Favourite fret wire

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phavriluk
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Re: Favourite fret wire

Post by phavriluk »

John, thank you for answering. No need to worry about arms-length pricing worries. Service, insight, and advice trump pricing concerns for me.
peter havriluk
tippie53
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Re: Favourite fret wire

Post by tippie53 »

thanks
John Hall
Blues Creek Guitars Inc
Authorized CF Martin Repair Center
president of Association of Stringed Instrument Artisans
http://www.bluescreekguitars.com
Bob Gleason
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Re: Favourite fret wire

Post by Bob Gleason »

Having used nippers to bend a radius for many years, and also working with the radius that comes off a roll of fretwire, my fretwork definitely got better when I finally got a fretwire bender. Certainly not a totally necessary tool, but everything goes better with the right tools.
tippie53
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Re: Favourite fret wire

Post by tippie53 »

which one do you have
John Hall
Blues Creek Guitars Inc
Authorized CF Martin Repair Center
president of Association of Stringed Instrument Artisans
http://www.bluescreekguitars.com
Danl8
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Re: Favourite fret wire

Post by Danl8 »

Bob Gleason wrote:Having used nippers to bend a radius for many years, and also working with the radius that comes off a roll of fretwire, my fretwork definitely got better when I finally got a fretwire bender. Certainly not a totally necessary tool, but everything goes better with the right tools.
I agree; I have the stew mac version and it works like a charm.
Bob Gleason
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Re: Favourite fret wire

Post by Bob Gleason »

I have the current Stew-Mac bender. I had the original, but gave it to my son last year. It worked just as good as the current one. With either one, you have to pay attention to the wire a bit or it can flop over on it's side, but that's easy to control. It would be cool if the bearing that bends the wire could have a concave trough to help hold the wire in position, but I suppose that would just make the thing cost a lot more.
Danl8
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Re: Favourite fret wire

Post by Danl8 »

Bob Gleason wrote:...It would be cool if the bearing that bends the wire could have a concave trough to help hold the wire in position, but I suppose that would just make the thing cost a lot more.
My bender has a groove in the drive wheel for the tang. That seems to prevent side-to-side rolling. The only issue with it is that due to the geometry of the tool the first and last bit of wire doesn't get bent so you lose a little (or needs to be hand bent).
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