Official Luthiers Forum!

I have been using jescar medium gold evo with cw of ..080 and ch of .043 , now that I am out of fret wire , thought I would switch to a larger size of .090 and .055.. thought I would solicit some opinions as to what size was being used by you pros??? Obviously there is more material to crown and finish but I was also wondering if anyone had any feedback to playability of the finished fretboard???

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MK5acoustics.com

Good for electrics but can be a pain for acoutics. I have pulled these frets out of a few for customers and went back in with the standard crowns. Seems that it can play havoc with intonation if you over press frets. I do like the evo wire but use mostly the standard German silver. Stainless is ok some people like it some hate it.
If my customer wants it I will use it on special order.

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John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

My personal preference is for high frets. I like the touch that way. For electric I like high jumbo frets. But as far as what the pro's do? They do what the customer requests or will work with a customer and probably have shop guitars for them to test and help determine what they like best.

All my fingerstyle guys love the .106 wide .045 tall stainless steel. The wider wire feels less bumpy when you slide up and down the fretboard, as the gentler curve of the side catches the finger less. This is more noticeable with taller frets. .095 wide .055 tall feel especially bumpy to me.

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Old growth, shmold growth!

I played electric guitar for over twenty years, playing top 40 rock and country in local bands around the area. I absolutely swore by jumbo frets. Loved them.
Fast forward a few more years and I started playing in church. Every player there makes judicious use of the capo, which I never used. Jumbo frets are a pain in the rear when using a capo, IME. No matter how carefully I placed the capo in relation to the fret, and no matter whether I was using a standard capo, or one that allows adjustment for tension, my guitars with jumbo frets are always pulled out of tune, or require retuning each time I move the capo. Won't be using jumbos in my builds again any time soon. Will also be refretting a few of them as well.
If I were building for others, I'd definitely find out their playing style and capo use. If that use is high, I'd definitely recommend against jumbo, or very tall, frets. MHO.

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Mike

The only thing nescessary for evil to thrive is for good men to do nothing.

I have used both and personally prefer the thinner wire for myself. Most people don't really seem to notice the difference, having had them play guitars side by side with the different wires very few have commented on it. Most will notice a difference in height I think fairly easy but not so much the width and .010" in height is not much. The extra width can give enough material to put a wide crown on an otherwise medium fret and give a nice feel.

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Brian

You never know what you are capable of until you actually try.

https://www.howardguitarsdelaware.com/