Should I sell?

[Spivonious]

The frets on my Predator's neck are pretty much gone. Not enough left to recrown and from my limited research it will cost more than I paid for the guitar to refret it.

So this has me thinking...do I sell it and use the money towards another guitar? Or do I bite the bullet and get it refretted?

I've never owned a brand new guitar before, and I'm kind of curious how brand new frets feel. With that said, I can't really justify spending more $500, since my band is just starting to gig and I'm just not good enough to appreciate the higher quality of a Pro series or US guitar. I do notice the lower quality of the JS series, so I'm focusing on the X series of guitars.

For those of you who have played X series guitars, what are the pros and cons? I'm not a huge trem user so the softer knife edges on the JT580 don't bother me. I'm willing to give the Duncan Designed pickups a try...I can always swap in some real Duncans if I need to. Is there anything else I should look out for?

[ZZB]

What kind of $ are you looking at for the refret? I would definetely refret the Predator if the alternative is an X series. Nice axe, the Pred.

Also I think it'll be a hard sell if the frets are totally shot.

[Rich#6]

Get it refretted. You won't get much for a guitar that needs new frets and you can't get much better quality in an import then the predator.

[Newc]

Wasn't the Predator 22 frets? You should be able to find a decent-condition neck on Ebay, if not Warmoth.

In all honesty, if you like the Predator's neck profile, and you have to choose between a $500 refret and a $500 new guitar, go for the refret because you're getting the better value. The X series Jacksons are nowhere near the quality of an 80s Charvel import. Remember, these were being made by first-generation Grover trainees, and they were not yet making the infamous 90-94 neckthrough Pros, so the guitar you have will always beat a current import bolt-on Jackson.


But if you're hung up on new guitar smell, I can't blame you. New frets and new everything else are definitely more fun than old and worn anything. However, you may find new frets to be too tall if you're used to working with lowered frets.

[///MK]

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[Spivonious]

Thanks for the responses. I guess I'll go with a refret. Maybe it's time for me to finally bite the bullet and buy the tools needed for doing it myself.

Anyone have a neck they want to give me to practice on?