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RE: FLAMENCO GUITAR FRET WIRE (in reply to VICTOR1)
As been mentioned, the shape and size of fret wire is a matter of player´s taste. I personally have no clue about measures, but know that I prefer rather high and broad crowns.
What the quality of the wire is concerned there seem to exist noticable differences. Apparently best of the available ought to be the Evo fretwire. New on the market and obviously not too much known yet among luthiers, but distinctively preferred by those who experienced it already. Though it will outlast steel it comes in much softer than that and said to be a pleasure to work with.
Same with players, who do like how it feels.
Further, concerning looks the Evo has a slight goldish appearance to it which to my eyes matches the vast of typical wood colors so much better than a plain silver / "white" color of your common specimens.
RE: FLAMENCO GUITAR FRET WIRE (in reply to VICTOR1)
I purchased a 1963 Ramirez a couple of years ago that needed to be refretted. The guitar sounded great but the original frets, in addition to being very worn in the lower positions, were also quite low and narrow and I didn't like the feel at all. I removed all of the original frets, gave the fingerboard a very light planing to remove some playing divots and, after widening and deepening the slots by a small amount, refretted it with taller and wider StewMac 152 wire. The original nut was still in good shape but ended up being a bit too low for the taller crown height of the new frets. A piece of wood veneer lightly glued to the bottom of the nut and a bit of gentle sanding solved that little problem in short order. The guitar feels quite different than it did originally but, at least for me, it's just fine now. Interestingly, the original frets were of the old style with no barbs, beads, bumps or whatever you want to call them on the tang to help hold them in place, just a smooth tang. When using these frets makers usually gave edge of each tang a few light taps with the corner of an old file or something similar, as was done with this guitar, to raise a few small burrs to grip the sides of the fret slots.
RE: FLAMENCO GUITAR FRET WIRE (in reply to VICTOR1)
The Stewmac 152 is my alternative fretwire to the 148. Personally, if I like how a guitar feels and plays, I have no favorite. Both of the above wires have their advantage. At the moment I prefer playing fretless (violin)
The good thing about frets is that they can be changed, so if there´s a guitar you like, with what you consider the wrong fretwire, its not a problem but something that can be solved.
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