Micro-Frets is an American

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manufacturing Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer to a r ...

company established by Ralph Jones, in

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. The company produced

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s and

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until its factory closed in 1975.History
on Micro Frets website, 18 Oct 2019 In 2017 after many years of hiatus, Micro-Frets returned to production. The company currently produces electric guitars only.

History

The company was founded by Ralph Jones in 1967, originally under the name "Micro Tech". Jones and a small group of builders set up in a 15,000-square-foot factory financed by business partner Francis Marion Huggins on Grove Road. Apart from cutting guitar bodies and necks, they also machined components including the company's ''Micro-Nut'' and ''Calibrato'' tailpiece. The first four models of guitars introduced that same year were the "Orbiter", "Huntington", "Plainsman" and "Covington", with

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

s models added later. The guitars combined unique body shapes and idiosyncratic color schemes with proprietary technology such as the Calibrato vibrato, adjustable nut for intonation, and even an early wireless transmitter. Between 1967 and 1974 roughly 3,000 were made. In April 1972, Jones died from a heart attack, with Hazel Jones continuing operations with builder Gary Free in charge of construction and design. For nearly four years, Free designed and built models made with remaining inventory. The company was briefly revived in 2004 when Will Meadors bought the "Micro-Frets" name with the purpose of relaunching the brand, although it was just to make a small run of guitars. In 2017, 50 years after the company was created, Micro Frets went back into production, with an initial launch of four models: Spacetone, Swinger, Stage II and Signature.

Artists

Today Micro Frets guitars enjoy a cult status. Past players include

Carl Perkins Carl Lee Perkins (April 9, 1932 – January 19, 1998)#nytimesobit, Pareles. was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. A rockabilly great and pioneer of rock and roll, he began his recording career at the Sun Studio, in Memphis, Tennes ...

Mark Farner Mark Fredrick Farner (born September 29, 1948) is an American singer, guitarist and songwriter, best known as the lead singer and lead guitarist for the hard rock band Grand Funk Railroad, and later as a contemporary Christian musician. Early ...

Grand Funk Railroad Grand Funk Railroad (often shortened to Grand Funk) is an American rock band formed in 1968 in Flint, Michigan, by Mark Farner (vocals, guitar), Don Brewer (drums, vocals), and Mel Schacher (bass). The band achieved peak popularity and succes ...

, Dave Fielding of The Chameleons, and

Martin Gore Martin Lee Gore (born 23 July 1961) is an English songwriter, musician, singer, record producer and DJ. He is one of the founding members of the electronic rock band Depeche Mode and is the band's main songwriter. He is the band's guitarist an ...

Depeche Mode Depeche Mode are an English electronic music band formed in Basildon, Essex, in 1980. The band currently consists of Dave Gahan (lead vocals and co-songwriting) and Martin Gore (keyboards, guitar, co-lead vocals and main songwriting). Depeche ...

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Mike Rutherford Michael John Cloete Crawford Rutherford (born 2 October 1950) is an English guitarist, bassist and songwriter, co-founder of the rock band Genesis. Rutherford and keyboardist Tony Banks are the group's two continuous members. Initially servin ...

converted a Micro-Frets into a 6-string bass. Wreckless Eric continues to play the same Spacetone model he has used since the 1970s Micro-Frets Voyager
on GuitarPlayer.com, Feb 28, 2010 Micro-Frets also made signature models for

Tommy Cash Tommy Cash (born April 5, 1940) is an American musician, singer, and songwriter. His elder brother was Johnny Cash. Biography Cash was born in Dyess, Arkansas, United States, the youngest of four sons and three daughters of Ray and Carrie (Ri ...

and

Buddy Merrill Leslie Merrill Behunin, Jr. (July 16, 1936 – December 5, 2021), known professionally as Buddy Merrill, was an American guitar player and steel guitar player, best known as a regular on ''The Lawrence Welk Show''. Early life Leslie Merrill Behu ...

.The Micro-Frets saga
by Ward Meeker on Vintage Guitar, March 2017 edition

References

External links

Official website
{{Guitar brands Guitar manufacturing companies of the United States 1967 establishments in the United States