LP Refret Help

[FourT6and2]

About to have my '84 Custom refretted. Checked around and the two guys in my area (Detroit) that come recommended are Mike Koontz and Mark Balash. Mike does good work so I hear. But his price is pretty high. His recommended fretwire was Fender American Standard. Which strikes me as odd for a LP. But what do I know.

Was just curious what ya'll think. He doesn't work with stainless. Which is fine as I'm cool with standard Dunlop nickel fretwire. Just trying to figure what size to go with.

Anybody know what Dunlop wire matches closely with the size/shape of what Gibson uses now?

Jumbo something something something? 6100, etc. etc.?

I know it's personal preference. But I really have no frame of reference. I asked to see some of his work or play a guitar with whatever fretwire on it. But he had none in the shop at the moment.

My frame of reference would be PRS Custom 22's, Singlecuts, my Norlin LP's, and new Gibsons.

 

[cardinal]

Can you bring him one of the guitars that you own and like the fret wire of and see if he can match that? Sounds like you have some that you're happy with.

 

[FourT6and2]

Can you bring him one of the guitars that you own and like the fret wire of and see if he can match that? Sounds like you have some that you're happy with.

Nope.

I have two Les Pauls. Both have the same frets. I just read that most Gibsons (new-ish) have something close to Dunlop 6150. And I guess I'd be fine with that. The best playing LP I've tried was a Gibson Custom Shop Tom Murphy model. If I could figure out what fretwire size was on that I'd be golden. Maybe I should email Gibson.

 

[glip22]

Ship it to Phil of Philtone guitars in MD for Plek analysis and refret. You will not be disappointed.

 

[rcm78]

Another vote for Philtone. He'll use any fretwire you want and also works with SS...

 

[mindseye]

If you don't have a problem shipping the guitar you might wanna talk to
Jay at NTL Guitars
http://www.ntlguitar.com/
Jay is retired from the Custom Shop at Gibson he does great work and he's just a kick ass super cool
dude, if anything he could probably set you straight on the info on fret wire your looking for.

 

[Stramm8]

^^I was going to say, why do people try to find local techs to do work like this?? I would send it to the best shop in the country or someone who specializes in les pauls. Get on the phone and talk to some folks and tell them what you've expressed here. A good tech will be able to steer you in the right direction.

 

[glip22]

^^I was going to say, why do people try to find local techs to do work like this?? I would send it to the best shop in the country or someone who specializes in les pauls. Get on the phone and talk to some folks and tell them what you've expressed here. A good tech will be able to steer you in the right direction.

There are not many who can do frets correctly. You hit the nail here. I am better than most local techs. I trust none around me. Fretwork is a luthiers job not a tech. Its also a matter of how much the player can tell. I got a guitar in recently. The guys that played it said it was excellent. I played it for five minutes and said its not correct. The neck turned out to be unstable and had a small twist higher up on the board. Frets can be installed high and then leveled. This doesn't correct for humps and twists, imperfections in the neck. Hell, Gibson does it every day. Most can't tell. Install high fret wire and let the Plek level it down. It will feel good to most. Call Phil up OP. He'll educate you.

 

[FourT6and2]

I remember hearing good things about Photone and that he does the next best work since Michael Tuttle stopped doing refrets. I just hadn't considered shipping my guitar due to the added cost and risk. But I'll give him a call.

 

[Motorpud]

I'd avoid Mike Koontz for this type of job. I was just talking with a friend not too long ago and he was pretty pissed at the fret job that was done on his guitar as well as the price he was charged.

I also had a setup done by him and imo it was lacking. Believe it or not I asked him to install a switch for me (since he was already setting it up) and instead of ordering the switch for me he insisted that I order it myself from stew mac and send it to him Not the end of the world but it just struck me as odd and not service oriented. I guess i figured a "luthier" would have an extra switch laying around

It also took 3 weeks when he quoted me a week.

Figured I'd share my experience...

 

[snowdog]

Here's a fretwire reference chart. I'd send it to someone who does stainless and be done with it.

http://www.warmoth.com/Guitar/Necks/FretSize.aspx

 

[Greazygeo]

About to have my '84 Custom refretted. Checked around and the two guys in my area (Detroit) that come recommended are Mike Koontz and Mark Balash. Mike does good work so I hear. But his price is pretty high. His recommended fretwire was Fender American Standard. Which strikes me as odd for a LP. But what do I know.

Was just curious what ya'll think. He doesn't work with stainless. Which is fine as I'm cool with standard Dunlop nickel fretwire. Just trying to figure what size to go with.

Anybody know what Dunlop wire matches closely with the size/shape of what Gibson uses now?

Jumbo something something something? 6100, etc. etc.?

I know it's personal preference. But I really have no frame of reference. I asked to see some of his work or play a guitar with whatever fretwire on it. But he had none in the shop at the moment.

My frame of reference would be PRS Custom 22's, Singlecuts, my Norlin LP's, and new Gibsons.

I would not use 6100's on a Gibson. Up high they are too wide IMO. I like 6105 myself....same height but narrow. What I do for some guys is to use 6100 up to 12 then 6105 for the rest.

Anyone should be able to measure your fretwire and match it up.....don't know how close you are to Detroit, but I'm an hour and a half south. You are welcome to come down and play my Custom and Anderson Cobra which I did with stainless 6105's.

 

[FourT6and2]

About to have my '84 Custom refretted. Checked around and the two guys in my area (Detroit) that come recommended are Mike Koontz and Mark Balash. Mike does good work so I hear. But his price is pretty high. His recommended fretwire was Fender American Standard. Which strikes me as odd for a LP. But what do I know.

Was just curious what ya'll think. He doesn't work with stainless. Which is fine as I'm cool with standard Dunlop nickel fretwire. Just trying to figure what size to go with.

Anybody know what Dunlop wire matches closely with the size/shape of what Gibson uses now?

Jumbo something something something? 6100, etc. etc.?

I know it's personal preference. But I really have no frame of reference. I asked to see some of his work or play a guitar with whatever fretwire on it. But he had none in the shop at the moment.

My frame of reference would be PRS Custom 22's, Singlecuts, my Norlin LP's, and new Gibsons.

I would not use 6100's on a Gibson. Up high they are too wide IMO. I like 6105 myself....same height but narrow. What I do for some guys is to use 6100 up to 12 then 6105 for the rest.

Anyone should be able to measure your fretwire and match it up.....don't know how close you are to Detroit, but I'm an hour and a half south. You are welcome to come down and play my Custom and Anderson Cobra which I did with stainless 6105's.

Yeah, I don't think I want 6100. I'm thinking 6150 or 6155 is a good all around size. Not too large, not too small. The frets on my guitar now are too small. At least they are too short. The width I guess is fine. I can measure 'em with a caliper. I don't want stainless, either. I'm up in Royal Oak. So I'm probably about two hours from you. But thanks for the offer!

 

[craftm1]

6150 and avoid Koontz if possible!

 

[Greazygeo]

Yeah, I don't think I want 6100. I'm thinking 6150 or 6155 is a good all around size. Not too large, not too small. The frets on my guitar now are too small. At least they are too short. The width I guess is fine. I can measure 'em with a caliper. I don't want stainless, either. I'm up in Royal Oak. So I'm probably about two hours from you. But thanks for the offer!

Why not stainless?

 

[FourT6and2]

Yeah, I don't think I want 6100. I'm thinking 6150 or 6155 is a good all around size. Not too large, not too small. The frets on my guitar now are too small. At least they are too short. The width I guess is fine. I can measure 'em with a caliper. I don't want stainless, either. I'm up in Royal Oak. So I'm probably about two hours from you. But thanks for the offer!

Why not stainless?

I don't want any increase in brightness, snap, or attack compared to nickel. No matter how slight. The benefit of less maintenance over time would be great, though. But really... how often does one refret a guitar? Once every 10-20 years? My Les Pauls are 30 years old and this would be their first refret.

 

[FourT6and2]

6150 and avoid Koontz if possible!

What about Balash at Berkley Music? He did a setup for me that was good and I saw a LP a customer brought in that he refret and it looked pretty sweet. But I didn't get to handle it. Just saw it as the guy took it outta the case.

In any event, I'll give Philtone a call today.

 

[FourT6and2]

Just got off the phone with Phil at Philtone. My guitar will be going to him. Seems like he knows what he's doing. Thanks for the suggestion.

Will most likely go with Jescar FW47104. Found out that current Gibson Historics use 10045 and Standards use 55090.

 

[glip22]

Just got off the phone with Phil at Philtone. My guitar will be going to him. Seems like he knows what he's doing. Thanks for the suggestion.

Did he tell you about his visit to the Gibson factory and what he witnessed with their Plek machines? Phil is outstanding. Please report back after you get it back. Hopefully your neck is level with no issues. He will tell you its exact condition

 

[FourT6and2]

Just got off the phone with Phil at Philtone. My guitar will be going to him. Seems like he knows what he's doing. Thanks for the suggestion.

Did he tell you about his visit to the Gibson factory and what he witnessed with their Plek machines? Phil is outstanding. Please report back after you get it back. Hopefully your neck is level with no issues. He will tell you its exact condition

Nah, he didn't mention anything about the Gibson factory. But he sounds like a smart guy who knows what he's doing. Just gotta wait a week or two before sending him my guitar due to backlog.