Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Wes "I'm Baaaaack" Yates on June 27, 2010 at 4:25pm

1. For those of you that use WIRE for frets, what is your method for making them nice and straight?

A nice fret jig. See my blog.

2. For those that use FRET WIRE, what size do you usually use, medium width and high height, OR medium width and medium height?

http://www.cbgitty.com/cubecart/index.php?act=viewProd&productI...

-WY

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Permalink Reply by HENRY LOWMAN on June 27, 2010 at 4:33pm

I use medium guage fret wire, and have had pretty good success with frets cut from large paper clips, if you can believe THAT...LOL! The latter took a LOT of patience and Elmer's wood glue, though (plus a steady hand cutting the fret grooves). I have used the paper clip method on two builds, just to see what one could do with materials at hand (guess that makes me kind of a Luddite...LOL!). Check my page out for pics. GOOD LUCK!

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Permalink Reply by uncle Lou on June 27, 2010 at 6:11pm

I use medium medium frett wire works well

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Permalink Reply by Douglas Eric Marsalis on June 27, 2010 at 6:32pm

Ahh, what a little more searching will do. I found this on eHow.com .

Instructions
Things You'll Need:
Nylon Jaw Pliers or
Vise or
Draw plate or
Rolling mill
Step 1


Nylon pliers
One of the easiest and least expensive ways to straighten wire is to clamp a pair of nylon jawed pliers on the wire and run the pliers over the wire. Not only will this straighten the wire, it will harden the wire and help it hold the shape you form.

Step 2


Copper wire in vise.
A second method of straightening kinked wire is to secure one end of the wire in a clamp or vise and then pull the wire taught. The tension will straighten and work harden the wire.

Step 3


Different shaped draw plates
A third method to straighten wire requires the use of a draw plate. Secure the draw plate in a vise and then pull the wire through the plate. This method will allow you to both straighten wire and change the shape of the wire to create wire of a thinner gauge or even a completely different shape (round, square, oval triangular), if you so desire. The ability to change the wire' s shape will depend, of course, on the shape and size of the draw plate used.



Read more: How to Straighten Wire | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_4921296_straighten-wire.html#ixzz0s7ek72rJ

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Permalink Reply by Diane in Chicago on June 28, 2010 at 12:10am

At one time I used 3/32" cotter pins and epoxy glue (saw a shallow trench first). You can get them in brass or zinc/steel. The stainless was really , really hard to cut.

I use low/narrow wire, I build pretty small instruments.

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Permalink Reply by Mark Werner on June 28, 2010 at 5:39am

I started out using copper wire using the pull-to-straighten method described above. Copper is pretty soft, and it's hard to get 'em really straight....
At a local hobby store, one that specializes in model aircraft, I found brass bar stock in sizes from 1/8" down to very tiny...
This works very well, you get enough for the typical guitar for about 2 bucks. Straight as a die, it is.
I glue 'em in with JB Weld epoxy.

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Permalink Reply by Mungo Park on June 29, 2010 at 2:53am

I can tell you if you do not get the stuff straight it will cause you grief later, ask me how I know.
I ground off the "set" on a hack saw and use it as a fret saw. I built a simple miter box to cut the slot. I made a jug, a block of wood on a shaft that can be chucked in a drill press to press the frets in the slot, I think a block of wood and a hammer would do the same thing. Once done place a straight edge aong the neck on the frets to see how you did. Running a big file over the frets long ways will take level out any frets that are to high. I had to really grind down my first build to change it from garbage to a keeper.
I bought banjo frets and then I can make some banjos as well. Cheers Ron.

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Permalink Reply by Craig Cox on June 30, 2010 at 3:09am

You can fart around with a lot of materials, trial and error, disappointment and frustration if you want to. But do yourself a favor and just buy real fret wire. It's reasonably priced and it works. I use the "medium-medium nickel silver" from Gitty
http://www.cbgitty.com/cubecart/index.php?act=viewProd&productI...

This pack gives you enough for two "normal" cbg necks, it's straight, relatively easy to cut and file, and easy to tap into a correctly cut slot. BTW, an excellent fret saw can be had from Harbor Freight Tools. It's their Japanese Flush Cut Saw, $10 and it works great. Perfect width, just cut down to top of the teeth, and tap in your fret wire.
http://www.harborfreight.com/japanese-flush-cut-saw-39273.html

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Permalink Reply by Josh Gayou (SmokehouseGuitars) on July 6, 2010 at 6:58am

I've never used anything but regular fret wire so I can't help you with the first question.

For the second I can offer this:

Like a lot of things in guitar making, the fret wire you choose is a balancing act between playability and precision. Smaller fret wire is the easiest to position accurately as the top of the crown is easy to have perfectly in line with the fret slot cut. The disadvantage of smaller fret wire is that it takes more force to cleanly break the string over it, so you really have to mash down to get a clean note. This translates to a "slower" neck, meaning that the speed at which you can fret the strings on the instrument will be reduced (no shredding). Also, frets wear down over time and you'll have to replace smaller frets much sooner.

On the other end, jumbo fret wire is generally more desirable from a player's perspective as it provides greater sustain, clean notes are easier and faster to achieve, and bending techniques are much easier as well. From a builder's perspective, jumbo wire can be a challenge as you have to take care to dress it accurately. Due to its size, it is easy to re-crown it either sharp or flat of the true fret position after the leveling operation just because there is so much more material; if you don't keep the re-crowning file perfectly centered on the fret slot then you'll put the crown to one side.

From the player's perspective, probably the most desirable fret wire on a guitar is stainless steel jumbo fret wire. Jumbo for the reasons I just listed, stainless steel because it is the most durable and has the longest life. From a builder's perspective, this is the most pain-in-the-ass wire to use, again both for the reasons I listed above and the fact that stainless steel is extremely freaking hard and well beat the hell out of your tools as you dress it.

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Permalink Reply by Douglas Eric Marsalis on July 6, 2010 at 1:05pm

Thanks a lot for your advice. You are a man of great knowledge. I ended up ordering medium fret wire from Gitty last week. I hope that it works out the way I want it to. Myabe next time I will try the high fret wire (jumbo). Thanks again for the reply.

Douglas

Josh Gayou (SmokehouseGuitars) said:

I've never used anything but regular fret wire so I can't help you with the first question.

For the second I can offer this:

Like a lot of things in guitar making, the fret wire you choose is a balancing act between playability and precision. Smaller fret wire is the easiest to position accurately as the top of the crown is easy to have perfectly in line with the fret slot cut. The disadvantage of smaller fret wire is that it takes more force to cleanly break the string over it, so you really have to mash down to get a clean note. This translates to a "slower" neck, meaning that the speed at which you can fret the strings on the instrument will be reduced (no shredding). Also, frets wear down over time and you'll have to replace smaller frets much sooner.

On the other end, jumbo fret wire is generally more desirable from a player's perspective as it provides greater sustain, clean notes are easier and faster to achieve, and bending techniques are much easier as well. From a builder's perspective, jumbo wire can be a challenge as you have to take care to dress it accurately. Due to its size, it is easy to re-crown it either sharp or flat of the true fret position after the leveling operation just because there is so much more material; if you don't keep the re-crowning file perfectly centered on the fret slot then you'll put the crown to one side.

From the player's perspective, probably the most desirable fret wire on a guitar is stainless steel jumbo fret wire. Jumbo for the reasons I just listed, stainless steel because it is the most durable and has the longest life. From a builder's perspective, this is the most pain-in-the-ass wire to use, again both for the reasons I listed above and the fact that stainless steel is extremely freaking hard and well beat the hell out of your tools as you dress it.

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