Frets

Despite anything you might have heard, "German Silver" actually contains no silver, and never did. It is an alloy of copper with a percentage of nickel added for durability, as well as the silvery color. The most common alloy for traditional fretwire is about 18% nickel, 80% copper, and the rest various other dreadful things such as zinc, lead and cadmium.

The "gold" wire referred to below as EVO wire is a nickel-free hypoallergenic alloy originally devised to make eyeglass frames for folks with nickel allergies. It contains no gold, of course, and makes wonderful fretwire. I wish it was available in more sizes.

SS indicates Jescar's stainless steel wire. SS eats normal tools real fast, which means you have to buy diamond stuff to work with it. I was once told by a guy at Jescar that it's not as durable as EVO, but he's backpedaled, saying it outperforms nickel but not stainless. I did enough stainless to know what it did to my tool budget, and saw that it still wore out pretty fast, and I've bagged it. YMMV. I'll stick with nickel or—when I can—with EVO, which is a dream to install.

I have posted more of my thoughts about frets and fretwire below the chart.

I have rendered these charts in inches, to simplify comparisons, and have skipped most wires with nickel content lower than 18%.

These charts range from large to small, more or less. Tang widths are to be double-checked, as different mfrs have different ways of measuring them. Some include beading, some don't. For some strange reason, Stew-Mac lists tang heights, and simply says "Our tang is sized to fit a 0.023" (0.58mm) fret slot width."

Mfr/ Supplier	No.	Material	Crown width	Crown height	Tang width*
Dunlop	6000	18% NS	.118	.058	.021
Dunlop	6110	18% NS	.115	.050	.020
Dunlop	6120	18% NS	.114	.051	.024
Jescar	55090	18% NS - SS	.090	.055	.020
Jescar	50078	18%	.078	.050	.020
Jescar	57110	18% NS - SS - EVO	.110	.057	.020
Dunlop	6100	18% NS	.110	.055	.021
Dunlop	6105	18% NS	.090	.055	.020
Stew-Mac	146	18% NS	.106	.036	.074 high*
Stew-Mac	149	18% NS	.103	.046	.067 high*
Stew-Mac	150	18% NS	.110	.053	.074 high*
Stew-Mac	154	18% NS	.100	.050	.060 high*
Jescar	51108	18% NS	.108	.051	.022
Jescar	47104	18% NS - SS - EVO	.104	.047	.020
Jescar	45100	18% NS	.100	.045	.022
Dunlop	6105	18% NS	.090	.055	.021
Jescar	47095	18% NS - SS	.095	.047	.021
Jescar	55090	18% NS - SS - EVO	.090	.055	.020
Dunlop	6130	18% NS	.106	.036	.020
Dunlop	6140	18% NS	.106	.039	.024
Dunlop	6150	18% NS	.102	.042	.020
Dunlop	6170	18% NS	.099	.043	.024

Mfr/ Supplier	No.	Material	Crown width	Crown height	Tang width*
Dunlop	6190	18% NS	.084	.039	.029	See Stew-Mac's 148 below
Stew-Mac	148	18% NS	.084	.039	.055 high*	Their most common guitar wire and Huber banjo wire
Stew-Mac	152	18% NS	.092	.048	.062	Dan Erlewine's Favorite
Stew-Mac	155	18% NS	.080	.050	.048 high*	Superb medium-large wire
Dunlop	6220	18% NS	.079	.043	.038
Dunlop	6260	18% NS	.079	.039	.037
Saga	FW-1	?	.079	.043	.020	self-tempering guitar
Saga	FW-2	12%	.079	.043	.020	standard guitar
Saga	FW-3	18% NS	.079	.043	.020	stiff
Saga	FW-20	12% NS	.079	.035	.024	modern banjo/mandolin
Dunlop	6260	18% NS	.079	.039	.037
Jescar	37080	18% NS - SS - EVO	.080	.037	.019
Jescar	50078	18% NS	.078	.050	.020
Jescar	50085	18% NS	.085	.050	.020
Stew-Mac	147	18% NS	.080	.040	.062 high	Really good "old time" "banjo" wire or Gibson '30's guitar wire
Stew-Mac	148	18% NS	.084	.039	.055 high	Their most common guitar wire and Huber banjo wire
Jescar	43080	18% NS - SS - EVO	.080	.043	.020
Dunlop	6230*	18% NS	.078	.043	.035	Classic Martin guitar wire
Dunlop	6290	18% NS	.078	.040	.030
Dunlop	6240	18% NS	.080	.037	.031
Dunlop	6250	18% NS	.075	.030	.036
Dunlop	6270	18% NS	.075	.030	.036

Mfr/ Supplier	No.	Material	Crown width	Crown height	Tang width
Jescar	37053	18% NS - EVO - 2/10	.053	.037
Stew-Mac	764	18% NS	.053	.037	.054 high
Jescar	39040	18% NS - SS	.040	.039	.020
Dunlop	6310	18% NS	.053	.031	.037
Dunlop	6330	18% NS	.043	.031	.031
Gibson	old	??% NS	.034	.032	.025
Dunlop	6320	18% NS	.047	.029	.028
Saga	FW-10	?	.063	.028	.024	Vintage mandolin/banjo

Some thoughts about frets

Fretwire size has no real effect on intonation, but it has everything to do with playability. Taller frets make it easier to get clear notes: less finger pressure is required, a fact that many people don't notice, but which makes a life-and-death difference to others. Some folks really like teeny frets, but more and more makers, following the lead of the players who showcase their instruments, are going for larger frets than Gibson has ever used.

Taller frets also last longer as well because you don't have to press so hard to get a clear note. Again, some folks have to adjust their touch to take advantage of this. But you don’t need to press your finger to wood to get a clear note.

I keep about 20 different wires for different applications, but for mandolins I use mostly the old Dunlop 6280 (see chart below) or the Dunlop 6230 mentioned above. I'm keeping my old 6280 for partials now, and am moving to Jescar's 43080. Stew-Mac's 147 and 148 wires are also hard to beat.

The typical Gibson mandolin fret, at .034” wide and .032” tall when new, is, to me, absurdly small. Most (though not all) of the serious pro players in my mandolin clientèle prefer much heftier ones, such as the Dunlop 6230 or the lamentably extinct Dunlap 6280 (it was really close to 1930's Gibson guitar frets). The old Dunlop 6280 was .076” wide by .044” tall. I wish it was still available, I like that size better. Both are about the same height, but the 6230 is a tad wider and feels different. Jescar makes a wire that seems to have all the answers though, their 39040 (in either 18% NS or stainless), it’s .039” tall by .040” wide. That’s practically half-round.

Stew-Mac wires, which are made in Japan and are a bit harder than the Dunlop wire. And some by Jescar, made in Germany, are different than anything offered by the other people. With the exception of stainless, which I don't care for at all, the bigger and harder the wire, the more trouble it is to install, but it's worth it.

My standard wires for my serious guitar clients are, at the very least, Dunlop 6230*, at .043” tall and .078” wide or Stew-Mac's #155, a very fine 18%+ nickel wire which is .080" wide and .050" tall. Both are fairly narrow wires, not like electric bass frets anyway, but quite tall. They seem to be the industry standard.

A number of folks, particularly in the gypsy guitar world, are turning to the Jescar 57110, .050” tall by .110” wide, which comes in nickel, stainless or EVO gold, which is hands-down the most durable wire on the market, better than stainless, and infinitely easier to work with. My experience with this wire has been a real revelation.

Some players want narrow, others want wider and taller. I deal with a couple of these each week, week in and week out, and I do what folks ask for. The skinny frets seem to be favored by players who, for one reason or another, are reluctant to break with the old look. Often, once they've really tried wider and taller frets however, they see they're easier to get around on and last longer, and then they make the jump.

These are Lloyd Loar's "Fairy Frets" which were used on his Viva-Tone guitars. It's the notion that 'a higher fret is easier to play because getting clarity requires less finger pressure' carried to an extreme! I have only played on these a couple of times. I suppose I could adjust to them, but doubt I'd really want to try. I'd have loved to hear Lloyd Loar play them though!

There are so many different sizes of available fretwire, not to mention what has been used historically and how the various sizes and types are used these days, that the term "banjo wire" means next to nothing. It's like talking about "rosewood" - which, like banjo wire, is a vague and extremely subjective term. I prefer more precise descriptions instead: the crown height and width, the alloy makeup, and to some extent the work-hardness.

Another factor is how people's playing touch can change over time. Years ago I refretted a mandolin for a guy who had bought his mandolin new in 1955 or so. By 1985 he needed a refret real bad. I did it with fairly similar wire (medium height and width) and within six months he was getting real anxious about how the new wire was so soft and showing wear already. I explained that the wire I used was 18% nickel, the hardest available. Dubious, he said “It must be made of lead solder!” To prove his point, he took one of his original frets and some of the new stuff I'd used and had them assayed at a lab. The original was 11% nickel and the stuff I used actually came in at over 19%. What had changed was that the guy was older and his touch had changed. I've found that older players generally squeeze harder. Squeezing harder causes more/quicker fret wear. (I guess I'll have to be more careful, now that I'm heading into those final laps myself!)

Another little anecdote. My main playing partner for many years was a wonderful Sicilian mandolinist named Tony Flores, who burned through two sets of frets a year. Every year. He had two identical mandolins, and he played hours and hours every day, and he managed to wear divots in every fret from 1 to 11 under all four courses that were so deep that milling was simply not an option. These were standard old Dunlop 6280 frets: hard, 18% nickel. Imagine a "partial refret of the first 11 frets every six months. It's a good thing he knew me! Other players using these frets (myself included) get way more use out of them because of how they/we play.

Fret milling is so, um, Sixties. When you do it, you lower all the frets to the lowest point of the most worn fret, and in most instances, that’s just a few frets. All you do in milling frets is lose a lot of fret life and increase playing difficulty for no good reason. I'd like to think the state of the art has advanced some since then.

If one or two (or a typical situation where frets 1-5) are so worn they are causing audible playing problems, just replace the bad ones. You should mill and dress frets to get rid of minor buzzes and so forth, to make them feel smooth under your fingertips, but not to make cosmetic divots go away. In other words, if you notice that the frets are wearing in spots only because you can see it (but you can't feel or hear it), keep playing and save your money for getting it done when it really needs to be done. Replace them when they’re not working right anymore.

Purchasing sources:

Jescar Enterprises, Inc. (They say they will make any wire in any alloy for a reasonable minimum order)
Nanuet, New York
Phone: 845-352-5850
877-453-7227
http://jescar.com/fretwire.html

Stewart-MacDonald
Athens, OH
http://www.stewmac.com/
800-848-2273 9am-6pm EST, M-F

Luthiers Mercantile
Healdsburg, CA
1-800-477-4437
http://www.lmii.com

Warmoth Guitar Products Inc.
West Coast USA
253-845-0403
www.warmoth.com/

Dunlop Manufacturing, Inc.
P.O. Box 846 Benicia, CA 94510
707.745.2722
http://www.jimdunlop.com/

This is not intended to be an endorsement of anyone. There are other good wires available, but these are the main ones I know of and deal with in the US. These are not the entire offerings of the suppliers noted above, merely what I thought was important.

If you have comments, or corrections, please drop me a line.

Here's a simplified old Dunlop chart. Their sizes have changed a bit, though I have never found their specs to be
very reliable, even within a single roll.