Holy fretwear, Batman

[moro]

I bought this bass new about 2 weeks ago and I just noticed this last night:



There are one or two grooves under the strings, pretty much up and down the entire fretboard. The flash is exaggerating them a bit, but they are deep enough that you can feel them with a fingernail. (It's not just the oxidation being rubbed off.)

Is this normal? I believe the strings are steels. Would switching to nickels reduce the wear? Thanks.

[62bass]

Originally Posted by moro

I bought this bass new about 2 weeks ago and I just noticed this last night:



There are one or two grooves under the strings, pretty much up and down the entire fretboard. The flash is exaggerating them a bit, but they are deep enough that you can feel them with a fingernail. (It's not just the oxidation being rubbed off.)

Is this normal? I believe the strings are steels. Would switching to nickels reduce the wear? Thanks.

It's fretwear. It's normal. It's not going to be a problem for a while, probably years. Roundwound strings wear frets much faster than flatwoubds. Stainless steel wears faster than nickle. If you're going to use roundwounds, you'll have to get used to it. In a couple years tou may have to get the frets levelled and recrowned.

[moro]

Oof, that's scary. At this rate, I have a hard time believing the frets are going to last even a year.

Well, I wanted to try nickels anyway, so I'll see how that goes. Thanks.

[All_¥our_Bass]

Wow.

[Kronos]

That's not real bad. It looks more like you just wore off some of the grime without even gouging the metal very much.

[62bass]

Originally Posted by moro

Oof, that's scary. At this rate, I have a hard time believing the frets are going to last even a year.

Well, I wanted to try nickels anyway, so I'll see how that goes. Thanks.

It really isn't all that serious. Dressing the frets after wear is normal and the cost of doing business for working pro musicians. Chromes will slow it down and flatwounds much more so.

I'm using a Fender P from 1978 that's been played a lot. I've leveled the frets twice in about 12 years. There's now not enough metal left to do another leveling so if I want to do it again, it'll need the frets replaced. It would be cheaper to replace the neck. If you want to really get long lasting frets you could get a good pro to instal stainless steel frets, but that would cost you a bomb. Some basses can be ordered with stainless steel frets as an option at not too much extra cost.

[joeyl]

looks fine to me. I have worse everywhere on my 10 year old bass. As long as you can fret the note, don't need to fret. And by the way, what are you doing you high up the fretboard, you shredder

[moro]

Originally Posted by joeyl

And by the way, what are you doing you high up the fretboard, you shredder

Lol! I think that's from slapping. I don't fret that high on the neck, even when I'm tapping.

[saxnbass]

If that's bad, I have had quite a bit of fretwear for the time I've had my basses. Never really bothered me though. If it gets really bad down the line, I'll just have the frets replaced. Also, what's the deal with Stainless Steel frets?

[Philbiker]

Man you should see the neck I just replaced on my Franken-P. I had it out in my last GTG (which was quite some time ago.... time for another one?). That's nothing.

[joeyl]

Originally Posted by moro

Lol! I think that's from slapping. I don't fret that high on the neck, even when I'm tapping.

[vyse933]

i noticed the same thing on my frets for my bass when it was new. just clean the frets and you'll be amazed how normal they look

[202dy]

It is great that you're paying close attention to your frets. Those are pretty minor scratches. Nothing to worry about this month.

More hours of playing time means more fret wear. There is no way around it. The exception is when the bass has stainless frets. Nickel-silver fret wire is roughly 60% copper. Strings, even nickel ones, are harder than the fret wire. That's a good thing. Your strings last a lot longer because of it. Most people will buy many more sets of strings than fret jobs.

When you have sufficient wear it is time to have your frets dressed. Some folks refer to the process as a level, crown, and polish. After the instrument has had a good dressing your instrument will play much better than it did when it was new. Most factory instruments could stand for a dressing when they are brand new. There just isn't enough time in a factory situation to do a top notch dress. It's not economically feasable.

If you wait too long and have too much wear in your frets instead of a dress the bass will have to be re-fretted. It is more expensive because it is more time consuming. Neither of these processes is something to fear. AAMOF, it is something that you should include in your budget. It's not that expensive and it's great to have a brand new playing surface again.

[Aarix]

If that's just from slapping, don't fret about it (sorry :P). The only potential problem is that eventually the worn frets will buzz on the higher frets. But, since there are no higher frets, and you don't play that high often... no buzz.