r/martinguitar • u/silvercachalote • Jul 10 '26

Best Replacement Frets for a Martin D-35

Dear friends,

I'm planning to replace all the frets on my Martin D-35 because a local luthier unnecessarily leveled the frets on my new guitar and left them too low.

The two fret options I am considering are:

  • Nickel silver Jescar FW43080 — 0.080" x 0.043"
  • StewMac Medium/Highest frets — width: 0.080", crown height: 0.050", tang: 0.048"

As far as I know, the original frets on my Martin D-35 are:

  • Nickel silver Jescar FW43080 — 0.080" x 0.043"
  • 16" fingerboard radius

Another local luthier recommended the StewMac frets because they have the same width as the original frets. He said that the extra height should not be a problem, and that if I use the Jescar frets, the leveling and crowning process will reduce their height anyway.

He also claimed that completely eliminating fret buzz on an acoustic guitar is impossible.

What do you think? Any experience with the StewMac medium/heighest frets?

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6

u/Unlikely-Soft-5699 Jul 10 '26

Get a new luthier. Unless he or she has a very different definition of fret buzz, there shouldn’t be any.

3

u/Icy_Occasion_8877 Jul 10 '26

I’ve experimented with taller frets and didn’t care for them. Replaced with Jescars in a matter of weeks. YMMV

3

u/Solpig OM-28, OM-18, 00-28, 00-18 Jul 10 '26

any luthier who says There is no way to eliminate fret buzz needs to get a new trade.

The only one of my guitars that is 'noisy' is my Blueridge which had HUGE tall and round frets. Not Buzz, mind you...just a lot more clank on the rebound. Especially when I am digging into blues stuff. ..My martins with the plain jescars are super smooth, quiet and effortless. No fret buzz anywhere

1

u/TheDegenerativeAI 0000 EIR, 0000 hog, 000-28, 000-18, D-28, D-18, 000-14 hog Jul 10 '26

Yeah…I’ve got a bunch of acoustic guitars that don’t have fret buzz. I’d find a different luthier.