fret wire

[wineredrich]

Just an observation...I've had my Gibson LP Custom for 30 years. I also once owned a 1975 Gibson Flying V. Never noticed anything unusual about the fret wire concerning cleaning/maintainence. However, I also have an Epiphone 2006 LP Standard and noticed that the fret wire tarnishes! Never saw that on the Gibsons. Just took an all purpose metal cleaner to the dingy brown frets and they came out sparkling chrome colored! Guess wherever you can cut corners, huh?

[BigKahune]

Gibson Guitar Corporation -

 

"A" Line (higher quality) - Gibson brand

 

"B" Line (lower quality) - Epiphone brand

[damian]

Gibson Guitar Corporation -

 

"A" Line (higher quality) - Gibson brand

 

"B" Line (lower quality) - Epiphone brand

 

Just a thought BigKahune; There has been a lot of complaining about QC and this and that about Gibson, and R9 gently chided me about a response I gave to the 'Trading In My 08 Classic' thread. It made me think a bit. My response was OK, and so was R9s response to mine. The reality is that perhaps one could add another letter...

 

A; Higher quality Gibson ( reissues and custom shop ) B; Regular quality ( most regular gibsons ) C; Lower quality ( epiphones )

[damian]

Remember, there are various grades, guages, and qualities of fret wire. You may want to do some research on them to ensure that you don't damage your guitar...

[MrNylon]

I looked at the Gibson fret wire for LP, on a Std. model it's listed as an alloy. Maybe a silver or combination silver nickel. The Epi. gave no material for the fret wire.

[milod]

I think fret wire is kinda special 'cuz there are some variables of what may or not be important. Kinda like strings. What is the expected use and playing style for a given guitar may make a difference in the fret wire of choice - perhaps along with the specifics of what shape the frets are schedule to be.

 

I guess I'd be more concerned with a proper match of fret wire to the type of strings and playing style anticipated with a given instrument. E.g., an acoustic with 12-54 bronze and more straight up and down playing as opposed to an electric that more likely would be played with 10-46 but a lotta bending.

 

So... frankly a tarnish issue is no big deal to me. A lotta appropriate fret alloys might tarnish. Heck, pure silver tarnishes.

 

My concern is more along the lines of "is this fretwire too soft for a lotta bending?" So... I could feature a good quality fret wire for the purpose, albeit less expensive than something less likely to tarnish. That would be preferable to "whatever fret wire is cheapest to acquire." I remember a lotta what appeared to be various alloys of brass used for frets and it even turned green if the guitar was left unplayed in much of a humid environment.

 

m

[pippy]

In addition to all that's already been mentioned;

 

It's quite well known that Gibson uses a fret-wire that is slightly softer than most manufacturers. For this reason players are strongly advised to use pure nickel strings.

Nickel strings are softer and will wear the frets slower than regular steel strings.

 

P.

[Bowdiddley]

Just a thought BigKahune; There has been a lot of complaining about QC and this and that about Gibson, and R9 gently chided me about a response I gave to the 'Trading In My 08 Classic' thread. It made me think a bit. My response was OK, and so was R9s response to mine. The reality is that perhaps one could add another letter...

 

A; Higher quality Gibson ( reissues and custom shop ) B; Regular quality ( most regular gibsons ) C; Lower quality ( epiphones )

 

+1 Absolutely