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Guitar Neck Fret Sizes
Choosing A Fretwire

Warmoth offers a wide range of materials and fret sizes. Choosing a fret size is best done by experience. Do you like the feel of your present neck? Would you like more height or less height? Shop and compare to see which is best for you.



Standard Nickel/Silver Fret Wire

We offer only quality fret wire drawn from the finest 18% hard nickel/silver to give long life with steel strings. The composition of this fret wire, while called "nickel/silver", contains no silver at all. The ingredients are brass and nickel. For general reference we use Dunlop's fret numbers, however, actual fret dimensions vary somewhat from batch to batch. Our nickel/silver fretwire is rated at HV 170 on the Vickers hardness scale.

Item Number Width X Height Description Used By
6230 .080" X .043" This is the smallest fret wire. Vintage Fender necks.
6130 .106" X .036" Often referred to as "Medium Jumbo". Many Gibson necks.
6150 .103" X .046" A true "Jumbo". It is about the same width as the 6130 but a bit taller. Modern Fender American necks.
6105 .096" X .047" Narrow and tall. A popular choice.
6100 .112" X .055" Huge! This is big stuff for the almost scalloped feel. Common on Ibanez necks

Stainless Steel Fret Wire

Stainless steel is both harder (Vickers hardness HV 250) and smoother than nickel/silver fretwire. For general reference we use Dunlop's fret numbers, however, actual fret dimensions vary somewhat from batch to batch.


Item Number Width X Height Description
SS6230 .080" X .043" Small vintage Fender Size
SS6105 .095" X .047" Narrow and tall.
SS6115 .107" x .052" A true jumbo wire.
SS6100 .110" X .057" Huge! This is big stuff for the almost scalloped feel.

Gold Color Fret Wire

Our Beautiful Gold fret wire is a nickel-free copper alloy similar in color to 12k Gold! This is not the same brass color as the Warwick wire. Our gold fret is solid throughout and is almost as hard as Stainless Steel. It polishes up nicely for a super fast, glass-like feel providing effort free string bending! Vickers hardness rating is HV 230.

Item Number Width X Height Description
GD6105 .104" X .047" A true Jumbo.
GD6100 .110" X .057" Huge! Wide and tall.

Player Tips:
  • Are you tough on your frets? Consider stainless steel.
  • Concerned about tonal changes? We have not found a significant difference in tonality between stainless steel and nickel/silver fretwire.
  • Fret size has a great deal to do with the action of your guitar. Low frets put your fingertips right on the fingerboard with little room to squeeze the strings out of tune or to get under them for bending. Tall frets are the opposite. The width of the fret determines the amount of wear that can be expected before leveling and re-crowning is necessary. Wider frets wear longer. Narrow frets wear faster.


Tech Tips:
  • Stainless steel wire and our gold fretwire are more difficult to install. Please add $20.00 to the basic neck cost for Stainless Steel wire installation and $30.00 for our gold fretwire.
  • Due to this difficult installation process, Stainless Steel and Gold Frets are not available on necks with binding.
  • While Stainless Steel and Gold fretwire are a harder material, the same fret leveling/dress techniques can still be used. It may take longer to dress but, these harder frets will last much longer than comparable sized nickel/silver frets.



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