Black Frets?!
- Thread starter DustyCat
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stratamania
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Black frets have been popular at the fireplace for many years.
As for fret wire, I am not aware of black being commercially available, but it might have a certain aesthetic in some cases.
Apparently, some folks have used black Delrin as a fret material. A Google search should reveal various pieces of information.
As for fret wire, I am not aware of black being commercially available, but it might have a certain aesthetic in some cases.
Apparently, some folks have used black Delrin as a fret material. A Google search should reveal various pieces of information.
ghotiphry
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That can either be taken as a question or an exclamation. As in "do they make black frets, please, because I want them?" Or "black frets, man, fantastic!"
Yeah, I looked at this a while ago, was building a bass that would have benefited aesthetically from black frets. I found some mention of derlin and nylatron. Nylatron has been used on classical guitars, you know, with nylon strings. I don't think it would stand up to steel strings. I found some mentions of derlin, and that it actually did stand up over time. But you can't find them anywhere. And they felt "squishy." I found some mention of luthiers embedding derlin rods in necks, rather than the traditional fret wire shape. I also found some brave souls thinking of using carbon fiber, but no results. That probably wouldn't work anyway, too brittle. In any case, anything I found was outside the scope of what I wanted to do.
I still think they would look great on certain applications.
Yeah, I looked at this a while ago, was building a bass that would have benefited aesthetically from black frets. I found some mention of derlin and nylatron. Nylatron has been used on classical guitars, you know, with nylon strings. I don't think it would stand up to steel strings. I found some mentions of derlin, and that it actually did stand up over time. But you can't find them anywhere. And they felt "squishy." I found some mention of luthiers embedding derlin rods in necks, rather than the traditional fret wire shape. I also found some brave souls thinking of using carbon fiber, but no results. That probably wouldn't work anyway, too brittle. In any case, anything I found was outside the scope of what I wanted to do.
I still think they would look great on certain applications.
S
swarfrat
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Ovation made aluminum fingerboards with frets cast in. They were not as hard as steel strings. Only one I've ever seen had cut through to the fingerboard.
S
swarfrat
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I don't remember. I was a teenager when I saw it circa 84-85, about the time I started playing guitar. It was pretty much unplayable.
JD0x0
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Maybe blacken steel?
Hot black oxide [11] for stainless steel is a mixture of caustic, oxidizing, and sulfur salts. It blackens 300 and 400 series, and the precipitation-hardened 17-4 PH stainless steel alloys. The solution can be used on cast iron and mild low-carbon steel. The resulting finish complies with military specification MIL-DTL–13924D Class 4 and offers abrasion resistance. Black oxide finish is used on surgical instruments in light intensive environments to reduce eye fatigue.[12]
Room-temperature blackening [13] for stainless steel occurs by auto-catalytic reaction of copper-selenide depositing on the stainless-steel surface. It offers less abrasion resistance and the same corrosion protection as the hot blackening process. One application for room-temperature blackening is in architectural finishes (patina for stainless steel).
Hot black oxide [11] for stainless steel is a mixture of caustic, oxidizing, and sulfur salts. It blackens 300 and 400 series, and the precipitation-hardened 17-4 PH stainless steel alloys. The solution can be used on cast iron and mild low-carbon steel. The resulting finish complies with military specification MIL-DTL–13924D Class 4 and offers abrasion resistance. Black oxide finish is used on surgical instruments in light intensive environments to reduce eye fatigue.[12]
Room-temperature blackening [13] for stainless steel occurs by auto-catalytic reaction of copper-selenide depositing on the stainless-steel surface. It offers less abrasion resistance and the same corrosion protection as the hot blackening process. One application for room-temperature blackening is in architectural finishes (patina for stainless steel).
DangerousR6
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Black oxide will come off just as easy as any other coating. Even the Mil-Spec...I'm around it day in and day out...JD0x0 said:
stratamania
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Also, anything used to coat a fret black would be gone as soon as you need to level.
DangerousR6
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Probably even less effective than black oxide.Mayfly said:
DustyCat
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:toothy12: I was just blowing smoke, but you guys came up with some excellent ideas :icon_thumright:
I have tried a set of strings however, called Black Beauties, and you guessed it, they were covered in some kind of plastic black coating.
The coating wears off pretty quickly, but they are Great for a Halloween gig.
Don't bother to clip the excess length sticking out of the machine heads.
Instead, comb them back towards you like the mane of a wild stallion, or the scales of the chaotic evil, acid-spewing black dragon :headbang5
I have tried a set of strings however, called Black Beauties, and you guessed it, they were covered in some kind of plastic black coating.
The coating wears off pretty quickly, but they are Great for a Halloween gig.
Don't bother to clip the excess length sticking out of the machine heads.
Instead, comb them back towards you like the mane of a wild stallion, or the scales of the chaotic evil, acid-spewing black dragon :headbang5
BigSteve22
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I don't play bass, but have you tried the Elixer nanoweb strings? They sound good on an acoustic guitar, although I can't vouch for their performance on an electric, as I've never tried them.ghotiphry said:
