...are people just idiots?
I was in Andertons at the weekend and they had a second-hand 2010 MIM Jazz Bass on the wall, so I decided to give it a go. It felt a little strange off the bat, which I put down to a noticeably chunkier neck than mine, and a maple fretboard. Quickly realised though that it was strung with flatwounds, which I don't have a huge amount of experience with. It sounded quite thuddy and dull, which I assumed was a combination of the flats and being plugged into a shitty EBS practice amp.
As I played it more though, I started playing further up the neck and it sounded godawful, with notes choking out and zero sustain. I had a close look at the fretboard to find that the frets were either so badly worn they were almost completely flat on top, or otherwise they've been filed down. Either way, the thing is ruined and IMO shouldn't really be on sale at market value in that condition. The question is though; will flats really destroy frets that quickly, or has someone done this deliberately? Considering my own MIM Jazz is from 1994 and doesn't have anywhere close to that level of fretwear, I was surprised to see a bass that relatively new in such a poor condition.
Comments
It does depend on the flats, of course, but mostly it's safe to say that flats won't wear down frets anything like rounds
Seriously: If you value it, take/fetch it yourself
That's what it sounds like to me too...
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
No and yes, in that order.
In my opinion, if the bass had always sported flatwound strings, there would have been very little wear - even from the most aggressive finger vibrato.
You have said nothing about the neck relief and the action. If I had to guess, I would say that, at some time, the pre-owned bass had "enjoyed" the attentions of an amateur luthier. Rather than make the necessary adjustments to gain string clearance above the frets, somebody chose to remove fret metal below the strings. When this did not work, flatwounds were used in a crude attempt to minimise fret rattle.
I agree. The retailer ought to have given the pre-owned instrument a thorough workshop inspection and rectified any problems before exposing it to the risk of purchase.
Seriously: If you value it, take/fetch it yourself