Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Jon Grinder on November 30, 2011 at 10:18am

I use 1/16" brass brazing rod, glued into shallow slots, when I don't have fret-wire.

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Permalink Reply by Printer2 on November 30, 2011 at 12:26pm

Why bother, fret wire is not that expensive and ideally suited for the job.

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Permalink Reply by Lonman on November 30, 2011 at 4:36pm

I used nails for 2-3 of the build I have done when I first started. I used a bolt cutter to cut the heads off, dremel to make the slot, super glue to keep them in. Also used a dremel to finish the ends so they looked like a fret. Turned out fine.

 

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Permalink Reply by Ryan Rose on November 30, 2011 at 11:45pm

I use toothpicks. Same process as Jon Grinder does with brazing rod, but not as durable. For my playing, such as it is, they work fine.

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Permalink Reply by BT Cohosh on December 1, 2011 at 12:30pm

I've used salvaged copper wire--scraps leftover from wiring my basement, mostly.  Not as durable, again, as traditional fretwire, and a little beefy (easy to fret the note sharp), but looks cool and "works".  I've just built a primitive little gem with eyebolt tuners and frets made of 1 1/2 inch wire brads--didn't even bother to clip the heads, just laid them in slots I cut with a handsaw.  Works surprisingly well.

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Permalink Reply by William McCauley on December 1, 2011 at 4:11pm

Sounds nice,lets see a pic.

BT Cohosh said:

I've used salvaged copper wire--scraps leftover from wiring my basement, mostly.  Not as durable, again, as traditional fretwire, and a little beefy (easy to fret the note sharp), but looks cool and "works".  I've just built a primitive little gem with eyebolt tuners and frets made of 1 1/2 inch wire brads--didn't even bother to clip the heads, just laid them in slots I cut with a handsaw.  Works surprisingly well.

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Permalink Reply by Dwayne Ray on December 2, 2011 at 10:15am

This is only my 3rd build but I used a coat hanger and made them into a staple shape, drilled holes in the neck, and tapped them in. After stringing it up I was able to do some extra taps in the areas that buzzed. Sounds great now!

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Permalink Reply by William McCauley on December 2, 2011 at 11:01am

That's pretty slick, I've used coat hangers for everything else, why not frets.

Dwayne Ray said:

This is only my 3rd build but I used a coat hanger and made them into a staple shape, drilled holes in the neck, and tapped them in. After stringing it up I was able to do some extra taps in the areas that buzzed. Sounds great now!

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Permalink Reply by Michael Fred Johnson on December 3, 2011 at 3:46am

This old mandolin has flat brass strips inserted into the fingerboard.I'll get around to trying this on a CBG build one day

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Permalink Reply by Crimson Toad on December 4, 2011 at 4:58am

just for the heckofit, i bought a box of blue colored hardened finish nails...thought i'd givem a try just for sumtin differant

 

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