Fret width wrt "playability"

[mythicfish]

Now that the dust has settled over the discussion of fret height and action,
I'd like to hear some opinions as to the effect(s) of fret width on playability.
I have an H-2 mandola and a '23 snakehead whose frets have been dressed and re-crowned to their "theoretical limits". I'm thinking of re-fretting with
Stew-Mac 764 ... Height: .037 Width ... .053. BTW, the current fretwire is
"traditional" ... skinny.
I'd appreciate opinions from anyone with experience in such matters.
Thanks for stopping by.

Curt

[Jim Hilburn]

Stew-Mac 764 would be considered a direct replacement for trad. skinny wire. I don't think there's a thinner wire out there. LMI's version is .056" but isn't as tall at .032". The width is neglegable but I'd go for the extra height.
I would think with a vintage instrument you would want to re-fret with traditional wire to keep it copacetic. However I generally like the feel of #147, the .08" size as I don't feel them as much. You kind of glide over them easier. And they last much longer.

[Michael Lewis]

Over the years I have found most folks prefer the wider frets, but there are still many that prefer the skinny ones. It is just a personal preference area. You could go for the middle road and install the .065" frets. I like them for mandolin, and I doubt many folks would express a dislike for them.

[Hans]

.053 is the smallest that I have been able to find. Personally, I like them. I don't believe that they play less easy than wide frets. Remember all those old F4's and such that play like butter with the tiny .040 wire...
Michael is right, .065-.068 is a good all around choice. They feel good, are a little taller, and you can get an extra fret dressing out of them.

[MandoPirate]

I have just had my small frets replaced with larger ones (top 4 frets were notched) and I can say I find BOTH sizes I have had to be fine and playable, I really liked the smaller frets for comfort ... and the larger ones seem easier to play in dark areas

The biggest advantage to me ... Larger Frets "seems" to incur less wear from playing. .. and considering my mandolin a MM (my first) only cost <500.oo used ... I dont want to pay for another fret job .. ever!

MP

[Jim Hilburn]

Michael, where do you find a .065" fret? That's what I was looking for the last time this came up and I couldn't find anyone who supplied such an animal. I'd love to try that size.

[Gail Hester]

The smallest wire around that I know of and the closest to the vintage wire and also used on new MMs is the #380 from Roger Siminoff. #Although the numbers on his site and on the packaging are wrong, the wire is actually .055" tang, .040" crown height, .055" width, overall height is 095". #It looks just like the wire I pull off of the old ones and once the neck is straight, it does play like butter.

[Hans]

Gail, I measured an '23 A2 snake with original frets at .042 wide a few weeks ago. When I tried to get .040 from Roger it came as .053. I sent it back and Roger very graciously refunded my order. I talked to the owner, and he had me refret it with .053 wire. Played like butter.
Jim, LMI has .068 wire...

[Fretbear]

A mandolin has string gauges more or less equivalent to those of a guitar, especially one strung with light to medium light strings. The mandolin's double courses double up the fret contact. It has never made sense to me why the fret size should be reduced when this is the case. I went through a board's worth (seven frets anyways) of the StewMac skinny wire in under a year, with redressings included. Not only does the #147 last much longer, on the whole and between redressings, but more importantly, and addressing the issue of playability, I am hooked on the "big note" which I just don't get from the skinny wire. To each his own, YMMV, etc.....

[Gail Hester]

Hans, yeah it's not exactly the same but the closest I've found and it's exactly the same as the fret wire I've taken off of Gibson MMs, which is smaller than any other wire they use so I assume it's the closest to vintage that's available. There are lots of folks that want their old mandolins kept in as close to vintage condition as possible although I usually recommend larger wire on new instruments and use banjo wire mostly. That said, I just installed the tiny Siminoff wire on a 1917-F2 and it would be hard to imagine that it could sound or play any better with larger wire. YMMV, mine does. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[Fretbear]

I think that the larger frets have a more important effect in conjunction with F-hole mandolins. The extra sustain and added pop on the treble that oval holes have make it less of an issue whether the frets are larger or not.

[Michael Lewis]

I first got .065" fret wire from LMI about 25 years ago. For a while they didn't have it any more, so I found it at International Luthiers Supply in Tulsa, but they sold it in short lengths only. Eventually I found .065" wire in a 2 lb. coil at SAGA.

[Paul Hostetter]

I made a chart that goes approximately from widest and tallest to narrowest and lowest here (http://www.lutherie.net/fret.chart.html). It covers most of the wires available in the US. I like #147 for mandolins just fine. It's not hugely different than Dunlop's 6230.