When Can I Expect To See Some Fretboard Wear?

[HoodieMcFoodie]

Hi all,

My partscaster is fitted with an Allparts maple neck that is finished in nitro. I built the guitar in 2009 and have played it almost daily since. When can I expect to see some wear in the finish? I'm not looking to relic it or anything like that, I'm talking about naturally occurring wear as a result of playing.

I changed the strings last night and gave the neck a clean to get some of the grime off it. There is a little bit of fret wear on some of the lower frets, but no wear in the finish.

 

[telex76]

If you haven't seen some wear by now, you aren't playing it enough. That's 7 years.
I usually see some good wear starting on mine after about 2 years.

 

[HoodieMcFoodie]

OK, so does fret height have anything to do with it? And what causes the wear anyway? Is it fingernails, surely not the pads of your fingers would cause wear, would they?

 

[Sofaplayer]

It all depends on your playing technique I guess. The cause for fretboard wear is the fretted string rubbing on the finish. So if you fret the string with a lot of pressure and bend it much, fretwear will occur sooner than when you fret the string softly and don't bend much.

 

[HoodieMcFoodie]

It all depends on your playing technique I guess. The cause for fretboard wear is the fretted string rubbing on the finish. So if you fret the string with a lot of pressure and bend it much, fretwear will occur sooner than when you fret the string softly and don't bend much.

That makes sense. A smaller fret profile would bring on fretboard wear, whereas jumbo frets would inhibit it.

 

[hemingway]

Also depends on how much you sweat, and on how corrosive your sweat is. I don't sweat much for a fat guy. So all my fretboards are pristine.

 

[TeleTown]

Im with 76, about 2 yrs.
play the crap out of it!

 

[noah330]

It depends I guess. I have some guitars that have a ton of wear and some that have none. I would say the more you play the faster you'll get it.

Why you would want it is beyond me.

 

[Geo]

A lot of fingerboard wear is due to finger nail contact especially bending strings
with the nails rubbing the surface.

 

[johnnyha]

You can expect to see it when you've earned it..

 

[10thoufirst]

It's all been said really, it depends on how and how much you play. I've changed much of my "stable" just rcently so no wear to speak of, but even when I played a lot, I didn't seem to get much fret wear and where I did it was very generalised not deep grooves as you see usually.

 

[Chritty]

Are you just sitting at home picking away lightly or are you out gigging with it, sweating away and beating it into submission?

 

[SeaFoamGreener]

Yes! What Noah said. Why exactly are you striving for fret wear? I guess I don't get it....

 

[Pcaluaru]

If you play on a daily basis, It's a combination of several things.. Your technique: do you dig in and manhandle or do you finesse your way around the fret board? Does your hands sweat a lot? Do you clean your guitar a lot? Do you smoke? A lot of factors are in play. I used to have a Les Paul Custom (put some serious miles on that guitar) and because of some of the factors mentioned hence I put some serious wear on it. The gold plating on the tuners and the stopbar tail piece corroded and worn off & had to be re-freted etc. About in 2000 I switch to Fender.

My No#1 an American Standard Tele I bought around then shows some fret wear... and might need a fret job in the near distant future. But over all doesn't look that worn (not like that Les Paul Custom... wonder of the finish was different than my Tele?)

Fret wear adds to the coolness of the guitar... kinda like a worn fraying black belt on a karate master..

 

[HoodieMcFoodie]

Yes! What Noah said. Why exactly are you striving for fret wear? I guess I don't get it....

Not fret wear, fretboard wear. I just like the look of it, but I ain't gonna relic my axe to get it. Just wondering when it might naturally occur.

Yeah I'm generally a home player, so if sweat is a big component of fretboard wear, then I guess I'll have to wait a bit longer, or form a band or something.

 

[bigben55]

Also depends on how much you sweat, and on how corrosive your sweat is. I don't sweat much for a fat guy. So all my fretboards are pristine.

That's the key. I have countless hours on my maple necked 1993 G&L Legacy. Thousands, I've owned it going on 18 years. I play .11s with a high action and play hard. I have Fretwear for sure, but no fretboard wear. I like the feel of a bare wood back of the neck, so I Scotch-brite'd all the satin finish off it and there's no discoloration at all. I sweat a lot too. I have sweated all over the guitar, like sweat dripping off my nose and forehead all over it, and it's had beer baths more than a guitar should have, and it looks NOTHING like a "reliced " guitar.

 

[stevenhay]

My strat from 93, or 94 has been played to death. I've even had a tuning peg come flying off. I've worn a couple frets pretty good. It's color has goldened up. If you look at it in the light you can see some wear, but there's not noticeable fretboard aging like you see on ones from the 50s. So, it might never. Who knows. Mine's poly, so I doubt it will ever look like that.

 

[Chritty]

Not fret wear, fretboard wear. I just like the look of it, but I ain't gonna relic my axe to get it. Just wondering when it might naturally occur.

Yeah I'm generally a home player, so if sweat is a big component of fretboard wear, then I guess I'll have to wait a bit longer, or form a band or something.

Perhaps try not cleaning it. Leave the gunk on there to help soften the nitro

 

[brookdalebill]

A lot of fingerboard wear is due to finger nail contact especially bending strings
with the nails rubbing the surface.

Wash your hands, trim your nails, clean your fretboard.
Oil your (non-maple) fretboard every year, if it needs it.
Easy.

 

[Chritty]

Wash your hands, trim your nails, clean your fretboard.
Oil your (non-maple) fretboard every year, if it needs it.
Easy.

And that'll give the wear that the OP is looking for?