Every string needs a slightly different fret position to play true pitch. Pick a system below — the neck redraws to show exactly where the frets sit.
Drag to rotate, scroll to zoom. Reflects your current instrument, radius, and fret selection from the Configurator tab.
Color preview is illustrative (screen color \u2260 real wood/resin under different lighting) \u2014 confirm against a physical sample before committing.
Mini-frets take direct sliding wear from strings. Pick based on string type and how often you're willing to reprint.
Best wear resistance of the practical options. Steel strings groove plastic fast — expect reprints roughly every 2 weeks with regular play, sooner with heavy bending. Standard resin wears too quickly; use a tough/hard formulation.
Nylon strings are far gentler — either option lasts noticeably longer than the metal-string case. PETG becomes usable here too, since the string itself isn't abrasive.
Worse than guitar metal strings — thicker gauge and higher tension means more force per contact point. Same material choice as metal guitar strings, but expect faster wear; consider printing frets slightly taller/thicker than the guitar spec to compensate.
Bottom is flat, sits flush on the fretboard surface — clean contact face, no embedding.
Strong enough to hold under string tension, sets fast, but releases with heat or acetone when you need to swap a worn piece out. Clamp or hold each segment ~10-20 seconds while it sets.
Longer working time to align each piece before it sets, won't creep or fatigue like CA over years. Not meant to be removed — use only once positions are confirmed.
Either way: dry-fit every piece first using the exported STL positions before applying glue — the stepped geometry only works if each segment lands exactly where computed.
Finest detail — needed at 1.4mm fret scale. Hard/tough resin recommended over standard.
Fine for nylon strings. Wears fast under steel strings — avoid there.
Tougher than PETG, lower friction. Use 0.2mm nozzle — 1.2mm fret width is tight for 0.4mm.
Same STL file, no conversion needed — metal 3D printing (DMLS/SLM) reads standard STL like resin and filament do.
Desktop printers don't do metal — this gets outsourced to a print service. For a part this small, though, real fret wire (brass/nickel silver/stainless) is likely cheaper and simpler than paying for metal printing. Worth comparing before committing.