Keuzes in fretdraad

With our Sintoms fret wire we offer quite a lot of different sizes, materials and types. To help you make your choice we prepared the following guidelines and overviews. Next to other factors as hand sizes, playing style and technique, it really comes to personal taste.

First of all a table that helps you find the right Sintoms frets in case you are used to another brand:

Crown height:

Higher sized frets are easier for so-called bends and hamer on’s/pull off’s and they play lighter because less pressure is needed on the string to tough the fret. On the other hand, if you press the string too hard, you can get unpleasant sharp notes and there might be intonation issues. Because higher frets have more material, they can be recrowned after wear.

Lower sized frets allow for low string height and give a smoother feel when running up and down the fretboard. They do require more accurate placement of your fingers to push the string to the fret. Due to lack of material, the recrowning options after wear are limited.

Crown width:

Narrower frets are more commonly seen on acoustic guitars and say to give a clean note and precise intonation. The smaller size comes in handy at the higher positions, leaving more room for finger placement. Some say they play lighter. On the other hand, they have lesser recrowning possibilities after fret wear, simply because of lack of material.

Wider frets last longer as they provide more surface for the string (spread the pressure) and have more material to re-crown. They could also provide more support with bends. On the other side, with very wide frets and multiple recrowning, the frets may become too wide and give intonation issues.

Sintoms frets listen in a height and width table:

Materials:

Stainless Steel frets say to last a life time. They are extremely wear resistant, but also more difficult to install and require special tools – or accept faster wear of your regular tools. They have a cool bluish metal color.
The Ringing stainless steel frets from Sintoms also improve the sound qualities with increased sustain and a smoother, more natural sound

Bell Bronze is very wear resistant and has excellent tonal capabilities, such as prolonged sustain, clear and full range sound, more articulate while remaining balanced and natural. They have a deep golden color.

Titanium is the lightest fret material and improve the timbre of an instrument. They are more durable than nickel-silver and more easy to work with than stainless steel. They are recommend for use on classical guitars or to be played with nylon or soft metal wound strings to avoid side tones or friction. They have a distinguished darker metal color.

Nickel-silver is the most used material for fret wire. It gives a great sound, is easy to work with and can be polished to a chrome-like state. For increased wear resistance we offer the Elite adamant hard (25%) and extra hard (18%) compositions.

Brass frets are less wear resistant than extra hard nickel-silver frets but a joy to work with and their bright golden color is a great match for guitars with similar hardware. 

Sintoms frets listed in materials in sequence of hardness and crown width:

Our Sintoms frets

Sintoms frets listed in materials in sequence of hardness and crown width.