Opinions on Grizzly fretwire?

[Eddie McRae]

Just wondering if anyone had used any of the Grizzly fretwires and what you thought of them? I've always used Stewmac wire but was thinking of trying some of the Grizzly.

[Louie Atienza]

I have a lot, and used them on the Challenges. I think they're a bit softer than StewMac. A bit lower than I like for electric.

[Eddie McRae]

That's what I had noticed Louie. Their wire seems to be about .010" shorter than Stewmac's. Plus I figure it would have to be a bit softer since it's copper/nickel rather than silver/nickel. I was thinking of using it for this next challenge if I enter it...and also maybe using it on some of my resonators since fret wear isn't a big issue with them.

[David King]

There is no silver (Ag) in fretwire. The alloy is sometimes called "German silver" or "Nickel silver" but it's mostly copper (about 60%) with nickel (12-18%) and some zinc and possibly beryllium and even lead for good measure. The percentage of nickel and work-hardening determines the hardness. There aren't many fretwire mills worldwide so Grizzly is probably buying there wire from Asia (Dae Hung in South Korea seems likely). Aside for Sintoms which is in the former Soviet Union, the two main purveyors are Jescar and Polymet. Jescar's mill is in Germany while Polymet is in Eastern Mass. I prefer Jescar's wire myself but there are surely many opinions out there.

[David King]

Here are some links, the dimensions will usually clue you in to who is making a given wire if you want to know.
http://dhp.cc/b2.html

http://www.jescar.com/

http://www.polymet.com/fret_wire.html

http://www.sintoms.infonet.by/FretsProduction.htm

[Eddie McRae]

Thanks David. I checked out all the links with the exception of Polymet which wouldn't open for some reason. Their site may be down at the moment. But by comparing dimensions (and prices as well), it looks like Stewmac's wire may come from Jescar. But none of the sites had wire that was close to the dimensions of the Grizzly wire. Grizzly specs their wire at 18% Nickel just like Stewmac's wire but I'm leary of their .035" crown height. That seems rather low to me. I did, however, order a small quantity earlier today and I'm gonna try it out and see. Otherwise, I'll most likely just stick with Stewmac wire. It's basically the same price per pound as Jescar.

[Louie Atienza]

I guess it could possible that you can run them through a fret bender in an attempt to work-harden them? I never tried this since they come with a radius on them that works with my fretboards.

I did buy a 5 pound roll a while back that StewMac was blowing out, Tall, but not as wide as their jumbo, almost trapezoidal shaped, for a really low price. I think under $100.

[David King]

I certainly wouldn't expect my list to be comprehensive. There are almost certainly some Chinese fret mills by now.
I see Polymet does have some .036" tall wire.
I get my fretwire in 5 LB rolls from DiMarzio and I have no idea where they get it although I've heard a rumor it's made in Holland. It might just be Jescar. It comes highly polished and it has a narrower barb width and seems harder than any of the other wires I've used, I absolutely love the stuff but I abhor dealing with DiMarzio to get it.