Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum

Forum Ringside => Guitars, Amps and Effects => Topic started by: Brow on October 14, 2005, 06:28:53 PM

Title: Re-fret - How much should I pay?
Post by: Brow on October 14, 2005, 06:28:53 PM
Hey guys.

After thinking about it, I'ce decided to not bother buying a new Strat and to just stick with the Jap Strat that I have and to have it re-fretted when it needs it :)

Has anyone got any suggestions as to where I could have this done in the UK, and how much would I be looking at spending?

Thanx for any info.

Craig
Title: Re-fret - How much should I pay?
Post by: Johnny Mac on October 14, 2005, 06:30:52 PM
Jonathon at Feline Guitars is your man for this job. He did my Chavel with Stainless Steel Jumbos and they are incredible!
Title: Re-fret - How much should I pay?
Post by: Brow on October 14, 2005, 06:35:01 PM
Quote from: Johnny Mac
Jonathon at Feline Guitars is your man for this job. He did my Chavel with Stainless Steel Jumbos and they are incredible!


Thanx for the reply.

Jonathon was 1 of the 1st people I thought about. I PM'd him but never got a reply back  :?  So thought I'd make this post instead :)

Craig
Title: Re-fret - How much should I pay?
Post by: HJM on October 14, 2005, 08:06:52 PM
Anywhere from £90-150 is the going rate.
Title: Re-fret - How much should I pay?
Post by: FELINEGUITARS on October 15, 2005, 01:11:32 AM
Brow - sorry for the delay in replying
Had a mad couple of days
Refrets are £125 for unbound necks and £150 for bound necks
Stainless add £50
Relaquer on a maple board if needed £55
New nut if required..£30
Strings £6


hope that helps.....


if you just need a fret dress then it's £80 +strings and a basic setup is £40+strings
Title: Re-fret - How much should I pay?
Post by: Brow on October 15, 2005, 10:44:28 AM
Quote from: FELINEGUITARS
Brow - sorry for the delay in replying
Had a mad couple of days
Refrets are £125 for unbound necks and £150 for bound necks
Stainless add £50
Relaquer on a maple board if needed £55
New nut if required..£30
Strings £6


hope that helps.....


if you just need a fret dress then it's £80 +strings and a basic setup is £40+strings


Hi Jonathan

Thanx for the info :)

The re-fret isn't needed quite yet, but it's definitely the route I'm going down when the time comes :)

Craig
Title: Re-fret - How much should I pay?
Post by: big steve on October 15, 2005, 11:59:27 AM
what are the advantages of stainless? is it just an anti-rust thing?

while we're here, what are the pros and cons of medium/jumbo fretwire?

cheers
steve
Title: Re-fret - How much should I pay?
Post by: Brow on October 16, 2005, 12:02:14 PM
Quote from: big steve
what are the advantages of stainless? is it just an anti-rust thing?

while we're here, what are the pros and cons of medium/jumbo fretwire?

cheers
steve


Yup, I'm interested in the answer to this too :)

Craig
Title: Re-fret - How much should I pay?
Post by: Johnny Mac on October 16, 2005, 12:17:42 PM
Stainless frets have less wear than nickel. But the cool thing is no friction. It feels like the string is floating on oil. The bends and vibrato feel so nice. They just add to the playability.
Title: Re-fret - How much should I pay?
Post by: HJM on October 16, 2005, 01:30:43 PM
Big frets seem to add a bit more weight to the sound, and bends and vibrato are really very easy. Legato is nice and smooth too.

Small frets  I find offer a different control when you're bending as you feel the fingerboard, they sound snappier and brighter with a touch more sustain as the point of contact between string and fret is smaller.  

I find i play faster and smoother on jumbo as the fingerboard doesn't slow me down. 6105 wire is a good compromise. it's as tall as jumbo 6100 but not as wide. Ibanez fit 6105 to the JS and JEM guitars, as do PRS. I'm going over to 6000 super jumbo - it's even taller and wider, just to make my life easier!
Title: Re-fret - How much should I pay?
Post by: Steve-Mr Pig 2U on October 16, 2005, 01:52:48 PM
The funny thing is 6000 is bigger than bass fret wire!
Title: Re-fret - How much should I pay?
Post by: willo on October 16, 2005, 02:09:50 PM
how does bigger fretwire make a guitar easier to play? (it doesnt seem to make too much sense to me?)
Title: Re-fret - How much should I pay?
Post by: HJM on October 16, 2005, 05:27:23 PM
Less friction from the fingerboard so the strings feel slippy, same idea as scalloped frets
Title: Re-fret - How much should I pay?
Post by: willo on October 16, 2005, 05:44:26 PM
Quote from: HJM
Less friction from the fingerboard so the strings feel slippy, same idea as scalloped frets


ah righty, that makes sense now, come to think of it. It looks much better than scalloped frets too!
Title: Re-fret - How much should I pay?
Post by: Bob Johnson on October 16, 2005, 05:56:14 PM
Quote from: Steve-Mr Pig 2U
The funny thing is 6000 is bigger than bass fret wire!


I use 6000 on my bass; it's great :)
Title: Re-fret - How much should I pay?
Post by: Steve-Mr Pig 2U on October 16, 2005, 05:58:28 PM
Quote from: Bob Johnson
Quote from: Steve-Mr Pig 2U
The funny thing is 6000 is bigger than bass fret wire!


I use 6000 on my bass; it's great :)


I think Im going to move up to that when I get my basses refretted, two are Warwick's fretted with brass wire, have you ever worked with that?
Title: Re-fret - How much should I pay?
Post by: Bob Johnson on October 16, 2005, 06:30:18 PM
Quote from: Steve-Mr Pig 2U
Quote from: Bob Johnson
Quote from: Steve-Mr Pig 2U
The funny thing is 6000 is bigger than bass fret wire!


I use 6000 on my bass; it's great :)


I think Im going to move up to that when I get my basses refretted, two are Warwick's fretted with brass wire, have you ever worked with that?


Not recently, there doesn't seem to be that much of a demand for it. The suppliers I tend to use most don't even stock it.
Title: Re-fret - How much should I pay?
Post by: Steve-Mr Pig 2U on October 16, 2005, 07:07:15 PM
I think you can only get it from Warwick, Ive only ever seen their basses fretted with it.
Title: Re-fret - How much should I pay?
Post by: Bob Johnson on October 16, 2005, 07:17:49 PM
It is available Steve, I think most of the Dunlop profiles are available in brass. It'd just take a bit of research to track it down, 'can't see that it would be a big problem for anyone determined to get it. Personally most of the fingerboard work I've done on basses this year has been doing fretless conversions. Taking the frets out and replacing them with Maple or Ebony markers.
Title: Re-fret - How much should I pay?
Post by: willo on October 17, 2005, 08:51:30 AM
hold on, I'm a little confused (sorry!)...but wouldnt bigger frets result in a higher action, which would make the guitar less playable? what am i missing?
Title: Re-fret - How much should I pay?
Post by: Bob Johnson on October 17, 2005, 09:16:12 AM
Quote from: willo
hold on, I'm a little confused (sorry!)...but wouldnt bigger frets result in a higher action, which would make the guitar less playable? what am i missing?


The effective action is the height of the string above the fret not the height over the fingerboard.

If you're used to closing the string on the fingerboard then you have to develop a whole new technique where-by you only apply enough pressure to get a clean note. Otherwise you'll just pull the string sharp. Once you've got it right big frets help you to play faster and cleaner and make string bending a lot easier 'cos you're not sliding the string across the fingerboard there's far less friction and the exra height helps you hook your finger under the string.
Title: Re-fret - How much should I pay?
Post by: willo on October 17, 2005, 09:31:55 AM
ok, thanks for that Bob!

so are you saying that in order to play a note I wont actually need to press the string against the fretboard? How hard is this new technique for people to get to grips with?
Title: Re-fret - How much should I pay?
Post by: Bob Johnson on October 17, 2005, 09:50:22 AM
Perhaps "develop a whole new technique" was overstating things a bit. You just need a lighter touch. It's a lot easier on the fingers.
Title: Re-fret - How much should I pay?
Post by: willo on October 17, 2005, 11:44:32 AM
Quote from: Bob Johnson
Perhaps "develop a whole new technique" was overstating things a bit. You just need a lighter touch. It's a lot easier on the fingers.


grand, that sounds a lot more achievable! :P

I thought i'd been missing out on some whole new secret technique thing...