Guitar Fret Wire Shortage?

[Wadcutter]

I have had an old D18 in a local shop for six weeks now waiting on a fret replacement job.. The owner, who btw is very reputable and has been in the guitar repair business for over 40 years, says he is experiencing very long delays on the fret wire he ordered for the job. Yeah, I would say so, 6 freaking weeks long!
Two questions amigos, what’s up with not having a ton of fret wire on hand in your shop if you repair guitars? Isn’t that like going to Goodyear Tires and having them tell you they have no tires in the store? And, are any of you guys experiencing unexpected delays on repairs due to parts shortages?

[hubcapsc]

what’s up with not having a ton of fret wire on hand in your shop if you repair guitars?

Ask that question to the guy at the gun shop next time you
go down to get some wadcutters ...

-Mike

[rstaight]

Normally he probably does have some fret wire on hand in common sizes. But he won't have a "ton" of it because of cost.

He has to purchase what he keeps in inventory and that is capital that could be used for something else.

With this pandemic everything is slow on delivery. Starting with raw materials. The suppliers can't get materials or tooling. Then they have issues with having the workforce to make the product. Then it needs to get to you.

I work for a company that sends product world wide. We are seeing issues getting overseas shipping containers.

I am working on the purchase of a piece of equipment. Some of the style of switches we want for safety reasons are at best 6 to 12 weeks out.

So a luthier waiting 6 weeks for fret wire I can see with the way markets are today.

[Steely Glen]

It’s a global case of “fret where”

[Taylor Ham]

Also, depending on the old fretwire dimensions, he may have had to order a size that is less common these days.

[koolimy]

Wow, that is quite concerning! These supply shortages seem to be happening everywhere and I think it won't get better in a while. I thought the guitar market was relatively okay but the supply shortage will probably hit the guitar market in unforeseen ways, such as in your case.

[TennesseeWalker]

might be enlightening to go to just one of the fret wire sites, say Jescar, and see all the variety and different fret wires, shapes, sizes and dimensions.

it's not a one size fits all so a shop owner may have a little bit here and there on hand but usually those refret jobs are ordered from the makers then installed

https://www.jescarguitar.com/fret-wire-specifications/

https://www.stewmac.com/search/?q=fret+wire

[drive-south]

The largest Toyota dealer in my city has less than 20 new cars on the lot. They usually have hundreds. Supply chains are a mess all over

I visited a music store in Manchester, NH yesterday. I was shocked that they actually had a store full of guitars. A Martin 00018 followed me home. I've been waiting for an Amberburst 00018 for the last 2 years and I wasn't gonna let this one get away. Pictures and NGD thread to follow.

[llew]

We've been waiting on a dishwasher sine January. Lowe's finally cancelled my order as they gave up trying to get one. Went to a local shop (which I should have done to start with) and hopefully we'll get one this month.
Trying to get an awning replacement on my pull behind RV...who has parts? It's crazy!
Back to the point...my luthier has tons of fret wire last time I looked. But...he might not have something special?

[redir]

I have most of the common sizes in my shop. Enough for ten guitars probably. I don't think though that there is any kind of shortage. In fact I was just looking on Jescar's website last week to make an order and didn't see any out of stock notifications. Could be though times are strange now.

[OddManOut]

These supply chain issues make me fret.