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    Quote from lbieber

    The more interesting question is how waraba has not experienced it?

    Good question, I only use Ernie Ball slinky from the beginning , I keep them for more than one year as I never oxidize them : I have VERY dry hand most of the time. The rare times when I see my strings not bright enough I give'em a bit of fast fret, I also sometimes wipe my strings after playing. I also swap guitars regularly ( 6 got real play ) , and I checked my necks , all of them have stainless steel. I also only play for max and hour a day as I get tendinitis and other fatigue . I also bend less than before, I prefer glissandos now , bends really rely on fret resistance. Other factor, I don't play live or outside my home studio.


    My playing is rather soft and precise, I also don't experience strains on the body under the strings contrary to lots of guitars I see outside. Most of my guitars look brand new , even the 40 year old Ibanez artist , I really take care of my precious instruments.

    As seen here:


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    Quote from MuddySludge

    I've seen players experience this and the investigation led to Chinese counterfeit strings.

    The package is copied and the strings are crap.

    for myself I use elixirs, more expensive but don’t tarnish and last for ages. The coating might even help with fret wear but that’s my supposition

    A brace of Suhrs, a Charvel, a toaster, an Apollo twin, a Mac, and a DXR10

    Like 1
    Quote from waraba

    Good question, I only use Ernie Ball slinky from the beginning , I keep them for more than one year as I never oxidize them : I have VERY dry hand most of the time. The rare times when I see my strings not bright enough I give'em a bit of fast fret, I also sometimes wipe my strings after playing. I also swap guitars regularly ( 6 got real play ) , and I checked my necks , all of them have stainless steel. I also only play for max and hour a day as I get tendinitis and other fatigue . I also bend less than before, I prefer glissandos now , bends really rely on fret resistance. Other factor, I don't play live or outside my home studio.


    My playing is rather soft and precise, I also don't experience strains on the body under the strings contrary to lots of guitars I see outside. Most of my guitars look brand new , even the 40 year old Ibanez artist , I really take care of my precious instruments.

    I'm with Waraba.... yes of course we get fret wear but not to the extreme as being suggested.


    My Tele is my first guitar, I've had it for 30 years...never been re-fretted. My SG could probably do with a re-fret but its about 35 years old.


    Why do I not have many re-frets? Mainly because I have quite a few guitars but I have used some guitars really heavily and my playing is very clumsy and heavy handed so I don't play light. I just don't accept that re-fretting is such a concern it should stop you playing a guitar. I would expect a fret job to last 10+ years.


    BTW I had one of my Charvel's re-fretted with Evo Gold wire ( just because it looks nice, but its also rock hard/stronger than Nickel)....cost me £250 buy a trusted luthier. He is currently re-freting a cheap strat because the frets are poor. Re-fret for $1000 sounds very expensive and I wouldn't spend that on a cheap guitar.


    I use Ernie Ball Slinkys, ( Skinny Top, Heavy bottom), never seen the plating issue.

    Frets are consumables just like strings. Having said that, I play a lot and have only needed a refret on 2 of my guitars over 40 years of playing. Occasional levelling and profiling yes but you can level a set of fret several times before needing to think about a full refret.


    $1000 for a refret is taking the p@€%. It is basic repair and maintenance work which any decent luthier can do. Something around £200 - £300 for a full refret would be a normal rate.

    Quote

    From what I have read, frets are generically all the same material. Nickel Silver (18% nickel, 80% copper). Which seems like a bad design to me. You should have frets that are harder than the easy to change strings.

    Nickel Silver fret wire isn’t a design failure just a fact of life. They are a total bitch to work on and destroy most tools such as tang nippers, levelling files and crowning files. Even diamond files aren’t immune to wear and tear and SS massively exacerbates this.

    I apologize for taking this thread so far off the main road. Lets get back on.


    Here is my old Ibanez RG570:


    One reason I worry abut fret wear is, I was always very poor growing up. My mom always wanted me to go to college/university. She tried to motivate me (because I skipped school all the time) by saying "you graduate college and I will buy you whatever guitar you want". After I graduated, we went to The House of Guitars in Rochester, New York, USA and I asked them to "keep bringing me guitars until I say stop". I think it was about $500 at the time. List price was around $700 in the catalogs.


    So I went in to debt for $25k+ so I could get a $500 guitar. Yeah, I am not too smart.


    But any guitar over $200, I treat like it was my child. Some of them my red headed step child, but still. This guitar is beat up as it was my only guitar for many years. And when my mom passed, I tucked it away for... reasons.... I'm not crying, you are....... 8o

    I have a working theory that people are becoming dumber. All of the smartest people lived during the 20'-60's. Since then we have become dumber and dumber. I have theories based on diet and environmental factors.


    In my search for info on guitar strings I have noticed that no one seems to ever talk about how the G, B, and E strings are made. I have yet to find a single article that even mentions these strings. Every article, video, etc only discusses the wound strings.


    If anyone has info on this topic, please let me know before I lose complete faith in humanity :P

    Quote from RosboneMako

    In my search for info on guitar strings I have noticed that no one seems to ever talk about how the G, B, and E strings are made. I have yet to find a single article that even mentions these strings. Every article, video, etc only discusses the wound strings.


    If anyone has info on this topic, please let me know before I lose complete faith in humanity :P

    I am pretty sure the reason is simply that plain strings used for E B and G strings are very simple objects so there is very little research required and little to talk about. Whereas would strings evolved due to the problems of inharmonicity with low frequencies and plain strings. Therefore, there is much more to consider and discuss.


    Crisis averted, humanity is going to be OK. Actually, humanity is probably screwed but its got nothing to do with G strings.

    Quote from Wheresthedug

    Crisis averted, humanity is going to be OK. Actually, humanity is probably screwed but its got nothing to do with G strings.

    It has everything to do with G strings. I still have yet to see, read, or hear anyone say what a string is made of? Most likely high carbon steel with tin or nickel plating. But who knows. People have written 1500 word documents about EAD wound strings.


    No one could spare one line to explain what the other 3 strings are made of??? They have only been made for like 100 years but no one seems to know this mystery?


    Or is it more like there is no one left on this planet smart enough to even realize they are only discussing 50% of the product? I am really starting to wonder :/

    As I said, the reason it is not discussed isn’t because people are too dumb but because it is a much simpler problem and therefore doesn’t merit discussion compared to the wound string. It has everything to do with inharmonicity which wound strings are designed to deal with. Rather than only discussing 50% of the issue it is probably more like 90% with the other 10% deemed well enough understood to be deemed trivial.


    First article I found which discusses wound and plain (monofilament) strings.

    Quote: “It has everything to do with G strings. I still have yet to see, read, or hear anyone say what a string is made of?”



    With all possible respect.


    It would appear that you failed to watch the you tube movies I posted for your benefit a little earlier.


    If you had then you would know that these plain strings are fabricated from the underlying steel thread utilised in manufacturing the strong base for automotive tyres.


    That thread is drawn through large machinery made in Germany and reduced to the sizes required for plain strings made from high quality high carbon steel. With respect, if you want to lean more about this matter, I suggest you actually watch the movie.


    It was put there, just for you! 😊


    My latest guitar: bought this from a local shop, LOVE the way it plays but the stock pickup was kinda meh so I installed a DeArmond Gold Tone, which has a bit more character. I also replaced the stock pots with new CTS and set up a 50s-style tone control. String changes are a bit of a pain, you need a hex wrench for the nut but it's not really that bad.

    The pinstripe was done by a previous owner, there was also a red stripe but I removed that along with a Harley Davidson sticker.

    Quote from franknputer


    My latest guitar: bought this from a local shop, LOVE the way it plays but the stock pickup was kinda meh so I installed a DeArmond Gold Tone, which has a bit more character. I also replaced the stock pots with new CTS and set up a 50s-style tone control. String changes are a bit of a pain, you need a hex wrench for the nut but it's not really that bad.

    The pinstripe was done by a previous owner, there was also a red stripe but I removed that along with a Harley Davidson sticker.

    That thing is just goofy looking...and I hate to say it, but I want one! ^^