Refretting my X500 - any thoughts on this?

[VinceM]

Well, my 1981 X500 needs a refret after all these years. I spoke with my tech and he mentioned 3 types of fret wire - nickel, stainless steel, and one other kind ("evo"??) that is kind of in between the two in terms of not being as bright as stainless but lasts longer than nickel.

And then there is the choice of how big the frets are - width and height.

Does anyone have any experience/thoughts on this? What is the factory choice for the frets? I don't even know how to describe what the guitar came with.

What are the tonal ramifications? He said stainless is brighter. That seems like it could be a good thing to offset the darker bassy sound of the guitar. But I wouldn't want to put something in that's not really compatible.

I use this guitar for its awesome jazzbox neck pickup tone. No twang or blues or rockabilly, if that makes a difference for this discussion.

Thanks!

Vince

 

[AcornHouse]

I had my X-170 refretted with the gold Evo frets. Aside from the look (I have gold hardware), that will be the last refret it ever needs. The Evo fretwire is rated in hardness midway between Stainless and regular nickel, but has a similar sound to nickel. I don't know if I would use stainless for a jazz box, but that is my opinion.

I vote for Evo. (ymmv :mrgreen: )

 

[VinceM]

Hey thanks for the comments AcornHouse! Yeah - my tech did say the Evo is gold, which would also work well with the X500. I'm glad to hear the Evo has a sound similar to nickel, which I assume is probably what the X500 came with in the first place. And it would be good to get more life compared with regular nickel frets.

Did you notice any tonal differences after the refret?

 

[AcornHouse]

No. The sound was the same. The playability, of course, was light years beyond what it had been thanks to the new frets and expert setup.

 

[VinceM]

Oh, and what about fret size??

I guess I can choose the width and height! Man, it seems anything I do involving guitar sends me down a path of sorting through details I never thought about before.

It seems like big tall frets are good for bending and tapping which doesn't seem like something I would want on a jazz box.

AcornHouse - what size did you use? How did you decide? Did you match what the x170 came with?

 

[AcornHouse]

I'll see if I can find out which frets I used. They were on the wider side, which was about what was on it to begin with.

 

[AcornHouse]

I think I used FW9665 (LMI's #). I don't have my digital calipers handy (I think they're hiding), but I'm pretty sure that what I used. It's similar to Gibson's jumbo wire.

Here are the various specs
http://www.lmii.com/CartTwo/thirdproducts.asp?CategoryName=Fretting&NameProdHeader=+Fretwire
I would suggest using the size that works best for you, after all, you're the one that'll be playing it. If you like the size on it now, your luthier can measure it and get the right size ordered. But, don't be afraid to change the size if you like something different.

Good luck!

 

[VinceM]

Hey thanks Chris for this information! You've given me just the type of info and insight I was looking for. The one you picked sounds like a good choice.

I guess I'm a bit confused because I've never given the fret size a bit of thought in any of my guitars. It just is what it is. Never thought about what I "like" in a fret.

Vince