Official Luthiers Forum!

Howdy All,

There was a recent thread here about where to purchase bar fret wire. I just had a lovely phone conversation about it with our own crazymanmichael and I figured I would post this info on the OLF so that all who are interested would know:

TJ Thompson manufactures bar fret wire and has it for sale in 16 widths (thicknesses) from .045 inches to .060 inches. The height of the wire is .154 inches which is the same height as the wire that the Martin Co. sold.

If anyone is interested in purchasing bar fret wire from TJ feel free to give me a holler here on the forum or via the forum's Private Messenger.

Best wishes to all,
Viv

Thanks for the information. I collect and restore historic instruments and often encounter bar frets and always struggle with source of supply.

Thanks,
Shawn

Thanks Viv,

Matt

when i called tj thompson earlier this week i was very pleasantly surprised to find that the person answering the phone was forum member vivian. some may remember she posted a week or so ago regarding having to dispose of some of her personal shop tooling due to house renovation pressures.

i was awaiting information she is forwarding on the various wires available.

good to know there is a new source since martin ceased selling the wire.

Hello All,

Here's more info about the bar fret wire and ordering info for those
interested in making a purchase:

The wire is available in 16 gauges from .045 inches to .060 inches wide
(thick).
This bar fret wire is gauged, flattened, radiused and ready to install!

Gone are the days of wrestling a mass of twisted bar fret fettucine to
the ground! Hooray!

The price is $3/foot.
Shipping is $8 for any quantity ordered. (It is shipped in a cardboard
tube.)

To place an order please send:
1. Specifications for which gauge(s) you wish to order - and -
2. How many feet of each gauge - and -
3. Your shipping address - and -
4. Check or money order for the total cost of your order plus $8 for
shipping ...

To:
T. J. Thompson   
PO Box 1286
Concord MA 01742

If you have any questions please feel free to contact me via the OLF/
Private Messenger.

Thanks and Happy Fretting,
Viv

The shipping cost of $8 per order applies to shipments made to the lower
48 states-US.

Please contact me for shipping costs if your delivery address is outside of
that area.

Thanks!
Viv

thanks again for the information, and thank tj for providing the product and service. will get an order to you this week or next once i measure up which guages i need first.

You are most welcome! I will pass along your sentiments to TJ.

Thanks for your message,
Viv

Thank you Vivian,

I've been hooked on these bar frets, however unpopular, as a guitarist since I
learned to play with an old guitar that had them. At the time, I didn't know
there was anything else.

I don't know what width my old departed Martin had. Maybe some of you
out there could shed some light on that, but at any rate, I'll be putting in an
order.

john g

Hi John,

You are welcome! That's an interesting sequence; most people have never
heard of bar frets and don't know that there is/was any type of fret other
than modern "t" frets. I, too, like bar frets! When done correctly they make
the guitar so much easier to play. And there is much said about how they
stiffen the neck and even improve tone and sustain.

Best regards,
Viv

Mmnnn ... I'll bet I'm not the only one who'd like to know the right way to install bar frets. How about a tutorial from someone who knows? That would make a fine entry into the OLF library.

_________________
D..

Hi Dennis,

I'll see if I might be able to help in the near future. In the meantime I would like to point out that working with bar frets IS different in some important respects. So it makes good sense to know what you're dealing with before attempting it. Some resources to check out include Dan Erlewine's Fret Basics II DVD - I believe TJ is at the end of the video and discusses it (I've never seen it so I don't know exactly what's on it). Also in Dan Elrewine's book Fretting Basics there are a couple of paragraphs about it. Are there any resources on the web?

Viv

Frank Ford has a pictorial on refretting bar frets. I suspect that most of what he says can be applied to installing new ones.

ps: Good to hear from you Viv. I haven't seen you at New England Luthiers meeting in a couple of years. I'm glad to see that you are still building.

[QUOTE=Mike Mahar] ps: Good to hear from you Viv. I haven't seen you at New England Luthiers meeting in a couple of years. I'm glad to see that you are still building.
[/QUOTE]

Thanks, Mike! Good to hear from you, too!
Still at it, too, I see

Best wishes,
Viv

I just read Frank Ford's article on refretting bar frets. Looks great!
Thanks for the tip, Mike!
Viv