it's not more than R800, then I'll get her sorted and soldier on. She's a good guit and I enjoy playing her..........I just think that PO was a tool. Will update once she goes under the knife.

Tokai-SA

flatfourfan wrote: Spoke to two guys and R700-R850 is the norm it seems, all depending on if they can be saved or not.

I have a garden landscaping/maintenance business as well.
I charge R850.00 a month to do once weekly garden maintenance on a small townhouse garden.
That includes, petrol for the bakkie, petrol for the lawnmower and edge trimmer, my own tools and equipment, a driver, 4 guys who do the work, driving through insane Sandton/Randburg traffic, traffic fines, etc, etc, etc.

lol, R850 to sandpaper a few frets...maybe 30 minutes work. ?

AlanRatcliffe

Tokai SA wrote: lol, R850 to sandpaper a few frets...maybe 30 minutes work. ?

You speak from ignorance there...
Tools & consumables: Radiused sanding blocks; special adhesive sandpaper; specialised crowning and fret end files; straightedges; board protection; scratch removal and polishing materials; nut files; and two sets of strings.
Time... adjust truss, allow to settle, file down frets, recrown frets (one by one), shape fretends, restring with new strings, tune, adjust truss rod, allow to settle, spot file and crown high spots, recut nut, remove strings, smooth and polish frets, oil board, restring with new set of strings and tune.

flatfourfan

With a job like this, that may seem small, I'm paying for time spent and for the luthiers knowledge.

Squonk

worth every cent as that Ibanez looks like a decent guitar