+1000 Martian

Also the type of frets you choose will determine howlong they last before another RE-fret is required.

i.e taller frets have more meat so fret dressing can be done a few more times on them before you need another RE-fret. And stainless steel frets last longer than standard frets. But each has it's own costs, and differences to how your guitar will play and sound.

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GUITAR: Fender USA JazzMaster.
BASS: Fender USA 58'AVRI
AMP: Fender USA SuperSonicTwin - Blonde.

One of the Luthiers I'm considering states: "... [I have an] 0.080 x 0.040" tall EVO wire. It's a new very hard wire from Jescar. Great stuff and will outlast conventional wire by 3 or 4 times." He does not do Stainless Steel in the size used for the Strat.

What are the Playing trade-offs with stainless and other type frets? I'm very uneducated on this topic. Any advise will be very helpful here as I near a decision.

Thanks-

I just ordered a Carvin with Jumbo Stainless Steel frets. I haven't received it yet. I ordered it based on advice that the SS wire would last much longer and was a bit easier for bending strings. I went with the jumbo also to make bending a bit easier since you can get your finger under the wire a bit better. I have one guitar on loan with jumbos and I like it so I'm not worried that I made a mistake.
The wire you mentioned, .80 x .40 would be a medium height and a little narrow. Most of my guitars have .103" to .110" width. The narrow width would open up the size of the small frets down at the 15th to 20th frets which can be nice.

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'10 American Deluxe HSS Sunset Metallic
'10 JA-90 Thinline Telecaster
'15 Music Man JP-15 Blueberry Burst
'07 Les Paul Standard Faded LCPG #82
'14 Carvin ST300
'12 Carvin CS424S
'66 Guild Starfire IV w/Bigsby
'14 Warmouth Partscaster Daphne Blue

Hi All:

We'll I did my research to find a great guitar craftsman. He assessed my guitar and recommended replacing just the first 5 frets and making minor adjustments to the others as needed. It looks like he did an excellent job matching and installing the frets, he adjusted the nut moving the two shims to the 6th string end and none at the 1st string end- he stated the heavier strings needed to be up from the frets a bit more than the lower thinner strings (this was the factory setting). Lastly I had him block the tremolo- he used rosewood like on the finger board (he makes guitars and mandolins)- a single large block was used to secure the full end of the tremolo and three smaller pieces were inserted between the three springs to secure that side of the tremolo. The tremolo could be restored easily with this set-up.

The guitar seems to play great but I'm not so sure I like the bright-ness added by the blocking, is there a way to block the tremolo without making it sound so bright?

Before I do anything to the set-up I am going to spend so time getting used to what I have at the moment.

Any thoughts or feedback on the work preformed is welcome.

Thanks! Tom

As far as blocking the tremolo without using rosewood blocks, you could have made the trem springs really tight so that it bottoms out your trem to the guitar body really tightly, acting alot like a solid tail. Maybe also adding a few more springs to aid this.

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GUITAR: Fender USA JazzMaster.
BASS: Fender USA 58'AVRI
AMP: Fender USA SuperSonicTwin - Blonde.

It seems opinions abound as to the best way to block the trem as I've read many here... not knowing better myself I just went ahead and had the wood block made. I could remove them and add a few springs and tighten it down if that is a more desirable method. Is the tightening down less of a change to the guitar sound?

Yep, It is a less drastic change than putting in physical blocks. The trem retains some of its resonant characteristics as some parts of it are still able to vibrate. But only your ears will tell you if it sounds better.

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GUITAR: Fender USA JazzMaster.
BASS: Fender USA 58'AVRI
AMP: Fender USA SuperSonicTwin - Blonde.

Does locking down the trem with the springs lower the strings closer to the neck? It seems the strings are a little higher off the neck since having the blocks installed.

Yes, your strings will get closer to the fretboard when locking the trem to the guitar with the springs. But your string height is always adjustable no matter what method you use. The saddle height screws are used to raise or lower the string height.

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GUITAR: Fender USA JazzMaster.
BASS: Fender USA 58'AVRI
AMP: Fender USA SuperSonicTwin - Blonde.

Thanks so much for the info... I'm still learning about the guitar set-up. I will look at changing the saddle height, and it would seem I should set the height per the fender specs? I believe I saw this info with the guitar data when I bought it. I do have a "feeler gauge" but it is in thousandths of an inch so I will need to convert the numbers to metrics I believe.

Are there detailed diagrams that state & show what all the parts are for an American Deluxe Strat HHS guitar? I have the general service docs from here but they do not show the detail I need to fully understand what parts are being talked about in some discussions, i.e. bridge & tremolo parts.

I've removed the trem. blocks... and tightened the claw screws? so the bridge is sitting on the guitar body. I only have three springs, I will get two more a.s.a.p. I did notice that adjusting the pivot screws? allowed the bridge to sit flatter on the body, is this a good thing to do?

Thanks for all insights - Tom

Yes

+1, yes adjust the pivot screws as high as neccessary to allow the trem to sit as tight on to the guitar body as possible. Let us know what you think when you play it again, if it is better or worse than the "Blocks" method.

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GUITAR: Fender USA JazzMaster.
BASS: Fender USA 58'AVRI
AMP: Fender USA SuperSonicTwin - Blonde.

I adjusted the pivot screws as suggested.... I do have just 3 black tremolo springs so I am able to cause a little de-tuning (but very little) of other strings when stretching a string- I will have 5 chrome springs in a few days and will repeat the docking process. I am assuming the neck is not flexing to cause the slight de-tuning, is this correct?

I really like the sound with the docking method vs the blocks!!! It is just a little brighter than original but it still has that full sound I am familiar with and love from this guitar.

Once the 5 springs are in and I reset the docking I will venture into checking other settings to improve the playing for my style. I was able to find good pics on the internet showing what is mean by the adjustment processes and terms described in the fender docs. Now that I know what to do I am brave enough to make changes myself.

Thanks everyone your your help and insights! ... I may be asking more if I run into issues.!