How long to wear out frets

[westman]

Originally Posted by semolinapilcher

FWIW, one thing that will accelerate fret wear is capo use.

hi semolina, not sure what u mean here ??

QUOTE=Ned Milburn;4421804]Also, a heavy left hand will wear frets more quickly than a light left hand.
Softer frets will wear more quickly than harder frets.[/QUOTE]

a lot of players (not just beginners) play with excessive finger pressure - metal to metal grinds the frets and strings down. Nothing slows you up like excessive finger pressure. with a suitable setup (for you) it only requires the lightest touch to 'make the note' otherwise it's wasted expenditure of energy and fret and string ware.

[Jupiter Tarts]

If you're a blues guy and string bend pretty frequently, I'd say you'll wear down your frets at twice the speed of a regular player, at least on certain frets. That metal on metal grinding is bound to shave down those frets over time.

Took me 11 years of consistent play time to wear out frets on my MC enough for a full refret. The J-100 is coming due soon too.

[min7b5]

As basically a one guitar guy, so I need a re-fret in about four years.

[T1mothy]

Originally Posted by williejohnson

I have one acoustic that I bought new in 1966 and have played practically everyday since then, quite often using a capo. I had to have a "partial" refret about a year and a half ago (first seven frets.) I got 47 years out of the original frets.

Quite a soft touch, haha!

Originally Posted by min7b5

As basically a one guitar guy, so I need a re-fret in about four years.

I like that!

[s2y]

Depends on fretting technique and how much it's played. A little hard to quantify. I'm not a one guitar guy, so I'm not sure how long it might take me.

[BrunoBlack]

Originally Posted by Bruce Sexauer

EVO, however, barely costs more than standard wire, about $2 per guitar, and takes no more time at all, less in my opinion because it goes in more consistantly. I do not charge more for it, therefore. It lasts at least 4x as long as standard, making it a wise choice.

Bruce, is there a downside to EVO? I'm wondering why it isn't standard fare if the cost is essentially the same.

[mtcross]

I'm starting to notice grooves up around the cowboy chords, but I'm curious what the symptoms are that indicate I need to get the frets dressed?

[Ned Milburn]

Originally Posted by mtcross

I'm starting to notice grooves up around the cowboy chords, but I'm curious what the symptoms are that indicate I need to get the frets dressed?

When you start to notice bothersome buzzing on well worn frets, you'll want to begin considering a fret dressing. Everyone's playing style and tolerance to buzzing is different, so there is no exact answer. If it isn't bothering you, however, then no need to consider fret dressing for a while longer yet.

[ljguitar]

Hi Pualee…

I play fairly aggressively, and use a lot of hammer-on, pull-off, and slide hammers. I have my fingerboards dressed and the setup checked every 2-3 years, and about every other time, the luthier has to replace the first 6 fret wires.

The first 6 frets have been replaced on my fingerboard of my main guitar 3 times in 22 years, and he estimated last time I took the guitar in that it will be another 2-3 years.

I have had no issues with only having had the first 6 replaced as opposed to a full fret job. This luthier (he built my last guitar so he IS a luthier), is highly skilled at his fret-leveling and other fret work, and at setups.

Some players think you should only get entire neck fret jobs, but to me that is like replacing an entire set of tires rather than repairing one which went flat, or rotating them.

[mhs]

I've had a couple of guitars for most of my playing life (~45-48 years). I've never had any fretwork done on them and I realize that doesn't mean I'm right about what I'm going to say:

I think for me, a person that practices hard and a lot, but plays lightly on gigs, that of course, within one day, I can see dents in most of my frets, and after 30 years, I can see really huge dents but there's something organic about how they completely match the way I play and don't buzz and how it seems to have better play-ability with worn frets than it did with new ones. If I just try to think this through, I feel like there may be some logic to it. The lower frets wear when you're playing lower on the neck, and as they wear, immediately the next fret up starts to wear because that string is just a little increment above that fret. (ad nauseum).. The string not only takes a slightly new path, but a path that I forged for it.

Could that have anything to do with the guitar matching itself to my playing habits? I don't know the answer, but I've yet to feel a need for fret repair. I have installed some zero frets, but nothing else.

[rick-slo]

I have worn problem divots in some fretwire within months. The problem with dressing frets down to the lowest divot is the overall fret height can get too low. Many guitars I have originally came with (at or about) 0.043" crown height. By the time that is dressed down it's too low for my liking. So over the last several years I have not let fret wear progress very far at all and have instead had the whole board re-fretted to stainless steel fret wire. EVO gold is another good option, though not quite as durable.

[zabdart]

Fret wear is going to happen. The only way to avoid it is to stop playing. That's not really an option.

[stormin1155]

I'm a guitar tech, so I do a lot of fret level/recrowns and a lot of re-frets. Some fret wire is harder or softer, so that's a factor, but playing style is probably a bigger factor. Light touch versus heavy touch.... I did a re-fret on a customer's guitar and he brought it back for some other work a couple months later, and there were already divots worn in the frets. Heavy touch.

Had another customer who brought in his 25 year old strat that he claims he's played two thousand gigs on. There was a dip worn into the pickguard where he rested his fingers, the edges of the pickups were worn off, and all the finish was worn off the back of the neck, but in that time nothing had been done to the frets. He must have had a very light touch.

[wdean]

My new D-28 started to show "dents" on the 1st, 2nd, 3rd frets on the low E, B, G strings in two years. I use a capo a lot and probably a "heavy" hand (probably a bad habit I got from my old Yammi with a higher action) and play an hour a day.

I was a little dismayed with the quick fret wear on my 2 year old D-28 whereas I had no fret wear on my 20 year old Yammi! Talking to people, I was told that this type of fret wear is normal and since my D-28 has lower action and if I am using the same pressure as my old Yammi then that may explain the faster fret wear? Anyway, I will probably have the first 4 frets replaced with EVO. T

The one question I have is can you mix EVO with the existing standard frets or do I need to do a complete re-fret of the whole guitar??