Is this fretjob acceptable?

[deacon Mark]

Not defending the person who did this work, but I will say that old binding and refrettting can cause some changes. Obviously, the tang needs to be removed on the end so it does not cut down into the binding. However, beveling the edges of the frets it takes great care not to hit the binding. You can tape it off but that does not even work when going hard with the file. On very old guitars with binding that is yellow and sometimes it is the 2 or 3rd refret, it is hard to make it look clean and perfect. That to me is the nature of the old guitars and delicate binding.

I am taking the OP at his word he knew the before and saw the after and it was not what he liked. I will also say that if the neck and frets all play great with good action and no buzz, not all is lost. A bit of cosmetic work can be done to tidy this up but if it actually plays great I would hesitate to do more than see what the luthier might do. Clear coat will flake off the neck from just playing the guitar over time. This happens along the binding and not normally noticeable as it happens the most on the treble side of the neck you don't see playing. That is where the had and fingers are rubbing the binding all the time playing.

In the end it was a poor job but as someone who does this work, I can appreciate the delicate operation needed and complications. It is not uncommon for a luthier to repair and guitar a even have to get creative because something they did went wrong, things happen when guitar are out on the bench. Believe me I have had discussion with luthiers about things like this all the time. Cardinal rule this fellow needed to have a discussion with you and figure something out.

[nevershouldhavesoldit]

Not defending the person who did this work, but I will say that old binding and refrettting can cause some changes.

That's the most important question, and it remains unanswered. My initial response to the OP was...

Was this the first refret on the guitar? Was the board binding perfect before it was done, or were those cracks along the tang ends there beforehand? If the guitar was perfect before the refret, this is pathetic. If even some of this was present before, your luthier should have pointed it out to you and discussed it before starting work.....If your guitar was in excellent shape with perfect board binding before the fret job, I have to reluctantly suggest that the "right" way to fix this is probably to remove those frets and start over. The only way to restore the binding to perfection is to rebind it. But if those cracks at the fret ends were there before and resulted from past fret sprout or refretting, you can't hold your luthier responsible for that. Properly reducing the fret ends will make it feel right whle playing, but the only way to restore original appearance is to rebind.

It's still my response.

[wintermoon]

It's possible to pull the frets then melt some binding plastic into the cracks then/scrape sand it down but not sure if it's worth the trouble as opposed to just replacing it.

[blackcat]

Unfortunately, it is a free for all out there whereby luthiers and those posing as luthiers do not have to declare qualifications/training or years in 'practice'. I guess the only safeguard is personal recommendations. Good luck.