Can not changing strings often causes premature fret wear?

[micque]

It would take someone a very long time to convince me that the type or condition of the strings contributes to fret wear, I personaly think thats its the way a person plays the instrument, some people play so hard it looks like they're trying to push the string into the fret board, and a friend of mine plays in a way that it looks like he's not even touching the strings, his hand just glides up and down the fret board with a very lite touch and every note is clear, ( he plays a 72 precision that he bought new and he plays it a lot and the frets look a lot like the day Fender installed them ! ) add to that the amount of time the bass is played, fret wear will not be the same for a bass thats played 2 or 3 times a month for a couple hours compared to a bass thats played for 25 or 30 hours a week, and throw in the fact that there's a good chance that not all frets are made with the exact same material, so if your the kind of musician that plays the crap out of your bass because its your most favorite thing to do in life, and you have dressed the frets, and filed them, and worn them out completely, and its your cherished bass, than go ahead and have it refreted and carry on, just carry on !

 

[Killed_by_Death]

a friend of mine plays in a way that it looks like he's not even touching the strings, his hand just glides up and down the fret board with a very lite touch and every note is clear,

I wish I could do that. I have a heavy hand on both ends. Pressing too hard on the fretboard & digging too hard into the strings. I have to raise my action to about 1/8" at the last fret to combat fret buzz. Using a pick helps, if I want to play with lower action. (Go ahead & pile on "finger purists").

 

[Ron Johnson]

I had it in mind to change to flatwound chromes on my Strat & my G&L, & just leave them on there for the foreseeable future.

Chromes are great! I've had them on my main bass forever and play it daily. Of course, this only works out for people like me (and perhaps you) that prefer dark tones.

 

[Killed_by_Death]

I play both genres, Motorhead & Black Sabbath.
The only time I crank up treble is for MH songs.

Maybe the EMI in my house is telling me something, because when I turn up the treble on the bass or the amp, the noise is there. So, most of the time I play with the tone rolled back.

 

[Bajo Clarkko]

Dave Wronski has been around a long time; he used to play with 'John And The Nightriders' back in the day. When he's rocking his bag of tricks, he's channeling Dick Dale (Surf), Wes Montgomery (Octive riffs), Dwayne Eddy (Whammy Bar), Brian Setzer (Rockabilly).
As for the Rhythym Section, that Dusty Watson on Drums, and Sam Bolle, Bass. Those two are from Agent Orange. Dusty and Sam, well... They just rock. I've also seen Sam (and Dusty, as I recall) backing Dick Dale.
Sam Bolle himself is well worth the price of admission.

 

[GIBrat51]

Uhhh...no, it won't. The only thing it might cause, is money in your wallet (from not always buying strings), that you could spend on something else..

 

[Killed_by_Death]

Those two are from Agent Orange. Dusty and Sam, well... They just rock.

I'm going to assume they're from Orange County, as that video I found was from Newport Beach.

 

[Bajo Clarkko]

I'm going to assume they're from Orange County, as that video I found was from Newport Beach.

You are correct, sir.
Dave Wronski works at Fender, setting up guitars. If an individual purchases an American made Jaguar or Jazzmaster, it was quite likely set up by him, as they are his specialty. (I'm from SoCal, so I try to be up on this stuff.)
I believe Huntington Beach is their stomping ground.

 

[Killed_by_Death]

I tried surfing on Huntington once, what a mess. I would make the drive down to San Onofre instead. Then you can spend the weekend in Tijuana.

 

[micque]

I wish I could do that. I have a heavy hand on both ends. Pressing too hard on the fretboard & digging too hard into the strings. I have to raise my action to about 1/8" at the last fret to combat fret buzz. Using a pick helps, if I want to play with lower action. (Go ahead & pile on "finger purists").

I also play way to heavy, my hand still cramps up every time we play Dased and Confused by LZ. even after all these years I still more or less stomp up and down the fret board with my left hand, never developed that finess some others seem to have.

 

[Pudge Fish]

If it did, all my frets would be nubs. I change strings as infrequently as possible. When a set (or string) sounds dead, I change strings knowing I won't like the sound for the first month or two. It makes finding the "right" strings a pain, but a duller roundwound is where I feel best. Higher tension of flats keeps them limited to 2 of my basses (one of which I play daily), but a broken-in set of nickels or really worn set of steels make my day. My frets dont wear badly (except my Ric). I, personally, don't sweat it.

 

[MegaSwing]

I defy a bass to stay in my life long enough to show fret wear.

 

[Killed_by_Death]

My frets dont wear badly (except my Ric).

I've heard this about Rickenbacker. I also saw a video of a guy comparing how shallow the frets are on a Rick compared to a Fender.

 

[irjason]

I could see it maybe wearing the fretboard... When I first started playing I didn't have a job or any money, and bass strings were expensive. I used to keep them on so long the strings would get fret shaped indentions worn in them. So I guess there was more contact area with the fretboard that could maybe lead to more wear. I never noticed the frets looking worn at the time.

 

[Pudge Fish]

I've heard this about Rickenbacker. I also saw a video of a guy comparing how shallow the frets are on a Rick compared to a Fender.

Shallow doesn't bother me, in fact my next Warmoth neck might be ordered with the smallest frets (i forget which pro tipped the scales, maybe Lee Sklar) but Ric frets seems to wear quick. Granted, i did a lot of woodshedding on my Ric, while developing a lighter touch, but my Fender and Ibanez didn't suffer as much. I bought a used Spector about a year and a half ago, played it almost every day since for 30-60 minutes, and it still has the same steel rounds on it. I love em. I REALLY don't want to go back to the "zing" but I'll have to soon. I just put some DR Pure Blues on another Spector and love the even sound across the strings. One open string sounds amazingly close to the fretted counterpart. I think some GHS Pressurewounds are in my future according to a recent thread's praise.

 

[Killed_by_Death]

I thought one of Chris Squire's suggestions to Rickenbacker was to do something about fret wear. Maybe they just took it under advisement & did nothing, LOL.

 

[Lo-E]

I play both genres, Motorhead & Black Sabbath.

 

[Bigbri]

I can't think of a reason why it would happen. If anything, keeping old strings would cause less wear since they become flatter with time.

I have a bass with 28 yr old rotosounds on it but it's a fretless. I can tell you one thing, they never go out of tune.

 

[Bigbri]

I also play way to heavy, my hand still cramps up every time we play Dased and Confused by LZ. even after all these years I still more or less stomp up and down the fret board with my left hand, never developed that finess some others seem to have.

That would be the half hour version that is on The Song Remains The Same

 

[LowNloud1]

The fret material softness, the finger pressure you exert, the consistency of the winding of the strings you use (Roundwound winding gage varies from coarse to, let's say, less coarse.), the winding material and finally how limited an area you play. (When I started playing umpteen years ago, I rarely went above the 7th fret.)