A Forum on Fretwire: Materials & Sizes Explained

Welcome back to the channel! For those new here, I'm Seán and I am a luthier and guitar-building teacher. In this video I will share all I know about fretwire, including materials, size and some of the more popular sizes as reference. I hope you came to get nerdy!
Make sure to like and subscribe, and leave a comment about whatever I talked about; if you agree, disagree or have any other ideas yourself. I'd love to hear them!
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I am a guitar builder (and now teacher) from Ireland, but currently based in the South of England working with Crimson Guitars. I am a teacher and a luthier and I am currently loving my job and the direction my life is going. My guitars are built by hand, from the heart and with love in every shaving.
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00:00 - INTRO
01:38 - NICKEL SILVER
03:05 - STAINLESS STEEL
06:28 - EVO GOLD
08:58 - BIGGER OR SMALLER FRETS
12:28 - COMMON SIZES AND SUGGESTIONS
16:43 - MY FAVOURITE AND OUTRO

[@raimondwamelink5208]

The SS 6105 frets on my K-Line tele are great. Easy and accurate.

[@christianboddum8783]

LOVE, EVO gold 57/110. The best of both worlds. SS frets gives off a smell I don't like (when playing), but they work really well. I think Brian Kimsey pointed out that SS frets can give off artifacts/pingy sounds behind the the fretted notes on acoustic guitars that Nickel silver or Gold doesn't, the sympathetic vibration is so close to the frets that it gets audible. FWIW

[@toto6773]

Thanks!!

[@WindsurfMaui]

The biggest Frets in stainless. They are so silky smooth, nothing else feels so good

[@BDizzleMySchnizzle]

I have a kit Strat that I have been using to learn about setting up guitars, etc. Let's just say I may have taken a wee bit too much off the frets while knocking down the high spots and am looking at refretting it. This was a great explanation of materials and sizes, something I really didnt understand. I feel confident now in ordering the fretwire that I need to refret the neck. Thanks. Great video.

[@AwenLutherieCustomGuitars]

Nice, glad I could help. Nothing wrong with a little extra fretwork experience either

[@scottmartinezguitarandbass]

Stew Mac has a 425 Copper Alloy, that when researched contains Copper-Zinc-Tin Alloy. I just bought the "gold" wire.

[@robokeo]

Excellent, nice one for this, Thanks Sean. Answered all my questions i had. I have a better idea what my personal preference is now too. Such a pity about EVO Gold. I am building a walnut/ebony guitar as my first build and want all the hardware to be gold including the fretwire. When i was researching a while back all i could find was people saying EVO Gold was the best but i couldn't find it anywhere to buy and then saw it discontinued. Still struggling to find it but hopefully i can get some before it has disappeared for good. I think i will go for Narrow tall for the first guitar. The guitars i have would be probably classed as shred guitars and im pretty sure both are jumbo so ill try the narrow for a change. Thanks again and best wishes in the new year. Cheers

[@user-nk1bc7qs6y]

Great video, Sean. I also want to try phosper bronze fret wire at some point, i feel like they would really pop on a rose wood fret board, maybe even a maple one

[@oldbonesbushcraftrodjackso474]

Great info

[@Mr_CB]

Thank you for a very interesting overview of fret-wire choices. Stainless steel sounds like a good choice. I think we should choose the material based on the player's preference, rather than on considerations of wear on the tools.

[@AwenLutherieCustomGuitars]

Absolutely, at the end of the day, player preference should be at the forefront. It's just good to know that the tools will suffer!

[@utube321piotr]

I own the fairly recent Fender CD-60SCE acoustic guitar from 2019 and it has 43080 type frets, which for me seem "small" and not exactly comfortable.

[@michaelmuhlberg6262]

Hi Sean, yes it is not easy to chose the right fretwire. I like to scallop my fretboard so i take the biggest frets i can get. But that is just me. Sintoms do a bronze fret i used. They are a lot harder then nickel silver and waer slower. I tried all types but for some reason i like to use nickel silver on the last guitars. But it is not a problem for me that they wear faster because i build a lot of guitars and switch between them. I have seen that Hosco makes gold frets now. I will try them out in my next project. Greetings Michael

[@Ramplcro]

About fret materials lasting longer (resisting to abrasion), there is a difference in hardness and toughness, and is the toughness that you want which incidentally you will find no data about it from fret making companies.

[@mikesalmo]

I’m not sure of the applicability of toughness with frets. Toughness tests look at chipping/cracking from impact. While frets are filed, they don’t go to a sharp point, and have a wide base of material vs a blade. They also shouldn’t be taking sudden impact (unless you’re smashing it). I’ve never chipped or cracked a fret. Installation would be the highest risk time, but we usually use soft brass hammers or apply even pressure. Your experience may be different. Also, stainless frets are just listed as “stainless steel.” There’s a pretty huge range in there. I’m guessing they are Martensitic, since they’re marketed to people with nickel sensitivity. But I’m speculating. And numbers on materials can be misleading. The treating and manufacturing process matters a lot. I have 2 D2 pocket knives that sharpen, wear, and chip very differently. But my Stanley bench plane blades are pretty similar despite ranging in age from the early 1900s-1960s. But all of those blades do their job fine. Really, you have to compare the final products and see what you like. But stainless steel is significantly harder (it’ll wear out your tools and strings). Nickel silver is significantly tougher (it’ll deform from your strings, but not chip). Custom alloys will be somewhere in between but will be obscured in marketing voodoo. If you find something you like, keep buying it from that manufacturer… until they stop making it 😢

[@danielbarbieri8199]

I advise those who have heavy fingers to use 6130 stainless steel frets. 6130 frets avoid accuracy problems, and stainless steel avoids premature wear of the frets which also produces tuning issues to a lesser extent.

[@qb1337a]

you can replace evo gold with Sintoms SBZ or Wagner/Zapp BZ. Almost the same alloy with Jescar

[@thepostapocalyptictrio4762]

Need to refret my 1971 Silvertone Teisco. It has ( medium?) jumbo fret on it. Doing as much research(and buying tools) before I dare start. Ps my Squire CV 70’s Jaguar has the vintage tiny frets in stainless.

[@scottdunn2178]

Dunlop 6100 Extra Jumbo yes please 🎸

[@stewsim]

I so love EVO wire!!! Working with it, and the final results. And soooo bummed that it’s been discontinued…😢 I hope that Jescar can figure out a replacement for the alloys…!!! I’ve got one customer that loves it so much,that I’ve done 27 refrets for with 58118 EVO. He bought up enough wire for 4 more gtrs eventually getting them…😳

[@AwenLutherieCustomGuitars]

I'm also so disappointed that it's no longer available. I did hear they're working on something as an alternative, but who knows. That fretwire sounds massive, wow! Also 27 refrets for 1 customer? amazing

[@stewsim]

It’s pretty big. Same as Dunlop 6000. Yup…27 so far. Some of them were brand new gtrs too! I’ve another customer that I’ve done 8 with EVO wire, in different sizes tho. StewMac now has a gold wire, but I’ve heard that’s the only similarity to EVO. It’s mainly copper and titanium. You’d think that the alloys would be available elsewhere…🤷🏼‍♂️ I hope that they come up with something similar…!!!

[@johngibson911]

Thanks for a great video Sean. I just wondered if there are different considerations when choosing fret size for acoustic guitars compared to electric? It seems to me that acoustic guitar frets are generally much shorter - is that because of the greater sensitivity of the instrument to its environment or is it acceptable to fit taller frets to an acoustic guitar? Slainte from Liverpool 🍻

[@Furtheronmusic]

Interesting I recently bought a performer strat over a pro 2 I'm convinced the performer having jumbo frets not narrow tall was the clincher.

[@AwenLutherieCustomGuitars]

It makes such a big difference though, but so many don't pay any attention!

[@yerblues10]

Great vid Sean. Does this count the same for basses?

[@AwenLutherieCustomGuitars]

Yeah it absolutely does. Bass guitars are just big 6 strings at the end of the day

[@BBGuitars]

Was absolutely devistated when I found out evogold was no more. I have one last lot of jumbo to use on a special build and then my stash is all gone. I tried some Stewmac gold wire on an acoustic, I dont think its quite as strong as the evo though, that builds not finished yet so cant comment on the play feel...

[@donjoseph73]

Have you ever re fretted a philobonac Steinberger neck?

[@AwenLutherieCustomGuitars]

I'm not sure what that is. Is it weird for some reason?

[@veguitars]

Hey Sean, is it safe to assume that the tangs are all standardized or is it necessary to select a specific kerf saw for a particular fret size? Cheers V

[@peterhansson7967]

Tangs are not standardized… The wider the fret is, the wider the tang is… At least as a guideline, since there is no real standard 😇

[@AwenLutherieCustomGuitars]

No they aren't standardised, but any fret saw will generally work for all frets. The tang doesn't generally vary "that" much really. Unless you're doing something like stainless steel into Richlite or another super hard material, with a massive tang, you shouldn't have a problem. I alwasy glue my frets in too, which negates any over-sized slot issues

[@fantomas9240]

Thanks for all this information. I was wondering the size (width and hight) after a regretting job, I mean after leveling a'd crowning them🤔. And a alternative is also to go with the hardest nickel/silver on the market, no?

[@AwenLutherieCustomGuitars]

After fretwork, the frets will be slightly smaller for sure. The width should be fairly unchanged though, and only the height affected depending on how much material had to be removed to get them level. I mainly just covered the most popular materials, but I'm sure there are a few more out there, including different hardness nickel frets. I'm heard of bell bronze ones too, made from melted down bells!

[@supernoobsmith5718]

There is one aspect I'd like to see addressed that NO ONE talks about. First I'll say, I'm a fan of SS simply because I have to see shady luthiers much less frequently if at all. But the only thing I DON'T like is they never get ANY flat spot on them, that flat spot you get when a well broken in guitar has the BEST tone. That contact point is so important. And yes, I know the intonation isn't perfect. But I've played on pointy frets with great intonation but felt like SHT. That flat spot needs to be engineered into the scale and understood from a tone aspect. SS doesn't give the best tone, not because of the material, but because they never get that broken in contact point. Would love a response and a respectful conversation about it. I know this is not an unknown subject, because Gibson used to put flat crowns on their guitars. My 99 SG Std. had them, until I eventually needed work on it. Totally changed the tone and feel.

[@artysanmobile]

You MISS flat spots??

[@supernoobsmith5718]

@@artysanmobile It's a matter of perspective. I don't miss flat spots when they're so flat that it buzzes the next fret. I'm saying that there is a solid connection that gives better tone. They should all be crowned slightly flat. Like I said, Gibson has done this straight from the factory. And it takes a long time before fretwork is needed because the contact area is larger so the string isn't grinding down a small area with all the pressure.

[@supernoobsmith5718]

@@artysanmobile Look up Gibson School Bus frets or Train Track frets. They did this for a long time. It has advantages and disadvantages. Tone is amazing. Wear time is amazing. But as it wears it does tend to create a burr on the side of the frets that catches your fingers, but only over a long period of time.

[@zemlidrakona2915]

Sounded like "evil gold"

[@AwenLutherieCustomGuitars]

My bad! It's evil because it's great, but no longer produced...