Help: Fret wire

Subject: Fret wire
From: Gypsy
Date: 02 May 02 - 10:24 PM

Okay, the handsome mando player in my life thinks there is a conspiracy among luthiers to make soft fret wire that wears out quickly. Why can't frets be made out of a harder material? His vintage Vega (1910) an aquisition of 1 year ago, already needs new frets. And looking at my vega, so does it. What is the deal. Can you get super hard fret wire? Is there any reason not to? Any bright ideas out there? We would rather replace strings than frets!

Subject: RE: Help: Fret wire
From: rangeroger
Date: 02 May 02 - 11:02 PM

Gypsy, these are the guys to talk to about fret wires.

Stewart-MacDonald

rr

Subject: RE: Help: Fret wire
From: DonMeixner
Date: 02 May 02 - 11:08 PM

never have heard of soft or hard frets. A wider fret surface may last longer but be harder to play and less accurate with intonation.

I have heard rumors that fret wire is made soft so you aren't replacing strings everytime you tune. It's probably a wash as far as cost of the first 7 frets or 25 sets of strings every six months. As it is I replace the strings every couple weeks.

A mandolin that old I'm surprised has nickel frets. many instruments from that age had brass frets with square profiles. Ofcourse that could be the cheaper instruments and the high quality instruments had a different fret entirely.

Don

Subject: RE: Help: Fret wire
From: catspaw49
Date: 02 May 02 - 11:16 PM

Well Gyps, there is hard and soft fret wire available but most places sell only the hard. The most popular is from Jim Dunlop which offers the broadest selection and is of very high quality. Here's a chart that comes in handy. My guess is that the 6310 is about right but that's just a guess......It's a common mando size.

Spaw

Subject: RE: Help: Fret wire
From: bigchuck
Date: 03 May 02 - 08:37 AM

Interesting. My 1915 Vega has bar frets, as does every other instrument I have ever seen from that era. Generally, most fret wire is fairly hard and a good compromise between wearing frets and destroying strings. Fret wear varies a_lot_from one person to another, depending on the strength of their grip and their personal body chemistry (this affects string wear too). I don't seem to produce heavy fret wear myself, but I know people who need new frets every year or two. Basically the frets that you get from suppliers like Stew-Mac and Luthier's Merchantile are about the hardest you can find.
Sandy

Subject: RE: Help: Fret wire
From: Gypsy
Date: 13 May 02 - 11:13 AM

THanks for all the info, really appreciate it!