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Club Fbass (thread 13)

Question for the F Bass club members please.


I had an F Bass in the past for a short time, but do not have one now.

What are the stock frets on F Basses, are they regular nickel/silver or are they stainless steel?

I read an online review recently that said they are steel frets, but I thought they were nickel.

If anyone in this club knows for sure can you please let me know!

Thanks!
 
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99% sure they're Stainless. There are many older well played F-Basses around with tons of life left

I thought I read somewhere that George does not like stainless steel frets.

maybe here:
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George Furlanetto – Our standard wire is nickel silver, wide (.110” X .053”), with a slight pyramid shape, for more accurate intonation. I like the larger mass of the fretwire, for more tone transference of the string vibration to the fretboard/neck/instrument and for a bigger tone. It also wears longer. With those players with a nickel allergy, we do offer the gold alloy EVO. I haven’t tried stainless, but judging from everyone’s comments, it seems hard to work, provides a very harsh tone, and probably wears out strings prematurely.
 
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I thought I read somewhere that George does not like stainless steel frets.

maybe here:
Invalid Link Removed

George Furlanetto – Our standard wire is nickel silver, wide (.110” X .053”), with a slight pyramid shape, for more accurate intonation. I like the larger mass of the fretwire, for more tone transference of the string vibration to the fretboard/neck/instrument and for a bigger tone. It also wears longer. With those players with a nickel allergy, we do offer the gold alloy EVO. I haven’t tried stainless, but judging from everyone’s comments, it seems hard to work, provides a very harsh tone, and probably wears out strings prematurely.


Thanks, but that article is from 2013. The review I found is from 2015.

Did they change to Steel Frets as some point?
 
The article might be old but George had an opinion and preference.

I am glad none of my f's have ss frets but that's just me.

I have had two (other brand) basses with ss frets and did not like them.

In my situation, I was able to compare two other brands with ns frets and ss and was able to decide what was better for me.

Preference thing is all, not saying one is better than the other.

Hopefully, George or Marcel will chime in. :)
 
The article might be old but George had an opinion and preference.

I am glad none of my f's have ss frets but that's just me.

I have had two (other brand) basses with ss frets and did not like them.

In my situation, I was able to compare two other brands with ns frets and ss and was able to decide what was better for me.

Preference thing is all, not saying one is better than the other.

Hopefully, George or Marcel will chime in. :)


Thanks!

Well I like both nickel/silver and stainless steel frets, just curious as to which ones F-Bass actually use as their standard fretwire.

It appears as if the review I found, that lists Stainless Steel frets, is probably just a typo, based on that article.
 
This pic was just posted on the F Bass Facebook page. Mine is the one on the bottom:

42854511_1855569484490579_8154455419633270784_n.jpg
 
Anyone else had a chance to play the new Deluxe Humbucker upgrade package?

Here's a video demo'ing it from Fretspot.

The bass in the linked video is mine. I believe it was the first 'official' deluxe made for a customer (not shop stock). Simply put, it's magical. So many tonal possibilities and I've barely begun to explore the options. On top of the deluxe features, I think Donovan might have forgotten to mention that it is 33" scale and strung through the body. Strings feel and sound balanced. I raised the strings by about a half turn at the bridge from where it was set it the video and it opened up even more. I have a VF5-PJ and a BN5, so I'm no stranger to Fbass quality, but this one is next level.

Edit: just to clarify - I specified 33" scale in my custom order. The default spec is of course 34.5, which I adore on my fives. My experience is that the shorter scale makes the C string less twangy, more musical. My delight is that Fbass wood quality and construction contributes to the to B also sounding full at the shorter scale as well.
 
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