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Post subject: Fret Wear?
Posted: Thu Nov 08, 2007 12:29 pm
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I have a standard strat which is 3 years old. I play it pretty much everyday and ive noticed that the frets feel as though they have worn and they feel quite sharp when i slide from note to note. Surely the frets cant have worn that much over 3 years? and i havent got money for a new fret job. Can anyone give me any advice on this? or any tips to sort it out?


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Post subject: Re: Fret Wear?
Posted: Thu Nov 08, 2007 5:25 pm
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dan_xlt wrote:
I have a standard strat which is 3 years old. I play it pretty much everyday and ive noticed that the frets feel as though they have worn and they feel quite sharp when i slide from note to note. Surely the frets cant have worn that much over 3 years? and i havent got money for a new fret job. Can anyone give me any advice on this? or any tips to sort it out?


Well ya sure, you can wear'm out fast if you're into lots of vibrato & heavy strings. You're basically just filing them (metal on metal) when playing like that. It's just wire, fret wire. Go ahead, wear the fuckers out & get'm refretted. Do it three times to the same guitar & you'll have some mileage on it. Hendrix did, I heard.

Meanwhile, you can have the frets "dressed & polished". I don't know current prices for either this or a fret job. A long time ago it was around $25 for the dressing/polishing & about $125 for a fret job. Probably double or triple that nowadays.

Dressing is a procedure where a file is used to level the frets in relation to each other (then buffed/polished) & new 45 degree angles are made on the right side of the frets. It's a great thing to have done when needed. Makes (precision) playing so much better again.

It's probably not something your average music store employee is skilled in these days. Probably have to call around to an instrument repair place.


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Posted: Tue Nov 13, 2007 8:46 am
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fret wear are due to not changing strings regularly,
if you change your strings regularly this problem can be avoided.


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Posted: Tue Nov 13, 2007 9:24 am
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eddytanhh wrote:
fret wear are due to not changing strings regularly,
if you change your strings regularly this problem can be avoided.


That's an interesting concept - can you elaborate? I can see that heavily tarnished strings could wear frets more quickly, but otherwise, what's teh difference? And does cleaning the strings with fast fret etc help?

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Post subject:
Posted: Tue Nov 13, 2007 9:59 am
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Fret wear can be caused by using old tarnished strings for sure - but it certainly isn't the only cause.

The main cause I feel is clamping on the strings with too much pressure which causes the wear. I get quite a lot of wear on my frets from this (although I'm trying to rectify it) Mainly about the open chord area (G, B & E strings first 4 frets). I think for me it comes from playing live so much , when that little bit of adreneline makes your grip a little harder than you should. I have little fret wear on my practice guitar but more on my Gig Guitars.

also I hear Stailess Steel strings are very hard and accelerate fret wear significantly. So if you are using them that could be why.



hope that helps

Sparky


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Posted: Tue Nov 13, 2007 10:14 am
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If your frets "feel sharp" as you slide your hand along the neck, then what you are describing isn't "fret wear" (which can be easily seen with the naked eye as grooves worn in the frets along the string axis), but "fret sprout:" caused by expansion and contraction of the wood during weather changes, usually on a newer neck, the frets "sprout" a little bit past the edge of the fingerboard and feel sharp.

You can have the fret ends filed a tiny bit by a guitar tech and the problem will go away, or do it yourself if you have the skill and tools.


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Posted: Tue Nov 13, 2007 10:51 am
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Whether fret wear or fret sprout, you'd be surprised how much a good dressing can fix. I had a Strat that I surely thought needed new frets. But, the Luthier suggested a dressing and they came out perfect. That's also a good time to get a set up!

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Post subject:
Posted: Wed Nov 14, 2007 9:24 am
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cleaning the strings helps
in fact we should clean the strings everytime after playing before
putting the guitar back to the case
i usually do the string cleaning with a seperate cloth
as we know, the only thing that rubs against the fret wire
are the strings, so there you go.....
how regular we should change the strings depend
on our playing situation
you might able to extend a maximum 3 months
if you do not play so regularly
but some people need to change strings for
a shorter interval,
if you are performing every night, you might want to change
the strings daily especially if the strings get a lot of body sweat....


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Posted: Wed Nov 14, 2007 3:13 pm
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I get fret wear and I change my strings weekly. I think it's more about how you play then how clean you keep your strings. Any string to fret grinding can wear a fret down no matter how clean your strings are.

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