Acoustic Fret wire on electric

[lilvampboyx]

I saw some ok priced pre-cut fret wire http://cgi.ebay.com/ACOUSTIC-GUITAR-...QQcmdZViewItem

Does anyone think that would work ok on a Jazz Bass....The frets I have are very low and i hate some buzzing past the 12 fret I would like to refret the bass and im too cheap to buy fenders fret wire..and The frets I have are small frets..so yeah....any suggestions?

[Geoff St. Germaine]

I don't know what the dimensions are for that fretwire, but I do notice that it has the tang removed near the ends for bound fretboards. Does your J-bass have a bound fretboard?

[lilvampboyx]

The fret wire dimensions are 1 3/4", for the smallest and 2 1/4" for the longest. and i belive that i have a standard jazz neck...also im only planning to replace the frets past the 12th fret. What does "bound" on a fingerboard mean?

[Geoff St. Germaine]

Bound means that it has binding (the white around the edges of the neck) on it, like this:

[lilvampboyx]

um no but it looks alot like that bass

[Geoff St. Germaine]

I would try to get fretwire that didn't have the ends of the fret tangs removed, but it's up to you.

[Dan1099]

I would try a setup before I tried to refret anything.

[lilvampboyx]

Originally Posted by Geoff St. Germaine

I would try to get fretwire that didn't have the ends of the fret tangs removed, but it's up to you.

why would you suggest that?

[Mon Rominee]

Let me get this straight: you're going to attempt to replace frets, but you don't even know what binding is (see that white stripe around the fretboard?!? that's binding), let alone WHY you'd want frets with full tang?

I make no assumptions to your abilities, but from what you're asking, it doesn't look like much, sorry.

Binding is purely decorative, and ofttimes, the fret tang is undercut as to not interrupt the solid binding look. You have to pre-bend the fret ends (after undercutting and before install) perfectly or you'll screw up (crush) the binding, OR end up cutting your hand open everytime you play on the fret ends...I suppose you know how to properly dress the fret ends? If you don't have binding, you want the full tang to keep the fret ends seated...that combined with proper pre-bend keeps the fret locked. AND, if the tang on this acoustic wire isn't wide enough, the frets won't seat without a ton of glue...not to mention if you don't properly redress the fret slots, you'll open up a world of problems before the new install. Be aware of this.

Save yourself some trouble and don't do it. Please.

edit: the 2-1/4" length fretwire is still too narrow for a typical Jazz neck. By a 1/4" actually. You'd have 1/8" gaps on each end. So no, you can't use it. All that aside, you can use narrow fretwire on anything, and many players prefer it, but it wears quicker.

[Geoff St. Germaine]

What Mon said.