Frets

Despite anything you might have heard, "German Silver" actually contains no silver, and never did. It is an alloy of copper with a percentage of nickel added for durability, as well as the silvery color. The most common alloy for traditional fretwire is about 18% nickel, 80% copper, and the rest various other dreadful things such as lead and cadmium.

The "gold" wire referred to below as EVO wire is a nickel-free hypoallergenic alloy originally devised to make eyeglass frames for folks with nickel allergies. It contains no gold, of course, and makes wonderful fretwire. I wish it was available in more sizes.

SS indicates Jescar's stainless steel wire. Eats tools real fast.

I have rendered these charts in inches, to simplify comparisons, and have skipped most wires with nickel content lower than 18%.

From large to small, more or less. Tang widths are to be double-checked, as different mfrs have different ways of measuring them. Some include beading, some don't. Stew-Mac lists tang heights, and says "Our tang is sized to fit a 0.023" (0.58mm) fret slot width."

Mfr/ Supplier	No.	Material	A - Crown height	B - Crown width	C - Tang width
Dunlop	6000	18% NS	.058	.118	.021
Dunlop	6110	18% NS	.050	.115	.020
Dunlop	6120	18% NS	.051	.114	.024
Jescar	55090	18% NS - SS	.055	.090	.020
Jescar	50078	18%	.050	.078	.020
Jescar	57110	18% NS - SS - EVO	.057	.110	.020
Dunlop	6100	18% NS	.055	.110	.021
Dunlop	6105	18% NS	.055	.090	.020
Stew-Mac	150	18% NS	.053	.110	.074 high
Stew-Mac	154	18% NS	.050	.100	.060
Jescar	51108	18% NS	.051	.108	.022
Jescar	47104	18% NS - SS	.047	.104	.020
Jescar	45100	18% NS	.045	.100	.022
Dunlop	6105	18% NS	.055	.090	.021
Jescar	47095	18% NS - SS	.047	.095	.021
Jescar	55090	18% NS - SS	.055	.090	.020
Dunlop	6130	18% NS	.036	.106	.020
Dunlop	6140	18% NS	.039	.106	.024
Dunlop	6150	18% NS	.042	.102	.020
Dunlop	6170	18% NS	.043	.099	.024

Mfr/ Supplier	No.	Material	A - Crown height	B - Crown width	C - Tang width
Dunlop	6190	18% NS	.039	.084	.029
Stew-Mac	148	18% NS	.039	.084	.055
Stew-Mac	155	18% NS	.050	.080	.048
Dunlop	6220	18% NS	.043	.079	.038
Dunlop	6260	18% NS	.039	.079	.037
Saga	FW-1	?	.043	.079	.020	self-tempering guitar
Saga	FW-2	12%	.043	.079	.020	standard guitar
Saga	FW-3	18% NS	.043	.079	.020	stiff
Saga	FW-20	12% NS	.035	.079	.024	modern banjo/mandolin
Dunlop	6260	18% NS	.039	.079	.037
Jescar	37080	18% NS - SS - EVO	.037	.080	.019
Jescar	50078	NS	.050	.078	.020
Stew-Mac	147	18% NS	.040	.080	.062
Jescar	43080	18% NS - SS - EVO	.043	.080	.020
Dunlop	6230*	18% NS	.043	.078	.035
Dunlop	6290	18% NS	.040	.078	.030
Dunlop	6240	18% NS	.037	.080	.031
Dunlop	6250	18% NS	.030	.075	.036
Dunlop	6270	18% NS	.030	.075	.036

Mfr/ Supplier	No.	Material	A - Crown height	B - Crown width	C - Tang width
Stew-Mac	764	18% NS	.037	.053	.054
Jescar	39040	18% NS - SS	.039	.040	.020
Dunlop	6310	18% NS	.031	.053	.037
Dunlop	6330	18% NS	.031	.043	.031
Gibson	old	??% NS	.032	.036	.025
Dunlop	6320	18% NS	.029	.047	.028
Saga	FW-10	?	.028	.063	.024	Vintage mandolin/banjo

*Dunlop 6230* wire, above, was for many years (and may still be) the standard Martin guitar wire.
Stew-Mac's #147 is thought of as "banjo wire." I use it for either banjo and mandolin, and older guitars.
Stew-Mac #155 is a fairly standard contemporary guitar wire.

Purchasing sources:

Dunlop Manufacturing, Inc.
P.O. Box 846 Benicia, Ca 94510
707.745.2722
http://www.jimdunlop.com/

Jescar Enterprises, Inc. (They say they will make any wire in any alloy for a reasonable minimum order)
213 Airport Executive Park
Nanuet, New York 10954
Phone: 845-352-5850
                877-4-JESCAR (877-453-7227)
Fax:      845-425-1366
eMail: sales@jescar.com
http://jescar.com/fretwire.html

Stewart-MacDonald
PO Box 900
Athens, OH 45701
USA
http://www.stewmac.com/
800-848-2273   9am-6pm EST, M-F

Warmoth Guitar Products Inc.
West Coast USA
253-845-0403
www.warmoth.com/

This is not intended to be an endorsement of anyone. There are other good wires available, but these are the main ones I know of and deal with in the US. These are not the entire offerings of the suppliers noted above, merely what I thought was important.

If you have comments, or corrections, please drop me a line.

Here's a simplified old Dunlop chart. Their sizes have changed a bit, though I have never found their specs to be
very reliable, even within a single roll anyway.