Fretwire is sold in 25' lengths, which is usually enough for about 6 guitars
Our fretwire is now made in Germany. Tight tolerances in all respects, it's one of the best wires on the market. The standard wires are of 18% nickel-sliver, and we offer the same profiles in stainless steel, for the latest in fashion.
| mm | inch | mm | inch | mm | inch | mm | inch | mm | inch | mm | inch | |
| FWSA | 2.38 | 0.094 | 2.03 | 0.08 | 0.79 | 0.031 | 0.483 | 0.019 | 0.94 | 0.037 | 1.44 | 0.057 |
| FWWT | 2.87 | 0.113 | 2.616 | 0.104 | 0.94 | 0.037 | 0.533 | 0.021 | 1.168 | 0.047 | 1.702 | 0.067 |
| FWSS | 2.38 | 0.094 | 2.03 | 0.08 | 0.79 | 0.031 | 0.483 | 0.019 | 0.94 | 0.037 | 1.44 | 0.057 |
| FWSST | 2.87 | 0.113 | 2.616 | 0.104 | 0.94 | 0.037 | 0.533 | 0.021 | 1.168 | 0.047 | 1.702 | 0.067 |
STAINLESS STEEL FRETWIRE
A few builders have asked us about stainless steel fretwire, and Stephen Marchione went as far as to champion it and was kind enough to test out our sample shipment. He writes:
This Stainless Steel fretwire is a vast improvement over traditional Nickel
Silver wire if you are a builder who is willing and able to make a
fretboard perfect prior to fret installation.
Necks I have fretted with it have a great on-the-fret-string feel; strings
bend well and the polish of the wire appears to maintain indefinitely. As it
is much harder it should also last much longer. If you are the kind of
builder who measures planed relief in thousandths, invests in top notch
straight edges and polishes your fingerboard prior to installation, you
will love this stuff!
The wire, however, is more challenging to work with. The fingerboard must be
trued exactly as you would like the surface of the frets to be as this
wire's hardness won't allow you to level out imperfections off of the top
of the frets. Nor would you want to reshape a fret profile with a file. You
can, but you won't enjoy it. You must be very precise in cutting your
fret slots as the wire has more of a tendency to want to spring up on the
edges as you hammer it in. Fret pressing and/or rigid clamping cauls with one drop of cyanoacrylate on each fret end are effective solutions.
The beauty of the wire though, is that if you make everything gorgeous the first time around, it can stay that way a lot longer and my clients have specifically remarked how much they like the way the frets feel.
Stephen Marchione,
http://www.marchione.com
A further comment from Frank Ford: "Stainless fretwire is great for bending your notes; the frets don't grab the strings and it feels like you're playing on ice."