October 21, 2025
Theory component:
- Understanding unseated frets
In the image below, there are various reasons a fret may come unseated, the most common however is from neck compression. Over the entire neck you have 150-200 pounds of tension, due to the strings pulling from bridge to nut, this will slowly ‘squeeze’ frets out of there fret slots, especially around the heel of the neck or where it meets the body, as this area has no flex and is a fulcrum point for a lot of this tension.
An unseated fret will cause a loss in vibration transference from the string, into the fret board, a hindrance in vibration transference can cause loss of sustain, dead sounding notes and overall loss in tone and resonance. Having your instrument set up and frets re seated is a good way to correct these issues, you may not even see them as they can naked to the human eye, sometimes as little as .002” thousandths of an inch, thats thinner than cigarette paper!!
- Fret crowns and flat spots
Fret crowns are Important to all aspects of playability, and determine accuracy of intonation, also other factors such as sustain and resonance. Your fret crown is the domed area of the fret sitting above your fingerboards surface, the strings contact these points and over time wear them down, and cause flats spots, this happens over the course of a couple of years, think about how many times you’re fretting that particular note on that particular spot? A lot if you're an avid player, right?
Common areas are usually the G string on frets 2-9 for a lot of players, this being because not only is this a common area of chording and lead work, but the g string is your largest/thickest plain string, and that string will cut away at your fret crown faster than most over the years of playing.
If gone unnoticed or not fixed for some time, these flat spots will turn into divots, which will wear away almost twice as fast! Divots are harder to repair, and alter your fret level drastically, causing even more buzz and even fretting out in some cases.
Not only are the above issues nasty, but if you look at the images below, the real pain is intonation accuracy. Many many times have we had a customer come into our workshop and tell us their intonation is out or their guitar doesn’t “sound in tune”.. this is because the centre contact point the string is meant to be hitting, is now a flattened surface over 2-3mm, and that original point of intonation has now shifted due to the surface of the fret being larger!
- Fret materials
Are all frets the same? No, certainly not, they each advantages and disadvantages!
Nickel Silver: Although the name may say so, there is actually no silver in this type of fret material, it is mostly a copper alloy—effectively its brass (copper and zinc) with nickel added for hardness. Nickel silver fret wire is the most commonly used fret wire in guitars today, and comes as standard on most of what you see in your local music store, it is traditional in tone, not too warm, not too bright, however doesn’t last as long as some other materials, and does require maintenance in the form of fret dressing every 2-3 years on average if you’re looking to get the most out of your nickel silver fret wire.
Stainless Steel: Very, VERY hard fret wire, is made from, well you guessed it, stainless steel!
Stainless is great if you’re an aggressive player, it lasts 5X as long as nickel silver (yes, it does still need work every 5-6 years, contrary to popular belief) and best of all, it stays CLEAN, you rarely need to clean stainless, which means less string friction and a glassier feel, it is however more difficult to work with, and may come at a greater cost if you’re having a guitar refretted with this material. Some also say stainless is very “bright” and while to a degree we feel this is correct, this is mainly only apparent acoustically, I prefer to say it adds a top end clarity like no other fret wire, and is very much an upgrade in string definition, this is subjective however, but we almost exclusively work with stainless these days, and many before/after comparisons are the reason I’ve formed this opinion.
Brass:
Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc and, as you’d expect, these frets have a ‘brassy’ dull golden colour. Brass frets are not the hardest in the world and do tend to wear more quickly than other wires, however they have a warmer tone than most that goes well with vintage instruments and bass guitars, even brands like Warwick are using brass in their instruments on the modern day. However take note, these frets dull and tarnish quickly, so be sure to clean clean clean, otherwise string friction will wear away these frets very fast.
EVO Gold: Made from copper, tin, iron and titanium, this fret wire is the runt of the periodic table when it comes to frets, however it is for a lot of people the perfect balance between stainless and nickel silver, it lasts a long time, and isn’t quite as hard as stainless, yet tonally a little closer to nickel. This fret wire however, is naturally golden in colour, so if you’re looking to ass more “Bling” to your instrument, as well as retain the sound and feel of nickel silver, its a fantastic choice.
Now for the BIG argument.. TONE! What does it mean to you? It is all a little subjective when it comes to solid body electric guitars, as an instrument is only going to play as well as it is finished and set up for “you” as the player. Some say this fret wire is better than that fret wire, but ANY fret wire installed incorrectly is going to produce a poorly playing instrument as a result. Bottom line, worry less about what material is going to make you a star player, and worry more about finding a star repairer who is fit to do this job for you!
- Fundamental rotation/different strings:
Fundamental rotation is a strings wavering pattern along the length of string being played. This pattern rotates in an elliptical motion, which spins on a central location similar to how the earth rotates and swings around the sun as per the image below. In the second image you can this rotation along the third to 7th natural harmonic node.
This motion is smaller or larger dependent on how hard the string is struck, the string gauge, the tuning the string is in, as well as the type of string material such as stainless vs nickel silver, as they weigh different.
- Fretting tools/pre shaped files/3 corner files
There are various types of fret dressing files on the market, some are designed to be faster than others, but not necessarily better. Crowning a fret requires finesse and accuracy, creating a new crown/dome on the fret is a matter of technique as well as tool choice. The image on the left you will see a pre shaped crowning file, which generally comes in 2-4 sizes, however because fret profiles come in 10-15 different crown profiles and shapes these generally tend to be one size fits all tools, and can produce a flatter crown than normal, resulting in reduced crown life and cause frets to become flatter, sooner. The image on the right is a series of 3 corner files, which are our preferred method of fret crowning, as this allows full control over the same of the fret crown, no matter the height, width or profile of the fret.
- Nut materials/bone/plastic/synthetic
There are many different type of nut material, some bright, some dense, some dark, and some ILLEGAL!
Plastic:
Most mass manufacturing companies will use plastic as a means of cost cutting and efficiency, with tone being the trade off, plastic is cheap, easy, and injection moulded, and used as a bare minimum on most entry level guitars, it is not always cut correctly, which increases string drag, reduces tuning stability, is dull in sound, and an upgrade is always the first thing we recommend to any new instrument with a plastic nut.
Graphite:
Black in colour, graphite is a good option, especially for guitars with a tremolo. It is “self lubricating” for low friction, and is a good option for anyone having tuning instability. A good graphite nut helps with tuning stability in combination with a tremolo. Cheap graphite nuts, however, tend to kill your sustain, so make sure your repairer has it installed correctly.
High Tech Plastic:
A few different nut types fall under this category, and those are, Tusq, Micarta and Corian, all high end, dense plastics that are uniform in colour and density, and designed to give the look of real bone, without the effort of having one made, they are standard on many of the popular models of guitars, including the “Big Two” companies.
Brass:
Brass was very popular in the 80’s, and is still used by some manufacturers today, it is incredibly dense, and will probably last you forever, in small amounts it can sound very bright and some complain almost “shrill” yet larger nuts can sound darker and more mellow, it comes down to mass, the same reason smaller brass tremolo blocks can add sustain and resonance, and large blocks can decrease it.
Bone:
Bone remains the go to nut material for many repairers and luthiers, and is the historically correct material for vintage guitars. Nothing is quite as pleasing as a polished bone nut on a one-piece maple neck! The tone is very balanced and the open strings are never too loud or shrill, and it will last a long time. It is important to use unbleached bone as you’ll read in a moment, because it naturally self-lubricates, which helps you stay in tune when using a tremolo. Plus, cosmetically, unbleached bone can be polished to a higher shine than bleached bone. I prefer unbleached camel bone. It is comparable to ivory in tone and appearance, and has a very even density.
Ivory and Fossil Ivory:
Ivory is said to be the premium material for guitar nuts, providing the great tone. However, the material is questionable from an ecological point of view, and buying ivory is risking that an elephant or walrus is being killed for it. The only acceptable way to get ivory is what is referred to as fossil ivory. Fossil ivory comes from animals that died naturally millions of years ago and has been found throughout the planet. it sounds warmer, mellower and more defined than bone. The difference is very subtle, but still audible. Another bonus is the range of colors, from creamy white to yellowish to dark brown. When polished, it can be breathtaking. Fossil ivory is not cheap, so you’ll have to decide whether it is worth it for you, But I highly suggest not trying to source this material via underground sources, it his illicit, and forbidden in most countries, and your moral compass is probably a little skewed if you’re sourcing this material by unethical means.
- Unbleached vs bleached bone
Now heres something not everyone talks about.. Bleached bone VS Unbleached bone, Whats the difference?
If you’ve ever seen the bright white coloured bone nuts you’ll see on some mass produced guitars today, you know what a bleached bone nut looks like, its taken through a chemical process that draws out any oils/fats from the bone and balances out discolouration with bleaching, this gives a more uniform “white” colour though also has some draw backs.. its more brittle, and “can” cause wound strings to bind up on the inside of the nut slot, if not lubricated or slotted correctly, this has been something we had to learn in time, as a correctly cut bone nut should should be improving tuning stability, however some bone sources we’ve used haven’t helped this dilemma. There isn’t anything particularly wrong with it though, we just prefer unbleached, for the below reasons..
Unbleached bone, is more natural, and still contains the oils/waxes in the bone, we’ve found it to be less brittle, and more dense (longer lasting). Not only are these good points but the oils from the unbleached non-chemically treated bone help with string lubrication in the nut slot, and is, in our opinion, one of the best bang for buck modifications to ANY guitar.
- Nut shape and profile/tuning instability
Your nut profile should be a half circle/half moon curving from the rear end of the base of the nut, to the peak where the strings sit, with the strings sitting no more than 2/3 of the way in each slot like you can see in the first image. This gives your strings minimal contact over the top of the nut, dramatically reducing friction, as excess friction is the reason your strings will struggle to stay in tune. Note the second image showing excess string travel through the nut as well as being cut too deep. Nut’s cut like this will grab and pinch at strings as they slide through the nut slots when tuning up/down or bending, which drags strings through the nut slightly.
Nuts should be polished, this removes any burrs and sharp protruding edges where the string travels, minimising the risk of strings being caught on these sharp edges. Ever had a plastic nut on a cheaper guitar and the tuning stability has been terrible? This is because factory nuts are often cut too deep, have too much string travel/contact through the nut and aren’t refined/polished enough, just like the second image I mentioned.
- Tuner shape and why/locking tuners are generally staggered:
A tuning keys shape, is that of an hourglass, with the string hole in the middle. This is so that a top wrap followed by consecutive bottom wraps, will “clamp” the entry point of the string when under tension, and with strings wrapping to the base of the hourglass, this also proving ample break angle over the near of the nut.
What you will also see are staggered tuning machine, generally when you purchase locking tuners some will be staggered to compensate for low headstock angle, such as a on a fender as seen below, and this is why you will see string trees on fender style instruments.
Where as a Gibsons usually have a steeper headstock angle and often doesn’t need staggered tuners or string trees to re create efficient break angle.
Break angle helps with vibration transference into the nut, slightly helping overall resonance and sustain, and will also help negate that “sitar” sound when plucking an open string, which is caused by a string being a little smaller than the nut slot, and the fundamental rotation of that string causing it to shift back and forth inside that nut slot.
Setup walkthrough
Strings off:
Fret cleaning:
Fingerboard cleaning:
Cleaning the guitar:
Strings on and methods/tuner types:
Adjusting the neck and why:
Adjusting action, Floyd, TOM, 6 saddle:
Nut action brief run down:
Play, re check specs:
Intonation:
Play re check, make adjustments:
