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Should I buy I Spare Neck for my Guitar?
I often play guitar. My guitar is 1 year old. I received it as a gift last year. I really like it and does not have a second one. The manufacturer offer me to buy a spare neck for $200. My neck is almost new, but refretting a guitar where I live is $300. And the frets are not in stainless steel so, yep, it's a fact that I will have to refret the guitar in 8-9-10 years depending of the intensity of my playing.
I was wondering if it's a good idea to buy the neck to keep it for the next 10 years so I can install it in 10 years instead of paying 3-4-500$ for a frets jobs (in 10 years).
I will obviously try to keep it in a good environnement. I'm not sure how well a neck can be preserve.
I'm sure it will be impossible to buy the neck in 10 years because the company likes to create new model each 4-5 years.
What are the pros and cons of changing the neck vs refretting the guitar?
Comments
Super-weird that a manufacturer would offer that initially. You can go for years and years before needing a fret level and even longer before you need a refret. Get a new neck when you need a new neck (which will likely be never)
IMO the only reason to buy a second neck is if you’re worried about snapping the current neck. I have a Strat from 1996 and a Jazzmaster from 2008. The Strat probably needed a fret dressing in 2014 or so, and I finally got it done in 2021, but it sounded generally fine without the dressing — just a little buzzy on certain frets. I paid under $200 CAD at a small local shop, and it might have been even cheaper at Long & McQuade.
My Jazzmaster could probably use a fret dressing now, but I’m going to push it a little longer because there aren’t any visible divots.
I'd say that very much depends on the fret material used in your current model.
Which guitar do you have?
It's usually nothing to worry about but you never know, cheap products might use cheap, lower quality material.
https://www.premierguitar.com/diy/guitar-shop-101/fret-wear
I would say No to buying the neck. If you really like playing guitar that much I am sure that at one point you will want to have more than one guitars. That will split your playing time on multiple necks.
How much is that guitar worth? What's the brand? That will give us a idea of the quality of the frets.
My first quality guitar is a Charvel from 1992 and the frets could use a little work but not a refretting. I am going to learn how to do it myself.
I probably wouldn’t. I literally bought two guitars off Facebook Marketplace for $75 each respectively. Gave one to a student as a birthday present.
And these ones are better quality. Chances are somebody is selling a really nice guitar because they don’t have the time to play it anymore, and it’s just taking valuable space that they could use for something else.
I wouldn’t if it was me. I would buy another neck if I ever needed it, but not have one ‘just in case’.
Most of the feel of a guitar is in the neck. Changing it will be like changing guitars.
I play very lightly, and have stainless steel frets, so I don’t think I will need to change them for a good long while.
SS frets will last 5x the time of regular frets. I prefer SS frets but they are rare and only used on very expensive guitar. It's also easier to bend strings.
Well, the Marie Kondo book told me the shop is my stockroom. No need to stash your house full with stuff you might need one day.
And mind you, a refret is also a complete setup. A setup alone cost some money too. After a while you can do your own setup so this benefit becomes less important, but it is always nice when a good luthier does the setup.
I have refretted (by a luthier) two guitars, first one is a Korean Cort M520, a PRS clone, the neck is fantastic but the frets were from weak material. Now it has proper frets. And a Squier Jagmaster, original frets were by design much too low, higher frets does wonders for this guitar.
I’ve never had to have a refret done on a guitar and I have one that I’ve had since new over 10 years ago. Another is nearing 30 years old and is still fine. Both see almost daily use.
I think you’re overestimating how frequently guitars need a full refret.
I think it depends on many things. I probably press too hard with my fingers. I also heard that the bigger your strings, the harder it is for your frets.
I use 0.10-0.46 string. Maybe I will switch for 0.09-.042
Well the frets do wear, just like strings. That is a fact. I wouldn´t change anything to extend the life of the frets. Just play the hell out of the guitar, beat it up, use it. No need to bother about money you have to spend 10 years in the future, IMHO.
After a refret the guitar is in very good shape again, that is the positive side. Lighter strings are easier to bend, and string pressure is lower. I like 10 more than 9 to get a bit more string pressure on the tuning pegs.
Word. This is good advice. Don't baby it... Make it scream!
When the refret comes :many years: later it might feel expensive in the moment, but prorate that in your head over the next :many years: and it doesn't look so bad. Hell, it's even cheap.
Really, guitars are among the sturdiest stringed instruments out there. It's not like with violins, yknow? Neck problems happen mostly when you expose them to heat and humidity. Repeatedly. Or stringing your guitar too tight (like if you tune to an open E with 12s on an electric) for too long.
I would recommend selecting string gauge based on how the guitar plays and sounds, not based on how you think it will wear the frets.
You’ll miss out on the experience of the guitar playing the way you want it to play if you focus on something other than setting it up for you.