I have chosen to re-fret a few vintage instruments and I know this can be seen as, in some way, devaluing an instrument.

I don't agree at all.

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A guitar that feels bad to play is just a wall hanger and really serves no purpose. Low frets or frets that don't allow the instrument to sound good just need to go. Unless you are a fanatical collector who insists on 100% originality then no-one really cares either. I would rather buy an original guitar with poor frets but only so that I can ask Bob to do a re-fret for me! I know he does it very well and I've had 5 guitars done by him now and every time I got the guitar back it feels better and sounds better. Not different mind you. It sounds like the guitar again as it should be and not a horrible muffled choked version of the guitar.

Bob Mould knows how to work on a guitar! Not that Bob Mould though, I'm fairly convinced he never played in Hüsker Dü!

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A new nut is a great thing too. Bone! Not sure what animal has 'donated' its bone to this purpose though. Not a pig I hope!

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It's not cheap getting a re-fret and you need to discuss appropriate fret wire before the job is done. Dunlop or Jescar, vintage or jumbo, it depends on what the guitar is. I had my '62 Jaguar done with 6105 and the '65 olympic white Jaguar done with vintage style Jescar and this was all discussed before hand with Bob. Make sure everything is agreed, from the materials used to the extent of the work and get a trial job done first to see if the work is good.

Little Bob can be found in GuitarGuitar Edinburgh and at his website. He is extremely busy because he's good at what he does.

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The first guitar I had done was a mid-'70's Gibson ES-335 that I bought used in the '80s. It must have been owned by some sort of hard-core jazz player who enjoyed speed but didn't do bending as it had the frets ground down to nothing. I mean, all of them. Even the ones past the 12th fret on the bass E side. There is no way those got played that much. It felt horrible to play.

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The feeling of fingertips on rosewood and the effort to bend strings just made it tough to enjoy but I didn't know what was causing it - just that I didn't enjoy it.

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At some point I twigged and got it re-fretted and what a difference! I then got the JV Stratocaster and the '64 Duo Sonic done too. The JV Strat needed it as it was all pitted and the Duo-sonic was just low like the Gibson but it now actually intonated too. I had new nuts fitted as a re-fret and a new bone nut go hand in hand. I don't think anyone would do a re-fret without insisting that was done.

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I therefore had no fear at all in getting a re-fret on 2 vintage Jaguars; much to the consternation of the seller but I have tried to explain that a guitar is worth nothing if it doesn't function as a guitar too. It's not as if they are museum pieces. Unless of course they are in a museum like that 'Songbirds' venue in the United States which is well named as they have all sorts of esoteric and rare beasts caged and on display, never to be used.

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I had the '62 Jaguar and the olympic white '65 done and new nuts put on the '64 Jazzmaster and '65 black Jaguar.

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Without doubt, I say if it plays poorly and your fingers squeak on the fretboard and you can't bend at the third fret on the B and G, then do it. Who cares about this perceived value in vintage. No buyer will be put off buying it and no value is lost as long as the job is sympathetic and the frets have been chosen to suit the instrument and era.

No jumbo frets on a 60's Fender please!

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Unless of course you want to and play it for pleasure...