Would you buy a second hand Fender Custom Shop Strat refretted with stainless steel frets?

CaseOfAce

Am wondering if I'd take a hit financially if I subsequently sold it after I'd had it refretted with stainless steel frets.

Purists will say to get it refretted with nickel silver...(part of the tone?!) - and take the cost of refretting again in 10 years time.
Players will thank me for getting durable stainless steel...(will make it a brighter sound?)

what say you forum members? experiences?

Majorscale

I’d get it refretted with like for like if you were going to sell it in the near future. If you are thinking ten years plus out then just do what you want 

Funkfingers

Whatever you change about your Fender CS instrument, some potential customers will disapprove whilst others will be pleased that you have paid for work and materials that they might have wanted.

Whilst Fender CS instruments may be luxurious, they are still only replicas, possessing no vintage value.

If you NEED stainless steel fret wire to earn your crust, have it done. 

guitars4you

why sell it if you like it

Personally I'm not sure it is a + or - issue both tone, playability and value

CavemanGrogg

Funkfingers said:

Whatever you change about your Fender CS instrument, some potential customers will disapprove whilst others will be pleased that you have paid for work and materials that they might have wanted.

Whilst Fender CS instruments may be luxurious, they are still only replicas, possessing no vintage value.

If you NEED stainless steel fret wire to earn your crust, have it done. 

This, personally I wouldn't touch a guitar with stainless steel frets, I don't like the way they feal, nor sound, others love them, and some don't care either way.

Philly_Q

It wouldn't be a make-or-break factor to me, just something to be considered along with the guitar's other features.  And the price.  And stainless or not, I'd hope whoever refretted it had actually done a good job.

Offset

If it needs a re-fret for whatever reason, I'd definitely go for SS.  No-brainer for me.  Resale value wouldn't even enter into my thought process.

guitarfishbay

I had an SS refret on my non CS US Fender Strat. It has made fret rattle sound a touch harsher but normal playing sounds pretty much the same as I remember (I changed pickups too so can’t A/B). The playing feel is very nice. Feels like a freshly crowned fret every time I pick it up 

Dontgiveupyourdayjob

Yes, wouldn't put me off in the slightest. Assuming the rest of the spec was what I liked then personally I'd love a CS Strat with steel frets. 

bertie

no

p90fool

My SS frets after years of fairly heavy gigging. They still look like they were fitted yesterday and I've never even cleaned them - if you're keeping it it's definitely worth doing. 



 

sweepy

Absolutely not, it’d be a deal breaker for me

TeleMaster

It wouldn’t make a difference to me beyond preference.

Purists and Custom Shop guitars?

They’re modern made, 9.5 inch radius guitars sold with a relic. What purists are these to moan about the frets?

meltedbuzzbox

I would buy it if I liked how it played and sounded.
The key thing there is getting hands on and not buying blind.

If you are buying with selling on in mind, you are doing it wrong in my opinion.

Oddly GAS seems to be at it's worst when I am at my most inactive music wise and I think I'm not the only one.

Philly_Q

meltedbuzzbox said:

Oddly GAS seems to be at it's worst when I am at my most inactive music wise and I think I'm not the only one.

I've only ever been inactive music wise.  Which probably explains a lot.

Gassage

I can’t stand them do a deffo deal breaker

mrkb

I’d prefer it. Not having stainless frets is why I haven’t considered them over Suhrs.

26.2

It would be a plus for me - I love them.

Boromedic

I actually did this to my CS, made an excellent guitar more or less perfect for me. It's got a 7.25" radius as it's a 56 relic, I don't care if it loses value the shitty Fender nickel steel ones on it were ruining the value anyway.

Now I'll never need to refret it and I love playing it, funny that

maltingsaudio

This is an example of how bad the internet is for  guitarists now. Time was you picked up a guitar thought it was either great or shyte and either bought it or didn’t . They say we buy guitars with our eyes and that really is the reality now , probably due to the decline in music shops thanks to the internet. If the guitar for sale doesn’t meet the exacting spec we want due to having done our research on the internet, we don’t give it a second look. How often have you picked up a guitar that you really shouldn’t like due to its spec but it just seems right.

In answer to the OPs question, I’d have it refretted with stainless, but if I was thinking of moving it on in a few years time I would put pennies in a jar to so I could have it refinished tobacco sunburst because that is probably the only thing a future buyer would care about!!

slacker

maltingsaudio said:

This is an example of how bad the internet is for  guitarists now. Time was you picked up a guitar thought it was either great or shyte and either bought it or didn’t .

exactly.

I bought my nos strat because I liked it even with non vintage options. I stuck a callaham bridge on it because the trem is better. Buy a guitar to play it not sell it unless you are a dealer in that case say it's not original suck your teeth lowball offer before you sell it as rare at an inflated price.