Fret work Im afraid.

[Ripper]

Does using a capo harm the fretwires?
I have deep ruts in my 6 year old Strat's frets. They run parallell with the strings...maybe its cheap fretwire?

[Mini-Strat_Maine]

deepblue said:

Does using a capo harm the fretwires?

I don't think so, but I could be mistaken. I haven't heard of it in 30+ years around guitar stuff, anyway.
I also recently got the Artemis Editions book The Guitarist's Guide to the Capo, and just checked the section on "potential drawbaacks of the capo." No mention in there of fret wear.

I have deep ruts in my 6 year old Strat's frets. They run parallell with the strings...maybe its cheap fretwire?

"Stuff happens," or "time wounds all heels." In other words, things do wear out, and some things wear out faster than others. Could be the frets, your playing style, or who knows. (Or various combinations of factors.)

I just took my LP copy to a local shop to get the nut replaced and have the frets looked at. The grooves in those frets were deep enough that I noticed them after I removed the strings, but the shop owner said they're not really a concern. He did offer to dress the frets if I really wanted it done.

You were going to replace yours anyway, to better accomodate bending, right? Or was that a different axe?

[Ripper]

Yes, I am going to replace the frets. I need taller 6105's. I was just wondering if I should not use my capo as much. I was even considering just getting a SRV strat and treating myself to a new guitar with bigger frets and the Texas specials that I love so much...what to do, what to do! Nothings cheap these day so im still on the fence about that. ( Its a Libra thing! )
Thanks for the response Mini-Strat_Maine. The info I get from gentlemen like yourself helps me a great deal.

[Runewalker]

Does using a capo harm the fretwires?

Fretwires are not nuts, and yes capos will accelerate string 'grooving" of the fret. I recall a pix in one of Dan Erlewine's book (I think) where he showed the damage a capo can produce when forcing the strings and their vibration against a fret. I went and looked for it but did not find it.

I have seen nut tools made out of small lengths of taut wound string, used to finish and round the bottoms of net grooves. Get your dad's high powered reading glasse and look at a wound E or D. The wound portions act like a file against the fret.

maybe its cheap fretwire?

There are different metallurgies out there. Certainly stainless steel is more resistent to wear, as well as luthier fret dressing. The dominent alloy is some sort of nickel steel. I don't know if mfg save money by using cheaper grades of metal fretting. It is not hard to imagine, I just have not seen any objective studies.

Anecdotally a friend of mine has burned through some thinner vintage style frets in about a year of playing, and some are flat enough to cause buzzing. This was on an Asian clone and he thinks the wear was faster than on others he has.

But poorer quality metalurgy aside, use of a capo alone will groove the frets, especially if it is used more frequently on one key than others.

Here's a link that shows a pix of dug in pits from capo induced fret wear:

www.frets.com/FRETSPages/Musician/GenSetup/Frets/frets01.html

It is an acoustic oriented article, but the principles apply. He mentions the alloy composition.

This is one reason I don't care for a "zero fret" which acts like a permanent capo. It would also accelerate wear on that one fret. This might be offset by using a harder alloy on at least that fret. Then you would precipitate a discussion about the different tone qualities of various fret metalurgies.

I was talking to Rob Hacker, master luthier in Austin, one time about a potential fret job. He told a story about staying up all night with Eric Johnson sampling 10 different rolls of fret wire, taking snippets and dropping on the concrete (like a Sprint commercial) to find the wire with the best "tone." He just shook his head, saying he liked EJ but the obsessiveness drove him (Rob) a little crazy. He also did not buy the "tone fret wire" theory.

RW

[Mini-Strat_Maine]

runewalker said:

I recall a pix in one of Dan Erlewine's book (I think) where he showed the damage a capo can produce when forcing the strings and their vibration against a fret. I went and looked for it but did not find it.

Thanks for reminding me I should have looked in my D.E. book, too. (D'oh!)
I flipped through Guitar Player Repair Guide, but didn't see anything. (Tons of good info in there, though.)

Here's a link that shows a pix of dug in pits from capo induced fret wear:

www.frets.com/FRETSPages/Musician/GenSetup/Frets/frets01.html

Good link, R.W.!
I just posted the link to that site's "Buzz Diagnosis" page for Random Hero in his "Troubleshooting multiple buzzes in an acoustic" thread.
I love it when I learn something new, and especially this early in the day.