84 Strat ST70 fret question

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mydogiszen

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Hi folks

I think I'm going to have to do a re-fret on my ST70 Super Edition Strat.

The neck is a 7.25" radius, small h/stock etc. The frets have had a pretty poor levelling by a tech for the previous owner. So I can't get a feel for how high the frets were originally. (I will be taking out a hump in the top of the neck - fret Nos 14 - 18 are about as low as cigarette paper!)

I was thinking of getting Fender Vintage Fret Wires - but I might like a slightly taller fret. If I go for Jumbos it will probably mean a new nut as well as the current nut will no doubt be too low for higher frets.

Does anyone have any views?

All the best

Steve
 
I'd replace the nut with the frets to assure a proper match. Me, I'd split the difference and go with medium jumbo frets - they'll give you the meat you are looking for. Here's a basic primer on fret wire:

http://www.fender.com/news/fret-sizes/
 
marcusnieman said:
Me, I'd split the difference and go with medium jumbo frets...

Same here. Although I'd also want to take some of the radius out of it (not an option when preserving originality) and use an oil soaked cow bone nut! :lol:
 
JVsearch said:
marcusnieman said:
Me, I'd split the difference and go with medium jumbo frets...

Same here. Although I'd also want to take some of the radius out of it (not an option when preserving originality) and use an oil soaked cow bone nut! :lol:

Mmm. Not a bad idea. I'm not too fussed about originality on this guitar. It's nice, but a work horse rather than a museum piece - worth more to me than its resale value, which in this market can't be much north of ?250-350 at a push.

Maybe this is a good time to take the whole radius down to 9.5" and put some medium jumbos on :)

All the best
Steve
 
Me again!

I am definitely changing the radius to 9.5".

I'm probably going to use Jescar FW 50085, which is a nice happy medium.

Now here's my concern:

The SD neck is lacquered black right up to the top of the fingerboard - covering the ends of the fret tangs - exactly as if the neck were edged with binding.

As I am going to be messing with the neck by changing the radius, I'm thinking of cutting the fret slots straight across to save me the hassle of pre-trimming the fret ends to cut back the tang. In other words, it will look like a normal maple/RW neck so you can see the tangs, rather than the current black to the top of the RW fretboard.

What's the collective wisdom on this? Do you think it will matter or should I spend the extra hour or so cutting back the frets before fitting them?

Cheers

Steve
 

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