The Chetboard

I just took my guitar g6122 Country Gentleman 2009 in to drees the frets and he said they were shot going to replace 12 frets has anyone else had to replace frets this quick on there Country Gentleman. I got a hold of Gretsch they wouldn't do anything I just play the guitar at home but I do practice alot the first 4 frets were really bad.

You're probably fretting harder than you need to. I'm like that too. Perhaps not as hard as you but there it is...

You might consider doing a re-fret with stainless frets, if any others are showing signs of wear . . .

It's a little pricey, but you'll never have to worry about it again . . .

Ted, if you follow Mike´s philosophy, "If BRUTE-FORCE isn't working, you're just not applying enough of it ! ! !", no wonder your frets get worn down quickly!

Concerning the stainless frets, banjo players really wear frets in the 1st - 5th fret area - especially on the 2nd and 3rd strings. I've heard of players replacing high wear frets every 6-9 mopnths. I started seeing the stainless frets being used about 10-15 years ago for banjo refrets, but you see very little mention of them now. I've talked to several banjo builders and players, and the consensus is the stainless frets added to the brightness of the tone. Some players claim they can hear a difference between frets that are stainless and the ones that are nickel silver (when they're mixed together on the same fret board). To keep from losing the more mellow and bassey tone, most banjo players opt for nickel silver and live with the maintenance. I'm not sure what the results would be on electric guitar, but it is something to consider.

Thanks,
Jeff Stovall

Well I've decided to go with smaller frets and dumping the bar bridge this maybe a mistake a costly one at that about $400 dollars I also so have issues with the bigsby which they are taking apart to look at and oil with Mobil One if you can believe that thanks eveyone for the imput. Ted

The frets, no matter what you put in, you can get used to.

Were I thee I would put the bar bridge in a safe place. I tried two varieties of Tun O Matic type bridges on my Gent and found the tone and sustain much better with the bar bridge and even better sustain with a Tru Arc bar bridge.

Paul occasionally had issues with the main bearings not being seated properly on the Bigsby and causing binding. I can't imaging anything that would require taking it apart to make it function better. You may have a sour unit but you didn't specify what issues you had with the Bigsby.

Good luck with your project. I hope it does what you want it to do.

Ted Carroll wrote:I also so have issues with the bigsby which they are taking apart to look at and oil with Mobil One if you can believe that

Motor oil will run right out of the needle bearings. I use Silicone Plumbers Grease available at Lowes' . . .

(1) Remove the Bigsby from the instrument, remove the pins & slide the axis shaft out from the bearings.

(2) Flush the bearings clean with Laquer Thinner or MEK, & blow 'em dry with compressed air.

(3) Re-pack the needle bearings with the Silicone Grease & re-assemble.

Silicone grease is the only thing I've found that doesn't eventually gum up . . .

The Bigsby is causing the guitar not to stay in tune pushing down is ok when you work the Bigsby handle up it doesn't return to pitch till you push back down on the handle . Thanks Mike for the tip. Ted.

If the string bar doesn't turn freely (with bare fingers) when the strings are off the guitar then your main bearings are out of kilter and binding. I've seen one unit that was like that.
All the grease in the world won't fix that.,