Breaking wrap on wound G & refretting

[JHowdy]

Hello. I've had difficulties with my G6120W-1957 with wound strings. The wrap breaks within, say a couple of months, on a few hours a week playing schedule. Mostly it's the G string that does this and it has happened both with flatwound and roundwound strings, both with 11-52 and 10-46 sets. In the picture below you can see those black spots on the G-string, where the wrapping has broken and the core can be seen.

I know the frets are badly worn and the guitar needs refretting pretty soon. Could this be the reason for the problem, sharp edges on the frets or something? I've had a few Gretsch guitars and I think this is the first one to have this problem.

Question #2. The frets on this guitar are narrow and low, of some vintage style. Would it ruin the guitar if had some taller and wider fret size istalled? Any suggestions?

 

[Ricochet]

Start with a fret polish. It’s cheap and easy. It probably takes longer to tape off the fretboard than to polish the frets. Well… almost!
I have used Brasso and a cotton rag for the longest time which worked perfectly fine, but you can go more fancy if you want.

 

[JHowdy]

I had to check what fret polishing means and I think it's too late to do that. The frets are already badly worn under the 1st and 2nd strings (just look at the first picture). I think I'll take to a professional luthier yet.

 

[swivel]

Hard to see, but it appears to me that the crown of some frets is flat with a sharp transition there. Looking at the right hand fret in your pic. If so, the frets should be crowned and polished.

 

[Henry]

It won't ruin the guitar to get new frets. Medium jumbo seems to be the most common. If you have a guitar store nearby, maybe you can try them. I would avoid tall frets unless you have a delicate touch.

 

[JHowdy]

Hard to see, but it appears to me that the crown of some frets is flat with a sharp transition there. Looking at the right hand fret in your pic. If so, the frets should be crowned and polished.
View attachment 200272

I'll ask for the luthiers opinion of course, but I can't really judge his recommendation .

 

[JHowdy]

It won't ruin the guitar to get new frets. Medium jumbo seems to be the most common. If you have a guitar store nearby, maybe you can try them. I would avoid tall frets unless you have a delicate touch.

I've got a Player Telecaster with medium jumbo frets and I'm pretty pleased with them. So I thought they might suit this Gretsch, too?

 

[Henry]

I've got a Player Telecaster with medium jumbo frets and I'm pretty pleased with them. So I thought they might suit this Gretsch, too?

It should, but that's a personal preference. I am guessing that is the most common on Gretsch now, although my recent Gretsch has vintage frets. I like it for rhythm work but I think I prefer medium jumbo.

I am not sure how it will affect the value of your guitar though, if that's important. Some may want a vintage spec DSW, others may be happy to have medium jumbo.

 

[Ricochet]

I had to check what fret polishing means and I think it's too late to do that. The frets are already badly worn under the 1st and 2nd strings (just look at the first picture). I think I'll take to a professional luthier yet.

I just had a better look. You’re right, it needs a fret dress(level, crown, and polish). You may be surprised how much life is left in those frets.

 

[swivel]

I had to check what fret polishing means and I think it's too late to do that. The frets are already badly worn under the 1st and 2nd strings (just look at the first picture). I think I'll take to a professional luthier yet.

They dont look too bad to me. They will often play fine with a fairly deep divot in them and yours are just mildly worn in a 'longer space' than a divot. 1, 2 and 3 strings they do wear from bending.

 

[Maguchi]

The wrap breaks within, say a couple of months, on a few hours a week playing schedule. Mostly it's the G string that does this and it has happened both with flatwound and roundwound strings, both with 11-52 and 10-46 sets.

Not trying to be snarky or anything. The wrap breaks after a couple months? IMHO that's some pretty good longevity from a set of strings. I play nickel roundwounds so I'm not familiar with how long flatwounds are supposed to last. With nickel strings I change them on a weekly instead of monthly basis just to keep them bright and sparkly sounding with lots of overtones and harmonics. YMMV

 

[loudnlousy]

The wrap breaks within, say a couple of months, on a few hours a week playing schedule.

That`s what I would expect.
Considering that these wires on the wound sting are super-thin they are prone to wear through after such a long playing time.

 

[dlew919]

When you have the job done, when you change the strings, about every 2nd or 3rd time (or every 6 months, whichever comes first), get a silver cloth and clean the frets. When you've done that, get a piece of leather and polish them till they shine. It hardens the frets, and makes them last longer.

 

[Bertotti]

Frets can certainly cause this. How you proceed will depend on what you are comfortable with doing or recommendations from a. Good luthier you know. What are your desires? Fret replacement or a basic fret level crown and polish?

 

[TConnelly]

It looks like that guitar has a conventional nut on it not a zero fret. So if you re-fret with medium jumbos you may need to replace the nut. if you get your frets leveled, re-crowned and polished you won’t. Something to consider.

Cheers…………….…Todd

 

[JHowdy]

Thank you for your thoughts and sorry for the delay in answering to them.

If I choose a re-fret then the luthier will make a new bone saddle, too. Haven't asked about crowhing them yet, but I'll get to it when I take the guitar to him, in March or so. I have to play two gigs yet before that.

Here are closeup pictures of the worst frets 1, 2 and 3. The notch on fret #2 is pretty deep,

 

[JHowdy]

Not trying to be snarky or anything. The wrap breaks after a couple months? IMHO that's some pretty good longevity from a set of strings. I play nickel roundwounds so I'm not familiar with how long flatwounds are supposed to last. With nickel strings I change them on a weekly instead of monthly basis just to keep them bright and sparkly sounding with lots of overtones and harmonics. YMMV

Maybe so but this is the first guitar for me with this kind of problem. I've used wound G-strings for over a decade in several guitars, can't remember exact string change intervals, but as I never had this problem before they seem to break now way too quickly.

 

[Bertotti]

Thank you for your thoughts and sorry for the delay in answering to them.

If I choose a re-fret then the luthier will make a new bone saddle, too. Haven't asked about crowhing them yet, but I'll get to it when I take the guitar to him, in March or so. I have to play two gigs yet before that.

Here are closeup pictures of the worst frets 1, 2 and 3. The notch on fret #2 is pretty deep,

Worn but I have seen a lot worse. Are you a bit heavy handed on the fretting and bending a lot? I have an opposite issue playing. I tend to fret too lightly and get a little buzz. I do however know guys that like to put the string right on the fret board if they can. Neither is right or wrong or better yet I would say both are wrong from my POV. I think there is such a fine line between too much and too little fretting pressure.

 

[JHowdy]

It should, but that's a personal preference. I am guessing that is the most common on Gretsch now, although my recent Gretsch has vintage frets. I like it for rhythm work but I think I prefer medium jumbo.

I am not sure how it will affect the value of your guitar though, if that's important. Some may want a vintage spec DSW, others may be happy to have medium jumbo.

That's a good point about the authenticity, but since this is 'just' a 2003 G6120W-1957, the unofficial Eddie Cochran model, and since Eddie modified his original DSW into an EC, I think I can modify this one, too .

 

[JHowdy]

Worn but I have seen a lot worse. Are you a bit heavy handed on the fretting and bending a lot? I have an opposite issue playing. I tend to fret too lightly and get a little buzz. I do however know guys that like to put the string right on the fret board if they can. Neither is right or wrong or better yet I would say both are wrong from my POV. I think there is such a fine line between too much and too little fretting pressure.

I guess I'm a bit heavy handed, clumsy player strumming lots of open chords, doing slides, hammerings and some bendings, too. To be honest I seldom feel quite relaxed playing a guitar.