refret jobs

JustinWY · June 18th, 2006, 10:05 PM

hey everyone,

my larrivee is getting near the 10 year mark.. and well I feel like I should treat it to a refret.. Has anyone refretted their acoustics with stainless steel? Worth the extra cost for the job?

any opinion/advice is greatly appreciated.

Justin

getbent · June 18th, 2006, 10:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JustinWY

hey everyone,

my larrivee is getting near the 10 year mark.. and well I feel like I should treat it to a refret.. Has anyone refretted their acoustics with stainless steel? Worth the extra cost for the job?

any opinion/advice is greatly appreciated.

Justin

When I've checked into it... it doesn't seem worth it to me... they cost a little extra and a little extra to install... and when you refret from them, they cost extra to remove and not everyone has lots of experience with them.... I think getting a refret every ten years with standard frets is a good deal and you can experiment a little... stainless is a pretty big commitment for me...

They sure look cool though. And, you may them anyway! Whatever works amigo!

Rob DiStefano · June 21st, 2006, 06:49 AM

I have two issues with stainless steel frets -

1. proper tools to cut and shape s/s frets aren't yet available to luthiers

2. s/s frets have a different tone and feel than 18% hard nickel-silver frets that I personally can't appreciate

On the other hand, s/s frets will last for an Extremely long time between reshaping or replacing.

June 18th, 2006, 10:05 PM	#1 (permalink)
JustinWY TDPRI Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Nashville, TN Posts: 34	refret jobs hey everyone, my larrivee is getting near the 10 year mark.. and well I feel like I should treat it to a refret.. Has anyone refretted their acoustics with stainless steel? Worth the extra cost for the job? any opinion/advice is greatly appreciated. Justin

June 21st, 2006, 06:49 AM	#3 (permalink)
Rob DiStefano Friend of Leo's Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Park Ridge, NJ Age: 63 Posts: 4,919	I have two issues with stainless steel frets - 1. proper tools to cut and shape s/s frets aren't yet available to luthiers 2. s/s frets have a different tone and feel than 18% hard nickel-silver frets that I personally can't appreciate On the other hand, s/s frets will last for an Extremely long time between reshaping or replacing.