EVO Gold fret wire

[Rick Cadger]

Wow, isn't that stuff nice? I just refretted a brand new Kentucky KM-174 (a cheap Chinese oval hole) mandolin with it.

I hate replacing frets. I get impatient, especially on radiused and/or bound fretboards, but this was great. The fretboard on the KM-174 is flat, but it is bound.

My cr@p eyesight often struggles to see how much tang I've nipped off to clear the binding, but the slightly different colour of the EVO seemed to make it easier for me to see.

Although it files nice and easily, the EVO wire seems quite resistant to scratches, and it looks great when it's on. I think it's a nice, subtle colour.

Going to do another mandolin with the same wire in a few days. Bearing in mind my dislike for fretwork, that says something for this product.

NFI.

[Mario Proulx]

Yessir, it's good stuff!

And once the instrument is strung back up, the gold color isn't as bold as we'd expect, and instead is very subtle. Nice...

[Clement Barrera-Ng]

Rick - what size wire did you end up using ? I have been thinking about using EVO Gold on my next mando refret project.

[Dan Margolis]

Tom used it on my new Ellis, as much for the golden color as for the durability (the whole mandolin has a gold theme, with gold pearl inlays and gold hardware).

[Max Girouard]

I love using it. I am installing it on my current build that will also have all gold hardware. I think it adds a real nice touch.

[Ron McMillan]

My old F5 copy is with the luthier now, and one of the many jobs he has to do for me is a complete re-fret using EVO Gold (in the 37080 size, which was recommended to me in a thread I started a couple of months ago). I'm really looking forward to experiencing the results.

rm

[Ivan Kelsall]

My 3 meters of EVO Gold wire, along with a superb (so i was told) piece of MOP just went missing in the post - but yes,it's good stuff.As easy to use as the standard Nickel wire (so i believe) but more durable,
Ivan

[Rick Cadger]

Rick - what size wire did you end up using ? I have been thinking about using EVO Gold on my next mando refret project.

It's the 43080. A nice size. Not traditional thin, but a very playable, larger wire. Suits me just fine.

I suppose it sounds a bit nuts refretting a brand new instrument, but the wire that came on the Kentucky was awful. Not just thin, but very low as well. Initially I was going to do a fret level on the mando, but I honestly wasn't sure there was enough height on the frets to let me do it comfortably, and as I don't like small wire much anyway I thought I'd just change it.

Plenty of height in the 43080.

The refret and a bridge swap has made the cheap beater into a very playable and full sounding budget oval hole.

After hearing that the EVO was supposed to be very durable I had expected it to be a bugger to work with, but it's fine.

I might do the second mandolin this weekend, but that one's a radius board. I'm actually considering changing the fretboard on that one to an unbound, flat board, which is my preference for playing, as well as for working on...

Edit to add: The tang seems a tiny bit narrower than on the wire I took off. The new frets went in very easily, and I reworked the tang a bit on a couple to make them a little tighter. I've also put a little CA in there, but I think they're seated securely enough even if you don't like adding any glue.

[Rolfe]

Now that the EVO wire is available in the same size as the StewMac mandolin wire, I am using it on all mandolins except the Jazz model where I use the small guitar EVO. Great wire!

[crazymandolinist]

Nice to hear! Where do we get it?

[Rolfe]

If you are able to buy in quanity, a pound, you can get it directly from Jescar. I don't have their website at hand, but they are easy to find and will take a credit card.

[bennyb]

LMI has it in smaller quantities.

benny

[Rick Cadger]

In the UK it's available from tonetechluthiersupplies.co.uk.

[Rolfe]

The LMI catalog I just got in the mail today does not show the EVO small mandolin wire---.053 X .037. They should carry it and make it available in smaller quantities; bug them about it.

[Geiss]

I had Curtis and Johana (Oriskany Guitars in PA) use it on my flattop...agree that it looks elegant and plays nicely.
Has stood up to 3 years of playing and not a nick in it, then again I'm not playing her every single day.

A question on sizing if I might.......I like the wire size on my wide nut MTO...anyone have a pretty good idea of what the analogous EVO size might be. I don't have tools for measuring such....
Thanks!
David

[terzinator]

Now that the EVO wire is available in the same size as the StewMac mandolin wire, I am using it on all mandolins except the Jazz model where I use the small guitar EVO. Great wire!

I know this thread is exactly a year old, but what's the number of the EVO wire that matches the StewMac wire? Is it the 43080?

I just had a refret done on my MT with the StewMac wire less than a month ago, and as nice as it looks and plays, I'm already digging grooves in it! I'm sure I must have some death grip or something that's accelerating the wear, but my next refret will be with the EVO wire.

And yeah, frshwtrbob, who I'm sure will see this thread, you're right! I should have insisted on EVO from the start!

[frshwtrbob]

Chris (you old hound dog),
As a matter of fact, I just talked to Jeff today at Jescar because I had some questions about the Stainless 43080 which I'm contemplating using for a total refret on a "broken in" (therefore reasonably priced) Gibson A-9 that I couldn't pass up! I'm sure I'll be posting and boasting about it when it's done.

[Rolfe]

The mandolin size EVO wire is the FW37053-EVO, same as the Stew Mac wire. The small guitar size I use on my Jazz model is the FW37080-EVO.

[Paul Hostetter]

If you want info on the various sizes, I have a chart here that might help compare the various available wires. If EVO came in more sizes, it would possibly be all I'd use.

[terzinator]

thanks all...

for comparison, if you can, what would you say matches the stock fret wire on a Collings MT?

From the Collings site:

What size fret wire do you use?
Our standard fretwire dimensions are as follows:
crown width: 2 mm
crown height: 1.10 mm
Total height 2.60 mm
Tang width: 0.80 mm

[frshwtrbob]

Collings advertises using .078 wide - .044 high. in thousanths of an inch which translates to what you wrote in mm.
Jeff at Jescar told me he's now supplying the 43080 to Collings so I guess they'll be changing the advertising soon

[terzinator]

Collings advertises using .078 wide - .044 high. in thousanths of an inch which translates to what you wrote in mm.
Jeff at Jescar told me he's now supplying the 43080 to Collings so I guess they'll be changing the advertising soon

Wait, so Collings is going to start using the EVO wire?

[frshwtrbob]

no - the 18% NS ---Jescar also supplies Luthier Mercantile with their stainless wire. I was talking to Danny Roberts today about re-fretting my '03 A9 and he thinks its a good idea & gave me some pointers but said Gibson could never afford all the extra effort/time it takes installing the hard stuff. He also told the story about Charlie Derrington installing stainless on his Loar and gave me his opinions on the matter. It was a very cool conversation & he's a nice guy, by the way.

[Ivan Kelsall]

Jescar supplies standard Nickel Silver wire in many different sizes.The 'Evo Gold' wire is a separate 'type' of wire,made of a different alloy,but in a few similar sizes to that of the standard wire.For instance,the standard wire used by Weber (according to Weber) is Jescar 'FW 37080'. The Evo Gold wire is simply 'FW37080 EVO',
Ivan

[terzinator]

Ahhhhh, gotcha. I do like the larger frets on my Collings, but the softness of the metal is really about the only thing that keeps it from being the perfect instrument -- for me, anyway. It's wonderful in every other aspect, though.

I'd love to hear from other builders who use the EVO wire. (Preferably those who say it's no big deal to work with!) I'm going to head over to my luthier guy this week and show him my early onset Groovenheimers.

(I realized I've been working on a few fiddle tunes over the last few weeks, so I'm probably hitting the same danged frets again and again and again!)