Clicky

View post (Fret wear)

View thread

ChristopherSchlegel
Full Access
Joined: 08/09/05
Posts: 8,834
ChristopherSchlegel
Full Access
Joined: 08/09/05
Posts: 8,834
05/28/2025 11:07 am
#1 Originally Posted by: Dave Nightcaps

Hey Team 


Quick question re fret wear . When I first started playing I was a bit heavy fingered when fretting which lead to heavy grooves in the fret wires.


Over time I have learnt to try and be more gentle and the wear is considerably less . I clean the strings after each use and still notice a little bit of wear . The odd grove doesn't look to deep and am assuming that a little bit of wear is normal considering its metal on metal ?  Does anyone else find they get a bit of fret groves over time ? From time to time I will drop it in for a fret polish and they polish out. How normal are small groves in the fret wires?


Cheers Team 


 

I missed this thread earlier!

That's completely normal.  In my experience it's only a problem when the grooves are deep enough to cause tuning or intonation problems.  Then it's time for a fret polish, as you are already aware.  At a certain point you might need to get a re-fret.  Sometimes you can get away with replacing a few particularly worn frets.  Sometimes it's a good idea to replace them all.  I've had both options done.


Hope that helps!


Christopher Schlegel
Guitar Tricks Instructor
Christopher Schlegel Lesson Directory