Official Luthiers Forum!

Those of you that buy coiled fretwire by the pound, does coiled fret wire (JESCAR; 10" radius) require special considerations beyond straightening and re-bending to desired radius? The 15-pack of 2' straight sticks cost twice as much as buying by the pound. I have at least more 10 guitars in my que.

I'm retiring two varieties of problematic fretwire and replacing with JESCAR, a project maybe worthy of a separate thread?

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Measure Twice,

Karl Borum

I’ve never been tempted by “straight” fretwire. Coiled wire is close enough radius to be used on many fingerboards without further adjustment. I’ve used it from 7.5 - 16” without issue. I buy Jescar by the pound or precut from a supplier for odd refrets.


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Same as Tim, I don’t adjust either. I have several 1 lb rolls of Jescar wire in different sizes. I have used a lot of straight wire and I don’t like having to radius it.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

I also wouldn’t adjust before fretting, the wire will adapt to the board.

Less waste if you used rolled fretwire. I keep a couple coils of the stuff I use most, and for special jobs I order the little packs of precut wire.

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

I like rolled also and almost exclusively use stainless. Sometimes the coils are pretty tightly rolled. I straighten it out to a slightly tighter radius than required. I usually apply a very small amount of white glue to the slot mostly as a lubricant but it probably helps tighten up the end grain of the slot. Not enough glue for me to consider them "glued in". Stainless seems stiffer than NSilver, another reason I straighten it out some. To straighten I just put on a pair of gloves and draw the wire thru my hand applying some straightening pressure.

I'm wondering whether you guys who use the wire right off the roll also glue in your frets? Do you use the same process for stainless and NS wire?

Don't mean to hijack the thread but the concept is kind of tied together.

Thanks

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Brian R, Wood Mechanic
N8ZED

I glue all frets with CA.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Jescar wire exclusively after dealing with variation in other brands, to include wildly optimistic tang size on a tube of a major luthier supply house 100 x 50 that could have been used for compression fretting.

On radius, nickel silver may be both tightened or loosened by hand without issue, although as mentioned above, it is usually quite compliant without further issue.. Stainless larger than about 85x50 wants radius adjustment to an inch or two tighter than nominal radius if hammering or in less-than optimum slots. Rolls of wire result in less waste in material and time versus sticks... no reworking the last 1/2"-3/4" of wire to match the radius on rest of the wire or cutting off an inch or two of the ends after that roller radius operation.

We always glued in nickel silver with HHG, more to seal the slot against corrosion and intrusion of sweat and skin oils than concerns with coupling into the neck. Stainless went in with BSI Medium, as the expectation was a lifetime fret job for most players. That's what I continue to do for want of a better rationale.

These days, it seems like I usually hammer in with most wire, then do a quick press if I don't get a perfect seat on the board. Just having the Jaws II handy and with the correct caul installed seems to guarantee the frets go in without issue using the hammer, while if I somehow fail to rig the press prior to the work, it almost guarantees I'll need the press. Hmm...

It's good to hear confirmation that it is not just me. That variation in both tang and barb thickness was exactly what I dealt with for multiple builds (pound tubes). One SKU was very under spec tang and the other was very over spec. I bought that wire at least two years ago, also came from a major luthier tool and supply house. I didn't know any better several years ago than to just use it.

Irrespective of an actual measurement, both wire sizes (same tang spec) were virtually unusable without major intervention and modification to the tang. So, I ordered individual sticks of both wire SKUs thinking maybe the variation was a "batch" or "run" issue. It was not- the two SKUs measured roughly the same out of control tang thickness- one SKU was 14% under and the other was 20% over (typical). Variation was outrageous along the 2" length. A small portion along the length did come in at the specified tang thickness. I measured thickness with a Mitutoyo 7316 Blade Anvil Dial Thickness Gauge. I've noticed that the tang thickness is no longer specified by this supplier, go figure.

RANT ALERT:
The supplier did not seem interested in confirming if the problem was "the customer" or the product either- they defaulted to the "customer". After some back and forth, I suggested they pull a stick of each and have QC measure it. They have not replied back. I first contacted them on 12 June, this is the 29th. My JESCAR coil is in the mail.

Sorry for the rant (well, not really). We should not have to be doing QC for suppliers. And it's the same out-of-control wire two years later.

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Measure Twice,

Karl Borum