Fret work question...

[harritone]

On one of older TAGs...had the frets redone a couple of years ago...got some wood shrinkage....took it in a few weeks ago to files the edges of the frets to par...in doing so, it looks like the wood on edge between the actual frets was rounded as well, no buffing was done, it seems...obviously...new wood exposed? or less clear coat on that part now...my question is does the newly filed wood(or gloss) exposed on the edges need a new coating now as well for protection?...thinking more wood shrinkage and exposure...or not to worry?...Thanks!!

H

[tom]

we round the fingerboard edge after the finish so the edge can be bare sometimes as far down as the bottom of the tang. not a problem.
normally with filing fret sprout, there is no need to re round the wood, just taking the fret down to where the wood is now.

[harritone]

Thanks Tom...

[tlp1]

Will TAG re-fret this one with jumbo stainless frets, & if so, what will it cost? Will it be easier for you if I send just the neck?

The orig nickel frets had some flat spots and I blended them & they're ok for now. Eventually I want new stainless frets and I'm not set up to do it myself. I don't trust the locals here to do it.

Thanks

[tom]

we've been so backed up with current building and myself with all the new tooling for the new stuff that we're not taking in refrets at this time. bruce here on the forum used to be here part time and did them when he could. you can contact him to see if he can do it or we also highly recommend benny rodriguez who worked here for many years. his contact info is www.bjrguitars.com

[tlp1]

we've been so backed up with current building and myself with all the new tooling for the new stuff that we're not taking in refrets at this time. bruce here on the forum used to be here part time and did them when he could. you can contact him to see if he can do it or we also highly recommend benny rodriguez who worked here for many years. his contact info is www.bjrguitars.com

Okay, thanks Tom.

[bruce]

bruce here.. bnelson11@mac.com sometimes out of town touring, but happy to help out whenever I can..

[entraind]

we've been so backed up with current building and myself with all the new tooling for the new stuff that we're not taking in refrets at this time. bruce here on the forum used to be here part time and did them when he could. you can contact him to see if he can do it or we also highly recommend benny rodriguez who worked here for many years. his contact info is www.bjrguitars.com

+1 -- Benny is amazing he has done a great job working on my Classic and both of my Atoms. He's a great guy as well...

[jamme61]

is it possible to buy a new neck from TA, whith stainless steel frets? I was thinking of SF's for my 2002 cobra.

[tom]

you could get it refretted with stainless, or you could do a new neck with stainless. the refret would obviously be cheaper but if you also wish you'd gotten a different neck shape that would make the new new worth it. a new neck is $500 installed, so i always tell people that they really need to love everything else about the guitar to spend that kind on money on a mod.

[harritone]

Ever notice a "pingy" sound when playing stainless?....especially around the first 5 frets of the high 3 strings?....I thought about changing necks because of some "shrinkage" and stripped neck holes...but man, it is perfect feeling!!...I have never played a neck so comfortable and sounds so good....If I could go back in time...I probably would not have gotten the stainless re-fret, nickel for me from now on, then again a buddy just got another TAG w/ stainless and I dont hear the pingy sound on his, do any of you know what I'm talking about?...maybe its the fretjob or the frets...who knows...but the neck change...never!:D ..Its THE best...

[bruce]

Pingy sound could be a number of things. A pingy sound may just be as easy as needing a neck adjustment. Nickel or stainless...necks still move with humidity changes and require adjustment. If you realized shrinkage, that's a good indication of a change. On the other hand, a poor fret job has its limitations too.

[tom]

we've(bruce included when he was here) have refretted lots of necks from nickel to stainless and pingy would be the last word i'd use to describe the sound of stainless. my guess is that in a blind test only a lucky guesser could hear the difference. having played the same guitar with both kinds of wire in it i'd do stainless every time... oh yeah, we do stainless every time.

[harritone]

It was just a question...I have my action pretty low...maybe that's somewhat of a culprit..

[tom]

Depending on how hard you hit and what angle you push the string with the pick, you could get worse get slap the lower you go with the action.

[harritone]

Are there different kinds of stainless steel fretwire?...Do you guys(Tom) use a blend of material, say...stainless steel and nickel in your fret wire or some other mix?...Don't manufacturers make different blends? - (i.e. - 70% Stainless + 30% nickel)....I swear my friends' frets on his new TAG, look(more polished and shiny), especially the sound, feel and play different...they are perfect...The frets I had done locally on my older TAG seem different in a variety of ways...the local luthier swears they are stainless...

[tom]

We looked at stainless from.a.couple if people and there was a.big difference. We ended up with German wire. The finish was far nicer than the Japanese wie we.saw. you do have to.treat it differently to to get it looking right.

[harritone]

Nice..Thanks Tom...that may be a culprit in my situation....cheap wire......what company makes/imports the German wire or where can I get it?...or do you have your own custom mix/concoction?...

[tom]

jescar.com is the importer. they are long time players in the eyeglass wire business so they went to the wire maker in germany with the idea of making high quality fret wire and did a beautiful job. their wire, nickel or stainless is the best wire ever made. their attention to detail is the absolute best. they have developed a pretty nice assortment of sizes now too. great people and a great product.

[chriswhite]

they got your guitars all over their site... thats pretty cool :cool:

[tom]

jeff owns several.

[markus]

Those Germans... :D :D :D

[bruce]

+ 1 on Jescar's quality... even their nickel wire feels smoother and outlasts the ''other guys" nickel wire.