Fretwire- I'm clueless...

[jt]

:D Sambo try out a Ibanez RG model as there fitted with large/jumbo fret wire. Gibson/PRS are fiitted with medium & Fender Strats tend to be smaller fret wire & see what you think before you plumb for one or the other. You can also change fret wire on a guitar. Johnathon [ Feline ] did this on my custom build. He fit the guitar from fret 1 to 15 with standard medium frets & from 15 to 24 he fit slightly narrower fret wire, because it isn`t as wide but is the same height it ment that with my sausages for fingers it made playing up high on the "Preacher" that much easier. I`m sorry i cant remeber off hand which way round it was but mine were a combination of Dunlop 6100 & 6150 i think  :P

 :D  8)

[sambo]

JT that is scary.... I was just browsing the Feline site and came across your guitar... and noticed the fret size changing down the neck.... then I come on here, and you have posted exactly that!

 :o :o :o


lol

PRS' are damn near my ideal playability if we're speaking broadly, so that reinforces the fact that I probably wouldn't get on too well with bigger wire.

(maybe I would, who knows). I'll try out an RG next time I get a chance.

[Philly Q]

You can also change fret wire on a guitar. Johnathon [ Feline ] did this on my custom build. He fit the guitar from fret 1 to 15 with standard medium frets & from 15 to 24 he fit slightly narrower fret wire, because it isn`t as wide but is the same height it ment that with my sausages for fingers it made playing up high on the "Preacher" that much easier.

I had one of those Yamaha Billy Sheehan basses (until recently) and that was the same - thinner wire on the top few frets (plus some scalloping between those same frets).  It made it much easier to play, and sustain, the high notes.

I think Jake E Lee had 2 sizes of fretwire on his Strats, too.

[Will]

I think Jake E Lee had 2 sizes of fretwire on his Strats, too.

On his ESP production strats. Think it was gibson type 0-12, 13-21 was fender I think

[the_bleeding]

my fav fret wire is 6105 tall and thin... though i prefer steel frets over nickel

i like it tall because it makes it easy to do vibratos and bends, and yes, if you push too hard it will go out of tune, but if you have tight, thick strings, it will be a difficult task to pull off :P

i prefer steel frets over nickel for the sole reason that they last WAYYYY longer. My friend has had a guitar with nickel frets for 3 years, and has already had it redressed twice, and they're still chipping down. Safe to say he has alot of dead frets now, and it just doesnt play like it used to. Brightness in a guitar can be overcome with different pickups, thicker strings, or different choice of wood, so the sound change that the frets give doesn't concern me.

[sambo]

Cheers for that Canadia man. Interesting to know that they do actually last that much longer.

Hmmm.

I like the idea of all stainless steel, gibson 1-12, strat 13-22 gauge frets...

(on my Burny LP).

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

[FELINEGUITARS]

Cheers for that Canadia man. Interesting to know that they do actually last that much longer.

Hmmm.

I like the idea of all stainless steel, gibson 1-12, strat 13-22 gauge frets...

(on my Burny LP).

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

If you want to do that I usually recommend 1-15 being Dunlop 6100 and 16-22 being Dunlop 6105

Both wires are 0.055" tall so the height remains the same
The 6100 is 0.110" wide whilst the 6105 is only 0.090" wide and gives the feeling of being narrower.

I haven't seen any 6105 in stainless yet - but I can enquire again, but we do already have 6100 in SS

A stainless refret is £200 compared to the usual £150

Fret wear is a very personal thing and depends how much you play etc
The nickel silver frets (sometimes called German Silver) are actually predominantly steel with about 18% nickel in them and no silver content at all.

Stainless frets cause your strings to wear ot quicker - there is no winning combination because you have metal against metal contact and one or the other (string or fret will wear)

[jt]

:D In all the years i`ve been playing i`ve never had a guitar re-fretted. It takes a hell of a long time to really ware a fret out to the point that its really noticable. I wonder how long on average it takes ?

I`ve had fretwork done but never re-fretted.

Correction : having read Johnathons reply i think Sambo you`ll find mine was 6105 not 6150 [ Doh ! ] but yer it does make a difference & i`d deffinatley do it again in the future.

As for jumbo frets against smaller frets etc etc. I`ve just bought a Ibanez Giger model which is fitted with jumbo frets & you can & do adjust to `em but like you i prefer medium frets, with jumbo you feel like your fingers are in a valley when your playing !  :P

 :D  8)

[Stevepage]

I had my strat refretted with 6100's after having the tiny vintage style frets. It makes it much easier to play and I don't get cramp from playing the strat anymore. I read some where that SRV had bass frets on his strat necks  :lol:

[PhilKing]

I have 2 necks with SS 6105 which is really more like 6150 than 6105.  I had the stainless steel because both have exotic fingerboards that I didn't want to have to worry about with a refret.  I have had several guitars refretted through the years and can highly recommend Feline for this, as Jonathan made an unplayable neck perfect.

I am just getting the 6100/6105 combo on a new guitar, but since it is still being made, I am not sure what the feel will be like.  I have all sizes with the different guitars that I have.  All my vintage Fenders have either been refretted or need a refret!  I am putting 6105 in them as I like the feel of it and visually it is not as jumbo looking.

[Pickup Artist]

I don't know much about fretwires.

I'd like to know what fret profile and type Warren DeMartini uses in his Charvel guitars though.

[FELINEGUITARS]

I don't know much about fretwires.

I'd like to know what fret profile and type Warren DeMartini uses in his Charvel guitars though.

Chances are it was similar to Dunlop 6100 or Dunlop 6000 - unless Warren had it done differently.......

[FELINEGUITARS]

I have had several guitars refretted through the years and can highly recommend Feline for this, as Jonathan made an unplayable neck perfect.

Thanks Phil - glad that neck worked out again

Fretting is something that I take a lot of pride in and consider to be one of my strengths as a maker and repairer.
I believe that the frets and how they play are the most important thing to a player so the guitar maker/repairer better take a lot of care when doing it.

[the_bleeding]

A stainless refret is £200 compared to the usual £150

Stainless frets cause your strings to wear ot quicker - there is no winning combination because you have metal against metal contact and one or the other (string or fret will wear)

this is true, but i see it this way. A few extra strings a year is cheaper than £150 every 2-3 years from fret wear.   Especially when you can buy strings in bulk making them about £1-2 a set heheh.

[Pickup Artist]

I remember Warren said that if you looked at his frets from the side it looks like the end of a pick - but it may have been George Lynch who said that, I can't remember - or it may have been EVH even.

I think you should offer to build him a guitar - (which he has to pay for ). It would be good for your company.

Thanks for your tip about refretting, I guess I have need for it already on one of my old guitars - it has weird frets though they are rectangular in profile and really thin - not like these  big trendy jumbo frets that every new guitar has. On a 24.75 inch scale and jumbo frets there's no room for the finger board at the high frets.

Jumbo frets are good for sounding like Kirk Hammett imitating Dave Mustaine on Kill Em All though.