Builders with best fretwork?

[yanlin]

In general, if we’re strictly talking about fretwork, which builders are the best?

 

[MaxOfMetal]

Fretwork is not all that difficult to get good, so it's a fairly low bar that most successful shops easily meet.

 

[cip 123]

there are lots of custom builders with nice fretwork, Rusti, and Padalka comes to mind.

If you want best off the shelf high end I'd say musicman is the best imo. ESP, Ibanez are pretty good on higher end stuff. James Tyler are very good but do have a unique feel with an almost scalloped fretboard edge, their japanese stuff is equally good. Suhr are also really good.

But it's getting increasingly easy these days to do rounded spherical fret ends etc you can even get that on low end guitars like EART guitars which have excellent fretwork. Brands like Fender and Epiphone have pretty standard but good fretwork, Fender roll the edges of most of their necks nicely these days. That is the same for Jackson, Charvel, EVH etc.

PRS are pretty consistent from SE to USA as having nice fretwork.

In general if you're talking fretwork you also have to talk fretboard edge and how well those are treated. Musicman imo have it all rolled as one seamless feel, fretboard edge and fret end, and for me they're the best currently.

 

[SalsaWood]

Kinda OT, but I never got why rolled fretboard edges make a difference. I don't touch the edges of the frets or board while playing. The only time I notice fret sprout is when I pick my guitars up.

 

[nightsprinter]

I like to microanalyze these things. The answer is probably the luthier closest to you geographically who will build you an African Blackwood neck with richlite/rocklite/ebonol board or a neck made from wood of The Graphite Tree.

All things you likely already know, but for the kids in the back of the class.....Fretwork can be done wonderfully, then when the guitar gets placed on a container ship for an ocean journey or even goes from wet WA state to dry azz Arizona or vice versa, the neck and fingerboard may expand and contract, forcing the frets up and down just enough to piss you off when you're looking for your fast and low 4/64" bass side action. So you may have lovely leveled SS frets that begin to move due to climate acclimation and climate instability and then buzz buzz buzz.

Ultimately, I have rarely had a guitar in my possession at any price point where the original fretwork remained unchanged because I feel that unless it's already been remediated once it's lived in your climate for awhile, it can be better.

Case in point- Ibanez doesn't do a damn thing about fret ends on their maple boards in the Prestige line. But if you buy a guitar from Rich @ Ibanez Rules and pay for him to do a killer job on the frets, you're gonna get some of the best fretwork imaginable.

So I think that even the very best builders fretwork can change relatively quickly with a fresh neck. There are just so many factors to consider- wood quality, drying process and amount of time involved in it, the climate control in the factory/workshop, the type of travel between the shop and your house, the weather, mercury in retrograde, whatever.

EBMM does a good job. Musikraft and Freestone do good work. Ultimately, your local luthier will probably do the best fretwork if you bring it in after you've subjected your new guitar to 6-12 months of the guitar living in your house.

Sorry, I can't make anything simple. Hair splitting is just my thing. And I know I didn't even answer the damn question correctly.

 

[cip 123]

Kinda OT, but I never got why rolled fretboard edges make a difference. I don't touch the edges of the frets or board while playing. The only time I notice fret sprout is when I pick my guitars up.

You would absolutely notice the difference if a guitar wasn't somewhat rolled because it would be not very fun or comfortable to play.

When a neck comes off my CNC after I've rough milled the neck the fretboard edge is basically 90 degrees sharp, once I've carved the neck, that angle actually gets smaller and sharper. If the only thing I did to address this was run over the edge with some 600 grit paper to take away the initial sharpness you would still have a very harsh angle which wouldn't feel nice in your hand (For my hands it digs right in between the joint between my index finger and hand mainly). This is why "rolling" the edge of the board is important as it lessens the harshness of the angle between the 2 planes of the fretboard and neck carve. You can do this very lightly, or very heavily. Cheap guitars don't get much edge treatment, but if you compare that to a lot of high end builders or even a Fender player strat or Charvel Pro Mod you'll notice the difference.

Maybe you're lucky and your playing style really doesn't benefit from the added comfort, but for me, the guitars I play, and the guitars I build it's pretty crucial. People called it a "played in feel" For me it's just basic building, you want the neck carve and the edge of the board to flow smoothly together.

If you're near a guitar store try out a Charvel Pro Mod if you can, they have pretty heavy rolling of the board edges, and nice fretwork to match.

 

[Pingu]

But if you buy a guitar from Rich @ Ibanez Rules and pay for him to do a killer job on the frets, you're gonna get some of the best fretwork imaginable.

Beat me to it! Came here to say this.

 

[SalsaWood]

I must not be encountering it on any guitar. I've played a truckload of different guitars and never noticed it. I always thought it was a superficial relicing treatment.

 

[DrewH]

Music Man & PRS generally have the best fretwork of the "larger" manufacturers. But, when you get into more expensive stuff from other builders, it's all going to be on the same level of elite work.

Ever since Gibson started plekking, their fretwork is pretty darn good. Some blips here and there on finishing but the frets will at least be level.

The worst for me has always been Fender. No care at all. Never had a Fender that I could get reasonably low action and without several buzzing areas out of the box.

 

[Moongrum]

Kinda OT, but I never got why rolled fretboard edges make a difference. I don't touch the edges of the frets or board while playing. The only time I notice fret sprout is when I pick my guitars up.

Do you keep your thumb on the back of the neck when you play, like a classical guitarist?
Or do you wrap your hand around the entire neck boomer/cowboy chord/Hendrix style?
I play like the latter, so I notice a difference, but it might be more personal than just those two play styles, hence I'm curious to know how you play lol
Sorry, my reading comprehension sucks, reread your comment and you said you don't touch the edges when playing

 

[budda]

I must not be encountering it on any guitar. I've played a truckload of different guitars and never noticed it. I always thought it was a superficial relicing treatment.

If you have played a fender am pro/pro ii or a recent gibson CS, you’ve played a rolled board.

 

[odibrom]

... frets can be leveled, crowned, polished and... replaced... it's all part of a setup. ANY luthier should be able to do it accurately.

Good factory fretwork for nickel frets is only valid WHEN the guitar is new, if used, well, those frets are already worn out and groovy... hence the beauty of stainless steel frets, they're forever... more or less...

 

[SalsaWood]

Do you keep your thumb on the back of the neck when you play, like a classical guitarist?

Yea, that's mostly how it goes for me. I just can't hit chords well at all doing things cowboy style and I don't do large bends where I need more traction or lateral leverage than my thumb and wrist can already give so I guess that's what I settled into.

@budda What I said was confusing, my bad. I'm not sure which strats I have tried out, but it has been probably close to two decades since I did. I know they typically have softer edges on average. I meant to say that while playing guitars I haven't encountered the fret edges making a difference. It's probably because of my sliding technique and bending techniques being somewhat sterile, but I don't know. I bet if I tried a guitar with zero rolling on the edge I would probably notice it while playing like someone else mentioned, but I never previously considered it being a playability enhancement.

 

[somethingsomething]

ESP.

/end thread.

 

[narad]

ESP or ruokangas as far as I'm concerned. Maybe not functionally any better than others, but just perfection as far as what I've seen.

 

[cip 123]

ESP.

/end thread.

Not the slamdunk you are expecting I think, I have an ESP in for a headstock repair and while the frets are very nice, there are still plenty other brands on par or slightly better. The overall quality is fantastic though.

 

[yan12]

Michael Tuttle or Shigeki at Schecter.

None better

 

[sirbuh]

Tom Anderson

 

[mehegama]

all my ESP Horizons have amazing fretwork

 

[RevelGTR]

Whichever brand I just spent a lot of money on