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Crystal Frets?
- Thread starter VTheHTyphoon
- Start date
Jeff Scott said:
well, i got mine from the tooth fairy. it cost an arm and a leg. also, a kidney and my first born child.
Quartz is harder than steel. Instead of the strings wearing down the frets, the frets now wear down the STRINGS! If you bend notes like I do, you can bet your string-change interval will decrease dramatically.
These "crystal" frets are akin to the magic AC power cords which cost $1800.
These "crystal" frets are akin to the magic AC power cords which cost $1800.
The science behind is seems sound to me. And if you are going to play the hell out of an instrument and keep the instrument for 40 years or so, it may not be a bad investment. I am a hobbyist and play stainless strings and I tend to need a fret job about every 10 - 15 years. Hell, some aggressive players / touring players may come close to breaking even. And for studio players, the aural benefits may be worth the cash.
I've seen basses that were played for 10 years that didn't need a refret and they had nickel frets...don't understand why anyone is concerned with fret-wear honestly.
The idea of quartz frets isn't really all that new. In the '90 Lane Poor produced the Minima bass, which basically had something like that...
You can see it here:
Hot Tuna Electric Instrumental Jam Session Homespun Blues - YouTube
You can see it here:
Hot Tuna Electric Instrumental Jam Session Homespun Blues - YouTube
- Dec 21, 2007
- 15,233
- 45,121
- Disclosures
- Lark in the Morning Instructional Videos; Audix Microphones
I want some.
I want them on a blue bass, maybe a blue P.
And I'd use it in a band that did instrumental covers of songs by the old acapella band, "The Persuasions".
We'd call ourselves "Crystal Blue Persuasion".
And that would be that.
I want them on a blue bass, maybe a blue P.
And I'd use it in a band that did instrumental covers of songs by the old acapella band, "The Persuasions".
We'd call ourselves "Crystal Blue Persuasion".
And that would be that.
And just imagine the cost of finding a qaulified peep to do fretwork like fretdressing etc. Is very stupid idea for frets imo. Besides which crystal doesnt just wear down, it chips and cracks. Lets see what the cost of fret crowning would be. Every time they mess up cause crystal breaks and they gotta repalce whole fret. I saw post about these at another forum about a month ago. Foolish material for frets imo.LMAO.,
I am not sure about the chipping and cracking theories... according to them quarts is very tough. I do think that it might wear into yours strings like someone already said. I guess if I was a national touring act who was super famous and rich, and I bought a bass that I wanted to get some modding done to then maybe I would try it. But I couldn't see putting all my faith into this "upgrade" on a bass I always use.
My brothers wife is a prof custom jewler maker and also works on qaurtz stuff for new agers etc. Besides those problems there is also the various bubbles, inclusions etc natural qaurtz ussually has. Attractive for eye candy but a real bear to work with for precision work for most peices. You cannot file it like you would nickel or even stainless frets. Most of the high cost qouted by company offering crystal frets would be for the work of making them, replacing goof ups in the process, getting clear peices with no inclusions etc, hard to do btw. And just shaping them precisely for top qaulity fretwork bass or guitar. Also you cannot bend it like you can for metal frets to follow fretboard radius for installation. Youd have to sculp the radius curve into the backside of the frets before installing them.
I've been playing for 35 years and have never needed to refret a bass. My '76 Gibson Thunderbird (that I bought new) was my main bass for 20 years. The frets are still fine. I've always wondered how come so many people need to refret their basses.
So the frets are made out of quarts? If you have the money, and want coorts frets, go for it. Kwaortsch can be very pretty if worked properly, and it is true that cuwaurtz is a very hard material. But if you are a millionaire, why bother with ckaurtz, go right to diemand.
Hahahaha
How can they charge so much for something so impractical? Where those crystal frets in the Hot Tuna vid? Because Jorma had some very poor intonation happening there. In fact, the guitar sounded downright out of tune...not something I look for in a bass.Miller, a german company, uses silicon carbide frets, what seems much smarter than quartz.
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soooooooooo.... whats the best fret for meh-n-tal music ????????????????
someone had to do it.
peace Kirk
someone had to do it.
peace Kirk
