Lighter gauges for heavy fret wear?

Salem6127

Salem6127

Jan 7, 2021
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#1
Recently acquired a used Ibanez SR Prestige. Great bass, but the frets are very beaten up (still playable, not a ton of buzz yet, but some fairly deep dents in the wire). I do really love this bass though, so was considering busting out a pack of TI Jazz rounds from my stash.

Now, these strings are infamously light (.89 on the E), would this lighter gauge prolong my frets? I recall hearing somewhere that lighter gauges wear frets faster, but this seems like hogwash to me.

Strangely enough, seems like a thicker gauge (will have to find the 'ol calipers to confirm) of XL's is currently strung at the moment. At least, it's thicker than the .45-.105 on my other basses.

Is there a reason the previous owner strung this bass with a larger gauge? Do thicker strings have less buzz on worn in frets? Am asking because I don't want to have to do a full setup just to put everything back again if I have mad fret buzz with considerably thinner strings.
 
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#4
As a player who has had to have a complete refret on one particular bass from twenty years' of wear: all the above. See if any of the frets can be recrowned to extend their life; then refret when worn out. Since the frets are already worn, the selection of strings doesn't matter from a wear standpoint, so play your favorite set.
 
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#6
Yep, seems like treating the issue now is probably for the best.

On a side note, regarding the wear of smaller vs larger gauges I did stumble upon this excerpt online:
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Seems logically sound, but obviously not enough reason for it to impact preference of string choice.
 
#7
Salem6127 said:
Yep, seems like treating the issue now is probably for the best.

On a side note, regarding the wear of smaller vs larger gauges I did stumble upon this excerpt online:
View attachment 4930431

Seems logically sound, but obviously not enough reason for it to impact preference of string choice.
Click to expand...
Hmmm. That would make it appear that given constant finger pressure on the string to fret, the lighter gauge string may even wear frets faster, with narrower but deeper divots. Let's see: I used 45-60-80-105 strings on the bass I wore out the frets over twenty years. Does this mean that if I had used 40-55-75-95 that I would have worn out the frets in less time?
 
#9
Geri O said:
Forget what you heard....

Put on your usual preferred set of strings and enjoy that bass until it needs a fret job.
Click to expand...

i
Salem6127 said:
Recently acquired a used Ibanez SR Prestige. Great bass, but the frets are very beaten up (still playable, not a ton of buzz yet, but some fairly deep dents in the wire). I do really love this bass though, so was considering busting out a pack of TI Jazz rounds from my stash.

Now, these strings are infamously light (.89 on the E), would this lighter gauge prolong my frets? I recall hearing somewhere that lighter gauges wear frets faster, but this seems like hogwash to me.

Strangely enough, seems like a thicker gauge (will have to find the 'ol calipers to confirm) of XL's is currently strung at the moment. At least, it's thicker than the .45-.105 on my other basses.

Is there a reason the previous owner strung this bass with a larger gauge? Do thicker strings have less buzz on worn in frets? Am asking because I don't want to have to do a full setup just to put everything back again if I have mad fret buzz with considerably thinner strings.
Click to expand...

like Gerry o said, put on your your favs on it and let it rip.

But let me add that when switching gauges, keep an eye on your neck, it may need a truss Rod adjustment.
 
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#10
The only sensible thing to do here is to bring the bass to a luthier or a good guitar tech and get the frets levelled and crowned. Why would you want to play a bass with deep dents in the frets when it can be easily fixed??? Especially with such a great bass. Ibanez Prestige series can be fantastic instruments but not when it's in the condition you're describing. 1-2 hours with a luthier will give you an AMAZING bass.

Also, TI Jazz rounds on a bass with deep dents in the frets is probably a very bad idea. TIJRs vibrate with a HUGE amplitude compared to most other strings. They will bring out any issues with the neck/frets. With deep dents in the frets you will most likely experience severe fret buzz.
 
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#12
Salem6127 said:
Yep, seems like treating the issue now is probably for the best.

On a side note, regarding the wear of smaller vs larger gauges I did stumble upon this excerpt online:
View attachment 4930431

Seems logically sound, but obviously not enough reason for it to impact preference of string choice.
Click to expand...

Cilindrical strings make contact with the fret on a single point, regardless of the diameter of the cilinder. String start having a significant, larger contact area when they start to wear out and deform; and how much they deform is not directly linked with the gauge. So, new strings wear frets more than old strings.
If it depended on the gauge, frets would wear much more under the g string than under the e string (and guitar strings would dig through frets), but that is not always the case.

Anyway, the correct answer is getting those frets dressed and use any string you like.
 
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#16
If you mash strings down using more force than necessary, maybe smaller gauges will give you more fret wear, but smaller gauges need LESS force to fret a note cleanly. As the tension goes with the diameter squared, and the surface area goes with the diameter, if you use an appropriate amount of force on smaller gauge strings, you will have LESS force per unit area. Hence your frets should last longer with smaller gauge strings.
 
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#17
If you like the bass enough to invest in it, consider having it PLEK'd. If you don't know, PLEK is like CNC for fret jobs -- it's designed to give you the best fret job possible while removing the minimum amount of material from the frets as they're being worked, i.e., frets last longer.
 
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#18
I'd probably avoid stainless-steel-wrapped strings on a bass that's near time to get work done, but if you play with a light left hand, those are probably fine too. Technique is a huge factor in fret life; pressing down more than needed, digging in with string bends, etc will do damage in a hurry.

That aside, I've got my Ibanez SR1346B Premium in my lap right now and have not once in two years of owning it been unimpressed by its build, feel, and sound.

That Prestige has to live at an even higher level! If you think it's a longterm keeper... I'd go ahead and get the work done. That's money out of the pocket, but also investment in peace of mind and longevity and satisfaction.
 
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