Fret Questions

[Arapaho G]

Had my Martin fret dressed about 2 years ago. It's starting to show some minor signs of wear. I play a lot, but I also have 2 other guitars that split the time. Seems like it should last longer.

About how many times can frets be dressed before a re-fret is needed?

Is there a higher quality longer lasting fret material available?

Can a guitar be re-fretted without damaging the fret board?

Thanks.

[Bowie]

I'll try to give brief answers;
-Fret wear can depend on many factors, including the material, the action (how hard you are having to press and pick), etc.
-There's no way to say how many times because it depends on how heavy the work is each time. A comparison would be; how many bites are in a sandwich?
-Yes, there's several options that your tech can go over with you. You can also read about fret material online.
-Yes and no. The work can usually be done without noticeable damage though ebony can occasionally splinter and lift no matter what you do. It also depends how the frets were originally installed. If your tech is good, do not let this factor concern you.

[warfrat73]

I'm not 100% on how many times, somebody else will answer that... once or twice is probably about it, I'd think. But it depends on the fret wire and how much they took off in the first place.

2 years of "lots" of play seems about reasonable for them to show minor wear, but both "lots" and "minor" are really subjective.

There are a couple of types of frets that wear better. There's EVO, which is evidently unavailable at the moment, StewMac makes a similar product that they just call "Gold" fretwire. And then there's also stainless steel.

Frets can be replaced without damaging the fretboard, but from my understanding, even with a good repair person, it can just be a crap-shoot whether or not it tears out when removing the frets... though there may be something that I'm missing on that.

[rick-slo]

IMO on your refrets go with stainless steel frets. I have done that on all of my guitar refrets. No further fret wear visible on any of those guitars.
No visible damage to the fret board on any of the guitars I have had refretted.

[oldrocker]

I'm with Derek. Once and that's the last you'll ever have to think about frets again on that guitar. And you don't have to replace every one on the fretboard...just the ones you wear the most. Stainless frets look enough like the standard frets that no one will ever know you changed them. I've heard some people talk about changes in feel or tone using stainless. For the life of me if I close my eyes and concentrate hard I just can't tell any difference.

[Osage]

my one cautionary warning about stainless steel frets is that they wear strings out faster. They're so much harder than the strings that if you play hard with your left hand, your strings just won't last as long. If you're a regular string changer or have a light touch, this probably won't matter. For me with my caveman like finger work, it matters and I don't have them on any of my guitars.

[rick-slo]

Originally Posted by Osage

my one cautionary warning about stainless steel frets is that they wear strings out faster. They're so much harder than the strings that if you play hard with your left hand, your strings just won't last as long. If you're a regular string changer or have a light touch, this probably won't matter. For me with my caveman like finger work, it matters and I don't have them on any of my guitars.

That is not my experience. In fact they are so smooth the strings have lasted longer if anything.

[Arapaho G]

Thanks for the response. Here is an article from Sweetwater on the subject of stainless vs nickel frets:

https://www.sweetwater.com/insync/do...-a-difference/

[rick-slo]

Originally Posted by Arapaho G

Thanks for the response. Here is an article from Sweetwater on the subject of stainless vs nickel frets:

https://www.sweetwater.com/insync/do...-a-difference/

Decent article though the sound samples are pretty worthless.

[Glennwillow]

My 1967 Martin D-35 has been refretted twice and in addition, partially refretted once. The fretboard is still in pretty good shape for a 57-year-old guitar that has been played a great deal over the years. So multiple refrets with a good technician has not been a problem for me.

I had one of my guitars refretted with EVO wire and I thought it was great. (I did not know that EVO wire was currently unavailable.) I have not had a guitar refretted yet with SS wire, but I do have a Strat that came with SS fretwire and it works and sounds just fine. I would not hesitate to have a technician use SS wire on a future refret for me.

- Glenn