So, I started playing Tenor banjo about 2 years ago, and bought a Gold Tone CC-Tenor 19 Fret new... Had it for about a year and decided that I wanted to move up to a better instrument, and bought a 1926 Paramount Style A. I found immediately that the tone was world's better, but that it was much harder to play. Harder to fret, more rattles and buzzes, and harder to keep from bumping other strings than the one I was currently playing, which killed off notes that the other strings were still ringing. I took it to a Luthier, who put a higher bridge on it and cut down the nut a bit, which made some improvement, and I tightened the head, but the banjo is still much harder to play. I have found that one of the main differences which may be contributing to this is that the frets (the actual silver bars) are much larger and deeper on the Gold Tone and are therefore much closer to the strings in first position. I barely have to touch the strings before they are fully fretting the notes at the top of the neck. I have to really press down on the Paramount, which makes it easier to bump the other strings, harder to play the actual notes, and for some reason makes the instrument rattle and buzz more.
The Luthier say that the frets are not in great shape and that to refret it will run about 225. I paid about 1250 for the instrument and I asked him if getting it refretted will add to the resale value. He said it might or it might actually hurt the resale value. I'm torn because on the one hand, I don't know if refreting will fix the playability issues that I'm having, and if it won't make the instrument easier to play, I'm worried that it could damage the value of the instrument. Everything on it is original, including the head. It was a big investment to put into the instrument, and if I decide to get a different one one day, I don't want to lose that value. My Gold Tone is so much fun to play, and if I could get that playability with the Paramount's tone, it would be amazing. I'm worried about which way to go, and what else I may be able to do to make the instrument play better. Any advice would be much appreciated.