"Mixing Frets"

[Systematic Chaos]

I once played a friends guitar from a German Luthier, Siggi Braun Fine Young Guitars, which had a mixed set of frets. Regular Jumbos (6100) on frets 1 through 11 and narrow Jumbos (6105) on frets 12 through 24.
While having the same crown height the 6100s have a wider width than the 6105s and the playability and feel, especially high up the fretboard was awesome.
Now my latest RGR620 came with a fret dress but them frets (being 21 years old) were already way down.
I found a young luthier here in Tokyo who just opened his own guitar shop and we discussed the mixing frets option and I let him refret the RGR620 with Jescar EVO fretwire (which I prefer over Stainless Steel) with the mixing frets option....I couldn't be any happier!!!!
Left of the 12th: 6100 size  -  Right of the 12th: 6105 size

BTW, we're talking lowest possible action, a flatout straight neck (no relief) and absolutely no string buzz at all!!!
And check out that Rosewood.....almost black!!!

[Dante]

That is pretty dang awesome!! I love the concept

I also love that I can see the reflections of your strings in the frets & they're VERY close to each other = low action. NOICE

[rnolan]

Very cool SC  :thumb-up: :whoohoo!: .

[Iperfungus]

That is pretty dang awesome!! I love the concept

I also love that I can see the reflections of your strings in the frets & they're VERY close to each other = low action. NOICE

+1

I would do that on a guitar I'm working on...
It has vintage small frets...and I was thinking about 6100 or 6105...and now I have the solution: MIX THEM!  :waving-banana-smiley-emoticon

[Harley Hexxe]

Nice SC :thumb-up:

     That is what Jake E. Lee had on his signature Charvel Strat. The new one he has is an identical copy of that old guitar, but with a mahogany, (I think), neck on it.

    Harley 8)

[MikeB]

Its beautiful!  :bow:
And it's bugging me that I can't touch it :facepalm:

[MarshallJMP]

Wauw great idea, never even thought of mixing fret wire.

[rabidgerry]

now I'm not saying I invented this idea  :crazy:, but I discussed the exact same thing with my local luthier one time also because I found with my fat fingers it's very difficult to fret the same way on frets past the 12.  It really is a good idea.  Did I trust my local luthier to do this?  Well lets just say I haven't bit the bullet yet!  I have other issues to worry about with guitars before I start asking for custom fret jobs!  I also played around with the idea of different levels of frets to create a more even feel up the neck.

Frets anger me most than any other thing with guitars, probably because that and wood work are the two areas I cannot fix or deal with myself.

[Kim]

I've never heard of this before but it sure does seem like an interesting idea. 

SC, may I ask about how much that cost to have done? 

While I wouldn't care for having the string action quite that low, I like the possibility of a little less fat-fingering up on the higher frets.

[Systematic Chaos]

I've never heard of this before but it sure does seem like an interesting idea. 

SC, may I ask about how much that cost to have done? 

While I wouldn't care for having the string action quite that low, I like the possibility of a little less fat-fingering up on the higher frets.

Kim,
the job itself is no big deal for a luthier, just a refret with 2 different fretwires which do not need a different treatment in terms of work involved (same crown height).
I paid ~250$ for the job including all material and work. The going price for a complete refret is generally 200$~300$, depends on whether you have a neck with binding (slight upcharge) and the fret material you wanna have (Stainless Steel also commands an upcharge since it's more difficult to work with).
Most important: I'd only let a trustworthy luthier perform a refret.

If done correct, a refret (or a good fret job in general) takes the playability and feel of a guitar to another level.
I have two more RGs whose frets are way past their prime which will get the same treatment in the near future.

[Iperfungus]

Hey Magnus....can you let me know Jescar EVO models matching Dunlop 6100 and 6105?
I've a project where I would love those mixed frets...

Can you ask your luthier? Since it's not easy for me to identify the right fretwires here:

https://www.jescar.com/product-category/fretwire/wirealloy/evo-gold/

Thanks a lot in advance!  :banana:

[vansinn]

Yup, mixing frets isn't that uncommon, though I guess most never even heard of it.
It absolutely makes a lot of sense, leaving more playable fretting space up there where it tightens up.

While talking about fret width, I never liked jumbo frets, preferring medium.
This changed with my Vintage V6 Fillmore stratcat, outfitted with hard-alloy old-school slim frets.
They do feel a touch too low for my taste, so I'd prefer medium fat frets combined with quite slim ones on the high part. German hard-alloy (SiCuO) wire, of course ;)