By the way, my main axe is a Caparison TAT Special FM I got last summer. No stainless frets, turns out it was a slightly older model. Great guitar. BUT!
When it arrived, it had a brutal gouge in the 3rd fret G string. I was afraid it would need a full fret level, but my tech managed to buff it to good playability without that. What’s the segue here?
Oh, just that the really nice guy who shipped it to me shipped it in the Reunion Blues soft case with nothing between strings and frets. 
That can happen, yes! Luckily it is normally not a difficult repair.
Another one is people who keep their guitar pick in between the strings of their guitar and then stick it in a case. Depending on the case, that can, over a long period of time, put a dent in your frets.
I’ve lusted after a caparison since the late 2000s when I saw Mattias Eklundh playing one. Gorgeous thing.
Pros: amazing feeling neck and the Cap pickups are great. Schaller is my new favorite trem, solid as a rock.
Also
Cons: you’d think a 27-fret guitar would have good access to the 24th fret, but the neck heel is actually pretty obtrusive for someone with medium-small hands like myself. I suspect it has something to do with stability. Also, you can’t sit classical-style with it because of the jack placement! An oversight.
I’m on the opposite end of the spectrum then, lol.
I don’t change guitar strings unless they break, or I’m setting up the guitar for a different tuning. I’m sure my record at the moment is something like a decade, maybe more. I don’t use coated strings, just regular Ernie Ball’s.
New strings have a feeling to them that is just a bit jarring for me, once they go “dead” I’m totally fine.
Aha! So I thought that fret wear was from bends, but apparently it is from smashing or pressing the string straight down on a fret!
So, a weak left-hand grip is less wear?
Why did EVH need new frets every few months, did he crush the neck? (Before he went stainless.)
Also I heard that people can’t get Jescar EVO gold fretwire any more, that seems sad, it was pretty.
If I recall right, the original Elixir Polywebs were treated like this, but the nanowebs and optiwebs moved to treating the wrap itself that was wound around the core.
Bends, vibrato, heavy presses, falls, any of those can cause fret wear.
As for why EVH needed refrets so often, I wasn’t there, but I’m willing to bet that he didn’t, he was probably just a bit of a tart about it, same way Eric Johnson can “hear” if a pedal is on batteries or mains power.
As for evo gold, metal prices shot up and the alloy was no longer worth it to manufacture. I still have 20m of it though, yours for a ridiculous premium! It is fantastic fyi.
D’Addario XT/XS last even longer they are the only acoustic strings I can stomach after a couple months. Definitely gonna throw em on the Guild 12 string I acquired a couple months ago.
I should do a belated NGD post, come to think of it.
