How does one know when one's frets need replacing?

tommym

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Thanks for the link...

On my F44, I tape up the existing nickel frets for polishing a few times a year, and worry about the 3M tape and polish compound that is involved in the process, as some of the old nitro finish seems to be very very brittle, especially where the finish is sprayed over the plastic binding adjoining the fret board. I am hoping that stainless steel frets will do away with this requirement, or greatly reduce the frequency of this process.

Tommy


Great question, Tommy. From Jescar's site:

"Brass frets from days past have given way to today’s standard material, 18% nickel silver, also called “German Silver.” But even with 18% nickel silver, there are differences in hardness, tensile strength, surface quality, grain size, and other metallurgical properties that influence a fret’s quality, performance and feel. Beyond 18% nickel silver, new alloys have been employed in the production of modern fret wire that dramatically improves the performance and aesthetics of the guitar."
 

chazmo

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Thanks Christopher and Walrus. I just cannot go lower tension strings than lights. .12-.53, I have tried .11s and just cannot do it. Santa Cruz has low tension strings too. I think I have to work on nit pressing down so hard. I must over stress. I hold on too tightly as it is.

Wood,
[NearlyPalindromicAnswer] Don't stress over over stressing. [/sillyness]
 

adorshki

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In order to address the fingerboard divots (more often caused by fingernails than strings), a complete refret is usually specified (like Al had done to his D-25 twice).
I just do 'em at every 500 hours whether they need it or not.
:glee:
Seriously though, for me divots weren't the problem, probably because my nails are actually pretty soft.
But a look at my videos reveals a lot of action up and down the neck including slides with open chords.
Keeping the tone clean while doing that and using aggressive strumming does require a pretty strong "pinning" action with the fingertips that accelerates wear.
Since all of 'em showed some wear, even up to the 14th, it only made sense to do all of 'em according to both luthiers.
Also the second guy explained about the probability of planing the board although it turned out to be very minimal.
I was actually surprised at how notched the frets were, especially the first 5 positions, within 18 months of buying the '25, or roughly 250 hours playing time according to my informal tally..I was putting 3-4 hours a week on it easy, when I first got it (and for about 5 years after, for that matter.)
I thought it might actually be a warranty issue but luthier explained "not covered".
Now I think Guild's fret wire might have been of that slightly softer composition, even at the time I thought "Maybe a little more silver, maybe that's part of "the sound"?
Even when offered the stainless option at the second refret, still told him to go as close to original as possible in profile and composition, but I postponed that one a l-o-o-o-n-g time, it was about 1200 hours or so when I got the second one.
Which came back so good I decided it was time to save playing it for those times when I really "HAD to hear the '25"
:friendly_wink:
 
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Christopher Cozad

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...Which came back so good I decided it was time to save playing it for those times when I really "HAD to hear the '25"
:friendly-wink:
My guitar looks, feels, and sounds soooooo good...

I just can't bear to play it! :topsy_turvy:

(I actually have a couple of those)
 

Westerly Wood

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I took the Guild in to the folk shop and had them look it over to see if they could make it any more playable. they said there is nothing really to be done, action is great, light string gauge sounds powerful enough that i dont need mediums, which would be harder for me, so that was good to hear as well, nut height was normal, etc. neck straight...

i will just concentrate on not over fretting. they had a cool 1964 Guild Mark 2 there for $349 but i just do not like nylon strings. sure was a cool little guitar, but i am really a dreadnought guy...
 

adorshki

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My guitar looks, feels, and sounds soooooo good...

I just can't bear to play it! :topsy_turvy:

(I actually have a couple of those)

Well, it was because the first guy had actually botched it and I didn't realize it for all those years, about 7 or 8.
(This was after it came back with the new bone nut mis-cut!!):
There's a little hammer-on trick I use in one of my tunes at the 7th and 9th frets on the first 2 strings.
After that first refret somehow it just didn't work the same anymore, got muted off.
So I figured it was just me, I must be getting old and not getting as much practice anymore.
Then when it came back from job #2 it was so perfect it felt factory new again but had all that playing time on it.
And all of a sudden that little hammer-on trick was crisp and clear again!
So now I consider it to be better than new, and it's not that I can't bear to play it, I just want to save it for "the special times".
Like the good scotch. :biggrin-new:
Also the D40 had started coming out of its shell and I wanted to start upping the total hours on it, and the F65ce which was also starting to get a lot of time due to the comfort factor of the small body.
So I had pleasant alternatives.
Anyway, moral of story:
A GOOD refret job can be hard to find.
 
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Neal

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When I acquired my '53 X-150 prototype, the frets were totally gone, all the way up to the 17th (fully disclosed by the seller, BTW). Someone had played the whole fretboard...and played it...and played it, until there was nothing left to play.

I opted for a full refret, along with a fretboard re-level/re-radius job. It got rid of all divots, flattened a slight hump at the neck block, and now it plays like a new guitar. All for $225.

The added bonus was that it took all of the grime off of the Brazilian rosewood fretboard and left it looking georgeous.
 
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