Does anyone know if the fret wire on the SE's are the same as the fret wire on the core guitars? I like the harder fret wire on the core models. Just got an SE Paul's Guitar - hoping the frets last like on a core. I've played USA Fender Strat's a bunch over the years too and the frets wear faster than I would like...
PRS SE fret wire...
- Thread starter mtnman82
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Glide-bpm
Number of GLiDE's to change a lightbulb...
My SE Orianthi has held up well and I'm a stretcher from hell.......
I kill frets if they are weak. LOL!
I kill frets if they are weak. LOL!
grausch
New Member
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The fret wire on my Bernie does seem to wear a bit quicker than that of the DGT or S2 Singlecut. It is also lower than the S2 fretwire, but about on par with my older Standard 24. Surprisingly though, the Standard 24 feels as if it bends easier than the Bernie when strung with the same strings.
Edit: Forgot to ask, but what is the fret size like? The Core Paul’s Guitar should have quite large frets - did this carry over to the SE too?
Edit: Forgot to ask, but what is the fret size like? The Core Paul’s Guitar should have quite large frets - did this carry over to the SE too?
Last edited:
Antmax
New Member
Fret wear on my two SE's isn't that great. A 2016 Zach Myers and 2018 CU24 Floyd (Both Korean) and their frets are both showing more wear than my 4 year old vintage modified Squier I bought when I first moved to the USA. So I get the impression that the fret wire is not all that hard. It's not terrible just more than I would like. Otherwise they are great guitars and don't need a level or recrown yet.
andy474x
Knows the Drill
If your frets are wearing out too quickly, one thing that may help is buying more guitars.
Alnus Rubra
Loving nature’s wonders
If your frets are wearing out too quickly, one thing that may help is buying more guitars.
Spreading the wear rate?!
shimmilou
Established in 1963
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......buying more guitars.
Not surprisingly, this is the answer to almost all of life’s problems.
If your frets are wearing out too quickly, one thing that may help is buying more guitars.
This^....exactly this.
Not surprisingly, this is the answer to almost all of life’s problems.
Indeed...
Mozzi
https://imgur.com/user/BAMozzy/posts
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Strings can play a part in how quickly the frets wear. If you are playing with hardened steel strings to prevent breakages and promise longer life, these may well be causing more damage to your 'nickel' frets. A harder material will always cause more wear to a softer material so if you have 'hard' Steel strings with 'regular' Nickel frets, the frets will wear more, wear faster. If you have Nickel Strings with Stainless Steel frets, the strings will wear faster. If you are concerned, look for Pure Nickel strings for example - maybe not as bright but have a warm vintage sound.
Personally, I would rather wear out strings faster, use strings that are 'softer' material than the frets, and replace them more often than have to have frets replaced. No doubt the frets would need some attention over a lifetime of playing but if they don't need to be replaced during my time with the instrument, that's good news. I can replace strings easily but I would have to pay someone to replace frets....
Personally, I would rather wear out strings faster, use strings that are 'softer' material than the frets, and replace them more often than have to have frets replaced. No doubt the frets would need some attention over a lifetime of playing but if they don't need to be replaced during my time with the instrument, that's good news. I can replace strings easily but I would have to pay someone to replace frets....
Mozzi
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I would imagine that the EXL's would be softer on frets than the NYXL's or Pro Steel range but not as good as Pure Nickel - which was the type of strings around in the 50's and often associated with the warm vintage sound. The issue is that the 3 unwound strings are Steel which are likely to be harder than nickel frets but without actual testing and being provided with the material hardness measurements, its difficult to say how strings and frets would hold up and how that could compare with other strings.
Frets are an alloy too so it depends on what they are alloyed with and the percentages of metals will change their hardness. Its like needing a diamond to cut a diamond because of the hardness of the materials. Stainless Steel frets are very hard and why they ruin tools. The hardness value determines how materials will wear. If the strings are not as hard as the frets, the strings will wear more but as the difference between the hardness closes, the slower the strings will wear and more the frets will. At the extreme differences in hardnesses, the softer material (frets or strings) will wear much quicker than guitars that the frets and strings are more evenly matched.
Without having the hardness values though, you don't know whether certain strings maybe better on your guitar. The best bet is to monitor your guitar and see if you can see signs of fret wear and how much wear between string changes. If you think its wearing too much, try different strings to see how they wear. They may seem similar but the steel may not be quite as hard and you find that you don't need to dress the frets quite so often. Its also worth looking at the strings too and seeing if you can see any wear on the underside where they meet the frets - particularly in the areas you do a lot of bends/vibrato as that is rubbing on the fret. If the string looks like new and the top of the fret has some scratching or signs of wear, then you know the string is likely to be harder than the fret and require more frequent fret work. If the fret looks like new and the string shows some sign of wear, then you know that the frets are harder.
It really does depend on you the player. If you prefer the sound of a brighter string, then you may have to compromise on a string that causes a bit more wear on your frets than something like Pure Nickels which may not wear your frets at all - at least not to the point where you need to level and/or re-crown every year but not bright and zingy enough.
It seems to me that as we are chasing hard, strong strings that don't break easily and last longer between string changes, we are hearing more and more people complain about fret wear. It also seems to be that more and more people are chasing Stainless Steel frets - which can wear too by the way if the string is as hard but obviously not at the same rate as softer frets. PRS Nickel frets are regarded as one of, if not the best wearing nickel frets that polished can feel just as slinky as SS frets. String hardness though will affect wear....
Frets are an alloy too so it depends on what they are alloyed with and the percentages of metals will change their hardness. Its like needing a diamond to cut a diamond because of the hardness of the materials. Stainless Steel frets are very hard and why they ruin tools. The hardness value determines how materials will wear. If the strings are not as hard as the frets, the strings will wear more but as the difference between the hardness closes, the slower the strings will wear and more the frets will. At the extreme differences in hardnesses, the softer material (frets or strings) will wear much quicker than guitars that the frets and strings are more evenly matched.
Without having the hardness values though, you don't know whether certain strings maybe better on your guitar. The best bet is to monitor your guitar and see if you can see signs of fret wear and how much wear between string changes. If you think its wearing too much, try different strings to see how they wear. They may seem similar but the steel may not be quite as hard and you find that you don't need to dress the frets quite so often. Its also worth looking at the strings too and seeing if you can see any wear on the underside where they meet the frets - particularly in the areas you do a lot of bends/vibrato as that is rubbing on the fret. If the string looks like new and the top of the fret has some scratching or signs of wear, then you know the string is likely to be harder than the fret and require more frequent fret work. If the fret looks like new and the string shows some sign of wear, then you know that the frets are harder.
It really does depend on you the player. If you prefer the sound of a brighter string, then you may have to compromise on a string that causes a bit more wear on your frets than something like Pure Nickels which may not wear your frets at all - at least not to the point where you need to level and/or re-crown every year but not bright and zingy enough.
It seems to me that as we are chasing hard, strong strings that don't break easily and last longer between string changes, we are hearing more and more people complain about fret wear. It also seems to be that more and more people are chasing Stainless Steel frets - which can wear too by the way if the string is as hard but obviously not at the same rate as softer frets. PRS Nickel frets are regarded as one of, if not the best wearing nickel frets that polished can feel just as slinky as SS frets. String hardness though will affect wear....
Appreciate your replies Mozzi. I'm curious what PRS uses on the SE's because the fret wire on the core models in my experience holds up better than the Fender models I use. I used my SE Paul's Guitar on gigs over the past two weekends and was very happy with how it performed. I'm also thinking about getting an SE Hollowbody II. My intent is these be my battle axes and save my core models for special occasions. This being the case, I'm hoping the SE models use the same fret wire as the core models. Here's Paul's blog from 2012 on fret wires, mentioning he does not intend for fret's to be replaced on his instruments - hoping this is true for the SE models:
