Fret ware

manushe

I recently had to get my guitar refretted b/c mine were shot. I have been playing on the new frets for about 2 months and Im already starting to see minor signs of fret ware. Does anyone have tips to keep the frets from waring out so fast? The shop did tell me to change the strings constantly, anything else I can do?

Jeff Moore

New strings are rougher than worn strings! What they told you seems nuts.
Change your strings for your own reasons: sound, cost, whatever, but your "shop" has it backwards, not that new vs oid strings make such a big impact. New strings and old strings are still a metal on metal frets and somethings gotta wear down, like an engine without any oil.

There are at least two recent (new to me anyway) improvements. Stainless steel and "Evo?" wire frets. Can't remember, but that's another whole fret job. If you use stainless, it'll cost you but it'll last many times as long.
Fret wear is a normal nuisance. Just means your playing, and that's good. The perfectly rounded tops of fresh frets will show the wear fast because the small top at the arc of a new fret is a smaller surface than the surface of a worn fret.
Maybe softer or harder kinds of strings, but whose going to play a type of string just to save frets.

I think you just have to accept it, and if you want stainless the next time around, it'll still wear but a lot slower.

manushe

The guy from the 'shop' was saying that the exposed core wares into the frets faster than the metal plated windings that cover the core of the string. He only deals with nickel/bronze plated strings so maybe his knowledge doesn't apply, or maybe he don't know what the hell he's talking about.
I prefer the sound of using worn strings. Im going to leave strings on like I always have and refret with stainless steel next time I need it. Thanks Jeff! I never knew stainless steel was an option.

Shawn

Without seeing the wear your talking about or what it was like before your re-fret job I'm surprised that a simple crowning or dressing wouldn't have solved your issues. You might try learning how to do these on your own as it will save you a lot of money in the long run. I've always had issues with letting other people work on my instruments for a couple of reasons...

1. They could be feeding me a line of bull about the actual work needed in order to charge higher prices for the job.
2. They don't know what the heck they are talking about concerning Selmer style guitars.

I know everyone is different and skill levels are different, but being able to actively repair your own instruments not only saves huge amounts of money but will give you a sense of accomplishment and being able to know you did the correct work on your instrument. Just as a FYI...I own a few Selmer style guitars (one for 15 years) and other than doing an occasional fret dressing I've never needed to do a complete re-fret on any of them yet. I'm not suggesting your tech doesn't know what he's doing, but I'd be a little leery regardless.

As far as changing strings, some people can go through a set in a matter of weeks and others make them last forever depending on several conditions...sweat and skin acidity, how much you play, etc. Personally, I'm bad about replacing strings and will literally play them into the ground so I only change them out maybe every 6 months or so.

manushe

Thanks Shawn. You're right about the ability to service your own guitar. My frets on the high E and B strings were worn almost to the level of the ebony fret board. This was from seven years of daily playing with no fret dressings. I told the repair man to replace them, he didn't tell me they needed replacing. I wish I did have the skill to refret a guitar but I was nervous about pulling frets that were partially flattened. The guy that did the refret has probably done well over 1000 refrets so I wasn't worried...and even he had to fix a small chip in the fret board after pulling flat frets out of the neck. I am thinking about buying a 'fret dressing file' to keep them dressed until I need new ones. Does anyone redress their own frets?

Shawn

I know some might disagree, but when doing fret work I don't use anything special except for a bit of elbow grease. I would get some non-residue leaving blue painters tape, varying grits of sandpaper and some steel wool. Normally I place tape all over any exposed wood on the fingerboard leaving only the frets themselves uncovered. Then, get a level board and wrap some 500-1000 grit sandpaper around it and level out the frets going smoothly over each one. You'll really need to eyeball it as you go, but if you have a good sense of depth it should go fairly well. Then use the sandpaper, 1000-2000 grit, to visually shape the frets as desired and finish them off with some very fine steel wool. It's cheap and inexpensive and has worked perfectly for me for many years.

However, I would say if you don't have a good eye for details especially when working with very small distances and depths then don't even attempt to do this yourself or it could royally screw up your fret work.