COBALT STRINGS AND FRET WEAR

[Clark Westfield]

I have a set of Cobalts on a VM 70's Squier Jazz and starting to notice some fret wear.

The strings have been on since November of last year.

Do these strings wear frets faster than nickel, or is it a Squier thing?

 

[Gorn]

It might be left hand technique. Do you fret notes with a lot force? Do you bend notes a lot?

 

[mmbongo]

I have a set of Cobalts on a VM 70's Squier Jazz and starting to notice some fret wear.

The strings have been on since November of last year.

Do these strings wear frets faster than nickel, or is it a Squier thing?

They ate the frets on my Warwick for breakfast. Had them on for about a month.

 

[Clark Westfield]

I thought it was me as well, but my other 3 basses do not have it.

I play the others more often than this Jazz, so I am thinking the strings are a bit harder on the frets?

 

[tylerwylie]

They sound and wear just fine on my Bongo, but that has stainless steel frets.

 

[ecj_bass]

I had a Rickenbacker a while ago, and decided to put Cobalts on... Bad idea...

 

[Jay2U]

Cobalt is slightly harder than nickel, about 20%. The extra wear could be caused by surface roughness of the strings.

 

[Sahe_Bassist]

i have used cobalts on my mim jazz for over a year now, i havent noticed any extra fret wear.

 

[JustForSport]

Don't know if they've anything in common with drill bits,
but the Cobalt bits are harder for a reason...

 

[Jay2U]

Don't know if they've anything in common with drill bits,
but the Cobalt bits are harder for a reason...

Cobalt can be hardened by heating it to a certain temperature, then cooling it down rapidly to freeze the crystal structure. I don't think cobalt strings undergo a hardening process, as they would become too brittle.
The so called cobalt bits are made from an alloy like cobalt-chromium-molybdenum, which can be hard and tough as well.

 

[CoarseBass]

I've used cobalts on an ATK700 and Warwick Corvette - no issues. Probably ran through 3 sets on each between a year and nine months ago, gigging weekly and playing at least an hour a night. No noticable wear on either bass.

I haven't bought any for awhile because I find I just like nickel hybrid slinkies better, those and D'addario XLs.

 

[Epidrake]

I had the same problem with Dean Markley Blue Steels. I only use nickel strings now.