How bad do these frets look?

[budget bassist]

First off, this not a bass, but a guitar, but this is one of the more knowledgable/helpful/active forums around, and I always appreciate the help.

 

I'm trying to spend a little more time playing guitar/bass (broke my leg recently and I don't have much else to do), playing my Les Paul last night (some of you might remember this being my project guitar - thread here) I'm really struggling with chords, more than I remember. While certainly my technique could use a lot of work, I'm wondering if it could also have something to do with the frets being pretty worn. I've attached a couple of photos - the heel end looks pretty good, but the nut end looks quite worn. 

My question is, how bad are they, and are they salvageable without a complete re-fret? Being that this is my project guitar, I've come so far that I'd quite like to try the work myself.

 

Open to comments/suggestions. Thanks!

 

Edited February 26 by budget bassist

[Norris]

It's a bit difficult to tell from the photos.

 

Fret wear tends to happen underneath the strings, meaning that the frets start to have dips in those places. Levelling the frets and re-crowning will obviously remove material, and eventually after a few goes you will not have enough fret left and have to replace them. Usually you should be able to redress the frets 3 or 4 times depending how much material you need to remove to get them back to being level.

 

Whether you need to replace them depends on how high you like your frets to be.

 

Perhaps borrow another guitar for a short while to see if it's the instrument or you? 😂

[budget bassist]

1 hour ago, Norris said:

It's a bit difficult to tell from the photos.

 

Fret wear tends to happen underneath the strings, meaning that the frets start to have dips in those places. Levelling the frets and re-crowning will obviously remove material, and eventually after a few goes you will not have enough fret left and have to replace them. Usually you should be able to redress the frets 3 or 4 times depending how much material you need to remove to get them back to being level.

 

Whether you need to replace them depends on how high you like your frets to be.

 

Perhaps borrow another guitar for a short while to see if it's the instrument or you? 😂

Hah, thanks. I do have another guitar, but I've been playing the LP more because the shorter scale length makes finding chords a little easier. I'll muddle on for a little and see how I do.

[Andyjr1515]

Hi @budget bassist

 

Yes - I remember the thread.  You did a good job - nice 'tidy up'.

 

As @Norris says, we could do with a shot from this angle (with strings on is fine) to be able to judge:

 

 But, as Norris also says, fret wear is generally seen as grooves that are created directly under the string and, unless you have had the whole fretboard re-levelled a number of times, it is unlikely that your  frets are going to be too shallow across their full width.

 

What is the difficulty you are having with your chords? 

- the pressure you are having to apply to hold the chords down?

- buzzes when you are fully holding the chords down?

- specific types of chord, such as bar chords?

- something else?

 

Oh, and what gauge of strings do you usually use?