Fret Wire Sizes

[mukluk]

I'm doing a guitar project and I don't know what fret wire i want!

http://www.lutherie.net/fret.chart.html

Just say which size you guys prefer and why. At the moment i am leaning towards something Jumbo, but i have been hearing that it is hard to slide up and down the neck. Also, i hear that Jumbo's tend to go out of tune if you press to hard and also go out of tune when you try to do chords...is this true? Whats the biggest Jumbo that is decent with chords, sliding and don't go real sharp if pushed down?

Well that's my speech...so what types of frets you guys like to play with and why? You guys like Jumbo? Medium? Stainless steel or Nickel Silver? Any opinions greatly appreciated! (take note of the link provided for wire sizes)

Edited July 3, 2010 by mukluk

[soapbarstrat]

Feel like the ultimate broken record, but like I've probably said 100 times, when in doubt, go with something .045" to .048" tall and .080" to .100" wide. And then there's the whole wire quality issue which is actually more important. StewMac good, Jescar better, Luthier suppliers selling Jescar = same as Jescar (Duh !)

Others can take over on the SS vs NS.

And you will use your hair to buff the frets, right ?

[Muzz]

I'm doing a guitar project and I don't know what fret wire i want!

http://www.lutherie.net/fret.chart.html

Just say which size you guys prefer and why. At the moment i am leaning towards something Jumbo, but i have been hearing that it is hard to slide up and down the neck. Also, i hear that Jumbo's tend to go out of tune if you press to hard and also go out of tune when you try to do chords...is this true? Whats the biggest Jumbo that is decent with chords, sliding and don't go real sharp if pushed down?

Well that's my speech...so what types of frets you guys like to play with and why? You guys like Jumbo? Medium? Stainless steel or Nickel Silver? Any opinions greatly appreciated! (take note of the link provided for wire sizes)

Super jumbo, you know you want to

[FireFly]

I like all but small. Small takes a little too much effort for me to play.

As far a being able to slide up and down the neck, a proper fret dressing will fix that.

[Tim37]

and if jumbos make ya go sharp learn to use a lighter touch.

[mukluk]

and if jumbos make ya go sharp learn to use a lighter touch.

it's kinda hard to keep the same pressure on every finger when trying to do some chords...at least for me anyways

[Narcissism]

and if jumbos make ya go sharp learn to use a lighter touch.

it's kinda hard to keep the same pressure on every finger when trying to do some chords...at least for me anyways

practice makes perfect

Some professional guitarists found that they can intonate their guitars according to how much extra pressure they're putting on the strings as well. That's a little above and beyond my level, but its interesting!

Other than that, I'd have to say, go out and play some guitars and see which is most comfortable to you. You can get a feel for the type of end dress you want by doing this as well.

[westhemann]

I like medium...think Gibson..that is the perfect combination of ease of sliding and ease of fretting for me.

[MuffinPunch]

Im no authority on the subject, but I think the style of music youre playing could help determine which fretwire you should go with. for Metal and Hard rock I tend to steer toward jumbo or extra jumbo, for jazz I think smaller size is more appropriate. If you play everything in between, go with a medium.

Edited July 4, 2010 by MuffinPunch

[mukluk]

Im no authority on the subject, but I think the style of music youre playing could help determine which fretwire you should go with. for Metal and Hard rock I tend to steer toward jumbo or extra jumbo, for jazz I think smaller size is more appropriate. If you play everything in between, go with a medium.

i would say metal and hard rock, but i would also like to be able to do chords nicely....that and i don't want the notes to go sharp

[westhemann]

Style of music really has nothing to do with it...personal playing style and preference does.

[MuffinPunch]

Style of music really has nothing to do with it...personal playing style and preference does.

Right, but if you dont have a personal preference, music style is a good place to start... Most modern commercially built guitars made for playing Metal and Hard Rock come equipped with jumbo frets from the factory, (Ibanez RG and X, and most Jacksons and ESPs) so its a pretty good indication of what the preference tends to be for the typical customer, or at least what those companies have decided is the standard for playing that kind of music.

Im assuming you play guitar and therefore are accustomed to playing a certain kind of guitar equipped with a particular fret size. If thats comfortable to you, stay with it... If you feel like you need something bigger or smaller, test it out and see if you like it better. Theres really no answer to your question that can be answered by anyone but yourself through research and experimentation.

Edited July 5, 2010 by MuffinPunch

[westhemann]

Most modern commercially built guitars made for playing Metal and Hard Rock come equipped with jumbo frets from the factory

No,they do that not because it is best,but because it is a gimmick that started back in the 80s(that jumbo wire was "faster"),and the companies know that most kids that know nothing fall for it.

[westhemann]

To the best of my recollection,the time at which jumbo frets became popular was when ESP came out with the first KH strat...they touted it as "made for fast playing" or some crap,but we all know Hammett is a position player for the most part,and is really not that speedy....

I played jumbos for a long time...I switched when I got tired of the large frets slowing down my sliding and being less comfortable.

[mukluk]

i suppose the best step would be actually trying them out myself haha

any suggestions for guitars to try out? specifically what they have for frets, medium - jumbo - extra jumbo and such

Edited July 5, 2010 by mukluk

[Prostheta]

For what it's worth, jumbo width frets have a preferable feel for me. Jumbo height makes for breathing room through subsequent fret dressings, and maybe to a degree teaches lighter fretting pressure. Personal preference only, mind. I just didn't like medium wire on the 27" reverse Explorer neck I made.

[westhemann]

any suggestions for guitars to try out? specifically what they have for frets, medium - jumbo - extra jumbo and such

The Gibson LP has medium frets..pretty much middle of the road in every direction.Most ESP F and M series guitars have jumbo...

[MuffinPunch]

No,they do that not because it is best,but because it is a gimmick that started back in the 80s(that jumbo wire was "faster"),and the companies know that most kids that know nothing fall for it.

Ok, Wes. You win...

[westhemann]

I think you have the wrong idea.I don't care about "winning" or who is right..it would sure be a sad state of affairs if only one side of an issue was ever presented.

But that is the way I remember it..I have owned a few guitars over the last 20 years,maybe 50 or so,and they had alot of different fret sizes.Jumbo frets don't play any faster,but they are a bit harder to slide over in my experience...Every metal player that plays a Gibson LP plays on medium frets,so to say metal is mostly played on jumbo frets is just a bit misleading I think...considering the LP is such a mainstay in metal

Fads come and go...I just see jumbo frets as a fad...with the new inroads in SS fretwire,the extra meat for refrets is no longer really needed...I think the next few years is going to see alot of SS equipped guitars.

Everyone is welcome to a different opinion.Why would you think that I would think otherwise.

[westhemann]

Something else you might find interesting..My ESP LTD Eclipse has the same medium flat topped fret job that the Gibson LP does...I just noticed that earlier today(I don't play it much) an it makes me wonder if the 24 3/4" scale length has something to do with that...you know,because medium width frets leave a little more room for your fingers...

[soapbarstrat]

It's subtle, but I think the fret height influences the tone of the guitar, or maybe sustain is more what I mean. I notice a more woody tone on lower frets and more hi-fi metallic tone on huge frets.

I have at least 8 sizes of fret-wire and the option anxiety for refrets on my own guitars never goes away. I keep putting off refrets on most because of this.

I probably should settle on the .095 wide by .046 tall. I think that's what my rear-rout 80's Fender had and I wailed like a son-of-a-bitch on that guitar. I'd play a Dokken tape and solo over the rhythm part and although I wasn't doing George Lynch note for note, half what I was doing was as good as what he was doing on the solo parts. I was practicing like a bastard too, compared to my pathetic noodling these days.

[mukluk]

On that note, what do you think is a good radius to bend the wire to? My fretboard has a 12" radius, should i bend my wire to 12" as well? I've heard you should bend it at less of a radius from some places. The fret wire i am getting is pre-radiused to 9" so it would be fun to not have to do anything further.

[soapbarstrat]

Hammering or pressing ? A generous over-bend is good for most hammering methods. For pressing, you want a fairly close match. I don't go too crazy about it, but lets say the board was 12". I'd want my wire (I just typed 'wife' instead of 'wire' haha) between 12 and 13 (notice how I left the " off, haha again).

There's always the question " well if they do pop up, do I want it to happen in the middle or the ends ? ". And if you're doing the job for a customer, the answer is easy : you'd rather have the middle pop up, because popped ends can mean a cut hand = potential lawsuit.

But I try to leave the wire radius a close match to avoid popping anywhere and since I use glue, I'm not trying to be clever with the barbs pushing sideways at the ends to help hold them down (which is so freakin' unreliable on a refret anyway)

[mukluk]

Hammering or pressing ? A generous over-bend is good for most hammering methods. For pressing, you want a fairly close match. I don't go too crazy about it, but lets say the board was 12". I'd want my wire (I just typed 'wife' instead of 'wire' haha) between 12 and 13 (notice how I left the " off, haha again).

There's always the question " well if they do pop up, do I want it to happen in the middle or the ends ? ". And if you're doing the job for a customer, the answer is easy : you'd rather have the middle pop up, because popped ends can mean a cut hand = potential lawsuit.

But I try to leave the wire radius a close match to avoid popping anywhere and since I use glue, I'm not trying to be clever with the barbs pushing sideways at the ends to help hold them down (which is so freakin' unreliable on a refret anyway)

i will be hammering it in, so you think that 9" radius that's going into my 12" fretboard will be good?

[soapbarstrat]

I switched to pressing before I was even half way to mastering hammering, so I'm not the best person to ask what's the best radius for the wire, but I'm pretty sure I did some decent hammer jobs with a combination similar to what you have there. Hammering has more of an "art" to it than pressing, so what works best for one guy, might not be what works best for another. I wasted a lot of fret-wire in my early days, trying this and that. And I didn't keep notes of everything like I should have.