fret wire

[benderking]

What exactly does fender consider "medium jumbo" frets to be? Are they 6130 or 6150? warmoth says one thing and tommy at USACG says another... who is right?

thanks in advance

twang' on,
jerry

[Phil Jacoby]

Its probably best to discuss fretwire in terms of crown hieght and width. AFAIK medium refers to hieght in the old parlance ie Fenders prior to ~1980s (except for 1965 factory big fret Strats), Martins, 1958 and prior Gibsons - this size is approximately .080" wide by .040" tall when new.

Medium Jumbo started when Gibson began using a wider, but not taller fretwire in 1959 - approx .100" wide IIRC.

It seems to me that today many folks, particularly younger players, think of jumbo wire as tall and wide.

Hope this helps...

As for Warmoth, they do not use Dunlop wire, but refer to similar wire, but not exact, with Dunlop's #s. Seems misleading to me, but what do I know? USACG uses Dunlop wire.

Fretwire is extruded thru dies in order to be shaped and can vary in size. Some Japanese manufactured wire is very consistant. I have seen Dunlop 6105 in particular vary in size, usually erring to the large size, perhaps because the dies wear)

Fender fretwire on US instruments is pretty consistant. The American Series stuff seems to be all the same size. approx .095" by .045", something that could be considered a medium jumbo by some, while others consider .095" width and less to be medium.

Frets can vary in size as measured installed from both installation (taller if not totally flush or mushroom shaped crown ala Dunlop 6105) and fret leveling or wear.