Fretwire with narrow tang

[Bob Steinarsson]

I'm i need for fretwire with a tang no more than 0.020" wide (slots are 0.019"). The crown should be maximum 0.100" wide and minimum 0.045" tall. Where can I find this wire? I suppose Dunlop has got one or more, but I find no place with detailed specs except the fretwire chart at Luthier.net, and there it is stated : "Tang widths are to be double-checked". Jescar has got some, but I don't feel like buying this wire in bulk as I will hardly need it much in the future. Any suggestions?

Thanks

[Bob Steinarsson]

My fret tang nipper takes care of the binding. I need little more than half an hour more for a bound board than for an unbound one. No big difference. But your idea of cutting the binding is interesting. It must, however , be a question for the owner.
BS

[Paul Breen]

Bob, did you look at the Martin site? They have the size wire that you are looking for.

[Bob Steinarsson]

I have searched for it without having found it. I thought that it must be possible to find it somwhere. I will take contact with Martin directly. Thanks a lot Paul.
BS

[Paul Breen]

Open the page in the link I posted and scroll down, you should see the fret wire. Click on the button next to it and it will show you all of the sizes.

[Bob Steinarsson]

Finally I understood the numbers in the scrolling area. Yes, the tang width looks perfect! Thanks a lot!
BS

[Paul Breen]

Your welcome!

[Robert May]

I don't see the crown height on the Martin site. I've heard in the past that all their crown heights are on the low side (under .040"), so find out for sure if you want to stick to your .045" minimum crown.
Jescar .078x.050 might be cool for an acoustic (give you the same height as the old "bar frets" ), although I haven't tried any of mine on an acoustic yet. I had one guy have me put the .110x.057 on an acoustic. Along with the 12 gauge strings, I found it quite uncomfortable, but the guy seemed to love it.

[Paul Breen]

Robert is correct, the Martin wire is .080"w. X .038"t.

This is the standard size wire for Martin guitars. Stock Yamaha wire is the same or close to this size too.

Personally, I don't like larger wire for acoustic guitar playing but as pointed out, some do.

[Bob Steinarsson]

Thanks all of you. I have learnt much about fretwire during this search and discussion. There seem to be many who sell wire in the tang size that I asked for, but it will often be a question of the other measurments. Another problem is to make shops sell overseas (Europe). I have previously used LMI and Stewmac wire, and I think that I will stick to Stewmac as long as the fret slots fit their wire. Dunlop has got wires in all possible dimensions, but in bulk it will be expensive as long as I don't expect to meet 0.019 slots often, and the precut wires are difficult to bend nicely by hand. I actually ended up with something called Boston. It comes in 16' rolls. I don't know the quality, but I would at least think that 18% ns is about the same, independent of the brand. Comically, I found it in a shop 10 minutes by bike from my job in Oslo.

I have attached the chart that I got from Dunlop (the chart came by e-mail less than half an hour after my request!). I think it is a complete overview over the Dunlop wire sizes.
Bob

[Robert May]

If you are going to use a "Debarber" set-up to narrow the tang, I think the key to it is locking vise-grips on the end of your fret-wire strips for a good pulling handle.
You can (if needed) re-bead the tang to some degree with a crimping tool modded to punch dots in the tang rather than crimp from top to bottom.
As for Dunlop wire, the last batch I ordered was much lower quality than what I got from them several years before. Quality of Jescar wire is top-notch and I hope it stays that way. Jescar wire is made in Europe. I never tried to buy fret-wire in Europe. Maybe it's like buying tools. LIke an Austrian Guitar Maker/Author once told me, in order to buy an Austrian made tool, he had to buy it from the USA. Crazy.