Really liking the Medium Jumbos, but. . .

[Top-L]

Really worried they will wear out within 6 months!

I have played jumbos for the past 25 years and got my first medium jumbo guitar. Took a couple days to get used to, but now I really like it! Being a touch closer to the board and the narrower overall frets has a more exact, more "clean" feeling to it. It feels a touch faster and once the neck wore in a bit my vibrato is fine.

With jumbos I can usually get a few years. Two crown/levels before they need to be replaced.

The medium jumbos have less meat so they look like they will wear down faster, ane when they DO wear down, I will be lucky to get one crown/level.

For guys that play a guitar daily, how much time do you get from medium/jumbos?

Should I learn how to do my own refret, or when I get it refretted, go with stainless?

 

[vinta9e]

Re: Really liking the Medium Jumbos, but. . .

Really worried they will wear out within 6 months!

They won't, unless your fretwire is made of cotton.

Fret wear varies a LOT from case to case. Nickel silver isn't always the same hardness among different manufacturers. Old, corroded strings are way more abrasive than smooth new ones. Some guys play with a lot of force while others play with a soft touch. Some guitars get played more than others.

You should be able to get at least 3 years of active duty out of NS medium jumbos. I know I could easily do twice that and I'm pretty sure some players could still double my mileage.

 

[Top-L]

Re: Really liking the Medium Jumbos, but. . .

They won't, unless your fretwire is made of cotton.

Fret wear varies a LOT from case to case. Nickel silver isn't always the same hardness among different manufacturers. Old, corroded strings are way more abrasive than smooth new ones. Some guys play with a lot of force while others play with a soft touch. Some guitars get played more than others.

You should be able to get at least 3 years of active duty out of NS medium jumbos. I know I could easily do twice that and I'm pretty sure some players could still double my mileage.

I gues time will tell on the quality of these frets. If they wear out too fast, this guitar would be an excellent platform to learn how to refret. thanks

 

[wolf5150]

Re: Really liking the Medium Jumbos, but. . .

When they wear, fit the same size in stainless.

Never worry again about fret wear.
I'm on 8 yrs and 2000 gigs with my Anderson and the only attention the frets have needed is a polish to remove string scratches.

 

[Petrovsk Mizinski]

Re: Really liking the Medium Jumbos, but. . .

If it's a guitar you like, you definitley shouldn't use that as a platform for learning refrets when the time comes.
Get a cheap beater guitar for that.
Stainless is excellent and has a lot of value for a guitar that gets played daily/almost daily. Unless you use stainless strings too, the frets would most likely last decades and decades, perhaps even longer.

 

[uOpt]

Re: Really liking the Medium Jumbos, but. . .

Why don't you use those wide but not too tall ones? They should last quite a bit longer.

 

[aleclee]

Re: Really liking the Medium Jumbos, but. . .

Stainless

 

[jmh151]

Re: Really liking the Medium Jumbos, but. . .

You don't have to go to the extreme of stainless frets, which many techs won't touch as it wears out their tools.

Many manufacturers on lower end guitars and imports use mystery fretwire made of a weak alloy of Nickle Silver that wears easily.

The standard for years in many guitar- or selling point was to use Dunlop fretwire. However, repairmen often found Dunlop to be inconsistent and they didn't like the weaker fret tang that held the frets to the fretboard.

PRS and many other custom guitar makers use German Jescar wire, which is a much harder alloy of nickel silver and lasts much longer than most fretwire, without going to stainless.

Jescar also has EVO fretwire- which is gold colored. Its selling point is that its gold colored, but the added benefit is its even harder than their Nickle Silver fretwire, and is almost as hard as stainless, but still soft enough for most repairmen to work with without complaining that it destroys their tools.

Jescar also has stainless fretwire. Again, many techs refuse to work with stainless or charge a substantial upcharge to work with it.

If you really want stainless, it's more cost effective to get a replacement neck with stainless frets pre installed

 

[uOpt]

Re: Really liking the Medium Jumbos, but. . .

Am I the only one thinking this:

jumbo-jumbos should show more wear that needs leveling than wide frets. Because the wide frets put more material quicker and will have grooves that removed equal amounts of material but it means they don't go as deep.

Depth is what is causing a need to level (which in turn can cause a need to refret). So if this is a major concern the medium height but wide frets should be better, no?

 

[aleclee]

Re: Really liking the Medium Jumbos, but. . .

You don't have to go to the extreme of stainless frets, which many techs won't touch as it wears out their tools.

I don't worry too much about techs that won't work with stainless. The reason (and the point of stainless) is that you can go a long long time without needing any work done.

If I'm only getting my frets leveled every 8-10 years (and probably less often than that), I don't mind looking a little harder for someone to do it. I have three guitars with stainless frets older than 10 years old and they all still play like new.

 

[Agileguy_101]

Re: Really liking the Medium Jumbos, but. . .

I don't worry too much about techs that won't work with stainless. The reason (and the point of stainless) is that you can go a long long time without needing any work done.

If I'm only getting my frets leveled every 8-10 years (and probably less often than that), I don't mind looking a little harder for someone to do it. I have three guitars with stainless frets older than 10 years old and they all still play like new.

+1

I swore after having my Parker that I'd never go back to N/S frets. Of course, the three guitars I've gotten since parting ways with the Parker all have N/S frets, but the guitar I'm having built for me will have Stainless and I'm planning on getting my other guitars refretted. Honestly, it's totally worth the extra $60-120 (depending on whom you choose to do the job) after a year or two where N/S frets would need a leveling and your SS frets still have 5-10 years before they need a leveling. In fact, I would wager that by the time SS frets need to be leveled, it would be time to re-fret a guitar with an equivalent sized N/S fretwire.

 

[ratherdashing]

Re: Really liking the Medium Jumbos, but. . .

Many manufacturers on lower end guitars and imports use mystery fretwire made of a weak alloy of Nickle Silver that wears easily.

I experienced this first hand with my old 95 MIM Strat. I wore those frets down in just over a year. That guitar had a lot of crap hardware in general. The new ones are built to a much higher standard, frets included.

 

[jmh151]

Re: Really liking the Medium Jumbos, but. . .

+1

I swore after having my Parker that I'd never go back to N/S frets. Of course, the three guitars I've gotten since parting ways with the Parker all have N/S frets, but the guitar I'm having built for me will have Stainless and I'm planning on getting my other guitars refretted. Honestly, it's totally worth the extra $60-120 (depending on whom you choose to do the job) after a year or two where N/S frets would need a leveling and your SS frets still have 5-10 years before they need a leveling. In fact, I would wager that by the time SS frets need to be leveled, it would be time to re-fret a guitar with an equivalent sized N/S fretwire.

If it was only $120 more I would've done it- but here in NYC Peekamoose music wanted an ADDITIONAL $400 for A stainless steel refret over Jescar Nickle Silver

 

[Agileguy_101]

Re: Really liking the Medium Jumbos, but. . .

If it was only $120 more I would've done it- but here in NYC Peekamoose music wanted an ADDITIONAL $400 for A stainless steel refret over Jescar Nickle Silver

uh

wat




Are you serious?

That's absolutely insane. IMO $400 alone is on the high side for a SS refret. Not out of the question but certainly not cheap. But to add an extra $400 is crazy talk. The average range I've seen is $250-$450, depending on whom you get to do the job.

I also wouldn't trust a repair shop that says that you should change the strings on your bass every four to six weeks.

 

[jmh151]

Re: Really liking the Medium Jumbos, but. . .

Yes, dead serious. For a PLEK Refret on a Floyd Rose equipped guitar, shim the neck to correct angle and setup cost me $795- and would've been an additional 400 for stainless frets.

 

[Top-L]

Re: Really liking the Medium Jumbos, but. . .

Yes, dead serious. For a PLEK Refret on a Floyd Rose equipped guitar, shim the neck to correct angle and setup cost me $795- and would've been an additional 400 for stainless frets.

What?? Plek usually around $250 for floyd guitar ..

I'm all done with plek. Had a few guitars done. I would rather have new level frets installed by a competent luthier than have a "strategic" leveling done by the plek. The problem with the plek machine is that the operator tries to save his bits by removing as little material as possible. This sounds good, but it can put the guitar into a state where the frets are not same height, and the truss rod becomes less effective because gradual relief no longer adresses issues (hard to explain.. just a side effect of being able to level the frets independent of the board curve). Also it just doesn't feel "right" to have frets of differnt heights..Fret heights correct but finger distance from board is different everywhere and guitar feels and looks sloppy. Looks great on paper, but in reality..

If you really want to piss off your plek guy, tell him what you really want is for the frets to be all the same height! (This would be the same result as straigtening the board and leveling by hand) This will put 10x wear on his bit, because instead of cutting down a few frets, he will have to cut down almost all of them. He wont do it! He will give you some BS about how it is stupid to cut down all the frets because it will shorten the life of the guitar and that the plek machine saves that from happening.

I have found that the slight .002% accuracy benefit of the plek usually disappears after 6 months of playing and minor neck changes. I will never plek again. For same price can get NS refret.

 

[aleclee]

Re: Really liking the Medium Jumbos, but. . .

If it was only $120 more I would've done it- but here in NYC Peekamoose music wanted an ADDITIONAL $400 for A stainless steel refret over Jescar Nickle Silver

Look outside NYC. Phil Jacoby in
Baltimore does SS refrets w/Plek for about what that upcharge was. At that point, shipping the guitar is definitely cost effective.

 

[jmh151]

Re: Really liking the Medium Jumbos, but. . .

Look outside NYC. Phil Jacoby in
Baltimore does SS refrets w/Plek for about what that upcharge was. At that point, shipping the guitar is definitely cost effective.

I definitely will, thanks for the heads up as I need a re fret on my Les Paul

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: Really liking the Medium Jumbos, but. . .

Don't get sentimental and always have a fresh #1. Get used to every gauge, action, and setup. Then forget about it, pick up a guitar, and learn to play it whether it's plugged into a SS practice amp or a wall of tube amps.

You'll forget all about fret wear on old guitars. You shouldn't even think about it. If the guitar is worthy, pay for a refret. If not, sell it and get a new guitar. How many new guitars are there in the world.....maybe 3 billion? Why waste your time thinking about fixer uppers?