Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Hi,

Can anyone tell me what size fretwire to order from Stewmac for a 2005 360?

Thanks!

Have you been playing it so much that you've worn out the frets in a year?

Ha, I wish!
I accidentally knocked the guitar over last night...the 4th fret caught the edge of a chair leaving a deep gap from the string.

Its not as simple as just replacing the one fret and having everything work perfectly. If the new fret is even slightly taller or shorter, then the guitar would need a fret job where all the frets are filed to the same height, and then recrowned. The new RICS use such small fretwire that I don't think there is much there to even do one fret job and have it work ok afterwards, but I could be wrong on that account. Maybe Mr. Hall can chime in on the required fret size, or you can find a local luthier's shop and see if they will measure it for you.

You can also get advice from Jingle_jangle and Dale Fortune, both members of this forum.

Chris I'll measure the one I have in my shop. It's probably .085 by .045. A qualified repair shop can handle replacing the 1 fret. It's not as difficult as one might think. But experience is the key to this repair. Pull the fret using end nippers and a soldering iron, cut the new fret to exact size and 10 inch radius, press it in, level that 1 fret to match the others, polish it out and readjust your T Rods and action and it's as good as new.

Thanks Dale, I plan to have a qualified tech do the repair. I just need to know what size to order from Stew Mac as preparation(unless you recommend someone else)?

Richard Cannata from Rickenbacker emailed fret specs for a current 360 with the following table:

A = .080
B = .094
C = .037
D = .057
E = .019
F = .031



BTW, it's a medium fret but I'm unable to find a size from Stew Mac that matches Ric specs. I guess I'm looking for the closest match since it will be filed down, etc.?
Thanks again for your help.

Chris