fretwire

[peter havriluk]

Not trying to be exotic or cute...any particular fretwire (vendor/height/width) a standard? I've seen StewMac offering three versions of 'medium' fretwire, all dimensions listed, and Grizzly sells a one-size-fits-all 'steelstring' fret wire. I'm sure there's a large number of other vendors and varieties of wire. What I'm asking for is for someone to suggest I buy this wire from this vendor and not look back. Advice, please?

Thanks!

[ken cierp]

You need wire with tangs that match the slots in the finger-board -- wire width is a playing/players preference. Of course medium is meant to be the average expectation.

[Kevin in California]

I've had good success with the wire I purchase, and I like that it is pre-curved too. I have never looked back.
PM me and I'll tell you who they are. They have the gold fretwire too.

Kevin

[ken cierp]

Kevin you can post the source just don't post a link.

[John Link]

Mechanically, the higher the top of the wire from the fingerboard, the easier it is to get a clean note. But that does not mean everyone likes the way the tall wire feels.

[ken cierp]

Tall frets can cause the note to easily go sharp if too much pressure is applied full chords can sound especially strange -- fret size has its trade offs, this is good

http://www.fretnotguitarrepair.com/repa ... /frets.php

[John Link]

Ken,

Really interesting page you present. He goes into many trade offs. But he doesn't really say "easily sharp" though he does mention "clear note without allot (sic) of pressure" and ease of pushing the string while bending. He does say "hard fretters tend to bend the string sharp", which is a special case times two.

Some electric players go so far as to scallop their fingerboards, which I consider to then have the Mt. Everests of tall frets.

You can tell I like tall crowns, but not over .055. They have another advantage, that of allowing more recrowns of the frets before they absolutely must be refretted. Of course, if one desires to keep a tall crown, they have to be refretted sooner than that.

In the end, any builder or repair person who seeks a one size guaranteed to please all is going to be disappointed. Peter's hope for a "don't look back" solution can be done by fiat, of course, if that's what he wants. But there are perils on that path, as this little discussion telegraphs. But to honor his request, I would suggest "medium" crowns .040 or so and widths around .090 - which should surprise no one. Middle of the road is where most are made happy.

In any case, that's a heck of a page.