Refret 1910 GIbson A4 advice please

[Davey]

My Gibson A4 started sounding a bit muted and I suspect the first five frets have come to the end of their life.

What fretwire should I use please ? I noticed on an old thread Jescar 040/039 as recommended but it doesn't seem to exist any more.

Also, I'm in the UK. I don't imagine I'll be able to get it here.

Thanks

[Dave Cohen]

Jescar still has FW39040, in stainless steel only. Iirc, you can order it directly from them. I have used it. Kinda tough to work with if you haven't done any fret work before. I don't know what your level of experience is, but if you haven't done any fret work with stainless steel wire before, you might want to consider having a luthier do the work.

[Davey]

Hi Thanks Dave. I'll be taking it to a Luthier but I thought I'd source the fretwire myself so I can choose the gauge exactly.

[Dave Cohen]

It wouldn't be a bad idea to source the fret wire yourself, except that you will have to buy a pound of it, and the luthier will use only a small fraction of what you will pay for. That, and the luthier will still be charging primarily for his/her time. There are two advantages to letting the luthier source the fret wire. One is that he/she may have the wire you want already, and if not, he/she may get the wire you want anyway. Either way, you will be charged little or nothing for the wire, mostly for labor. If a given type of wire costs, say, $70 US (convert that to UK currency), your mandolin will require just a few dollars worth of wire for the refret. If you source the wire yourself, you will be paying the cost of a pound of fret wire plus the same labor cost for the job.

[Folkmusician.com]

Oh how I love working with Jescar 39040! I have now done several mandolins with it and quickly implemented a $100 additional surcharge. Even at $100 extra, it is not worth it.

I used it to refret this:

[Rob Roy]

I'm not sure about availability on your side of the pond, but EVO gold fretwire is now produced in the skinny mandolin gauge (0.050"). I know Luthier's Merchantile carries it because I already bought some to have on hand for when the grooves get too deep in my skinny wire A-4. I've put the guitar gauge 0.080" in two other mandos that I hammer pretty hard on with thick picks and the frets show no sign of wear. The consensus here is that it seems to last 3-4 times as long as nickel-silver and, unlike SS, doesn't chew through luthier's tools. The color is different but you get used to it. Worth considering, I think it all got started because nickel is now a no-no in Europe, so you'd think it's available over there.

[Dave Cohen]

The narrow EVO wire is not 0.050" (=1.27mm), but rather 0.053" (=1.35mm) width. The problem with that wire is that the tang is thick, i.e., 0.023". That makes it a difficult fit in most fret slots. It will work in a fretboard for which the slots have been somewhat compromised, for instance by several refrets. However, it will not work well in a newer fretboard unless the fret slots are made wider.

[pops1]

Isn't stu mac frets .022 tang? I think that all their frets have that thick of a tang. An old Gibson will not be that thick by any means.

[Dave Cohen]

Stew-MAc sources it's fretwire from JESCAR (& maybe others?). There are not that many actual makers of fret wire out there.

Most of JESCAR's wire sizes have a tang width between 0.019" and 0022". There are only two sizes with wider tangs. One is the EVO FW37053-230, with a 0023" tang width, and one other larger fret size with a 0.025" tang width. Most pre-slotted fretboards have 0.023" slot widths. Also, the circular saw blade and the slot cleaning tool sold by Stew-Mac give a 0.023" slot width. When you add in the wedging action of the studs on the tang (up to 0.032"), that makes the 0.023" tang width a difficult press fit. If you are fretting a loose fretboard with it, you will notice a larger amount of bowing of the board from the wedging action of the 0.023" tang.

[pops1]

Thanks Dave. I have used the larger tang to take the bow out of a neck without a truss rod before, it does have an advantage.

[fox]

You can buy fret wire on UK Ebay... http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_fr...+wire&_sacat=0

[Davey]

Yes, Ive seen that. The Stewmac 764 looks like the nearest I'm going to find. I'll probably buy a small amount and have a look at it.

What would be great is some originals left over from a complete refret. The higher frets should be in good condition.

[pops1]

I have some small stainless steel that I got from Bill at Axiom that is very close in size to the original fretwire, but the tang is bigger and will need a larger slot.

[HoGo]

I have some small stainless steel that I got from Bill at Axiom that is very close in size to the original fretwire, but the tang is bigger and will need a larger slot.

They also carry the size in EVO gold. Jescar doesn't list it on their webpage so it's probably custom order for Axiom...

I bought pound of that wire (in SS) few months ago and used it on three mandolins so far and I found it easy to work with. I didn't notice any extra work or tool damage. I usually file the tiny hooks away or almost away for easier installation into new slots and safer removal later (if that's ever needed with SS wire) and filing goes easy. Fileing fret ends and polishing them usual way worked without problems as well. These mandolins were all flat boards and I guess bending this thin wire for radiused board would be tricky. What I found out is that if the board is perfectly leveled before installation and fret slots are not worn there is no need to mill the tops of frets at all. If the fret slots are worn (wider) or chamfered the thin wire can easily seat deeper when hammered in the most worn slots and will require some levelling.