Stainless frets

[Clint 55]

I will only use ss frets. I ain't spending 12 hours of free time doing a fret job on nickel frets only to have them hacked into with visible divits after a week lol! Ss don't wear at all and they also have a smoother feel when bending. I do notice a brighter tone tho.

[Pierre]

At this point, I think all my guitars have SS frets. I see no downsides. Most will probably not need a fret dress in my lifetime given how often I play them...

[Mincer]

I custom ordered a bass neck with Richlite, white binding, and no inlays. It's basically Bakelite/Garolite – phenolic sheet, just like the early Telecaster/Esquire/P-Bass guards. I plan on using a Garolite guard on the bass, and gloss coating both the guard and the board. It will look fantastic. It feels great too. I feared what will happen on this material during re-frets...which is why I ordered the neck with stainless 6230s.

Also, my 2018 Les Paul Classic Player Plus has a Richlite board. It gave me a highly desirable set of features that I want in a Les Paul: P90s, WHITE binding (not cream), vintage sunburst finish with an intense yellow in the middle, only mild flame, and a black fretboard. The Richlite looks and feels great. I don't care that it's not ebony. The fact that this set of specs was put together by Henry J's Gibson still astounds me. I'm not going to split hairs about ebony vs. phenolic, as long as it's black.

There are other cases in which I would spec ebony for a build. But I am not against either of these materials.

Here's the Classic Player Plus (not mine, but the same model):

I am a fan of Richlite, too. So far, I've only seen black on guitars, but that stuff can really be any other color. I'd love to see a guitar with a red or purple fingerboard, too.

[wevard]

I have them on one guitar. I do not feel a difference in playability that I can attribute to the ss frets. I do like thinking that this guitar needs little to no maintenance in the long run and I wish I also had ss frets in my other guitars.

[Mincer]

We are starting to see sub-$1k models come stock with SS frets. It will eventually trickle down to sub-$500 models, too. It is a main selling point, and certainly machines can be designed to install them on a mass scale.

[Ascension]

Own 4 with SS Frets now and will never own another higher end guitar with out stainless frets. Feel SO smooth on bends and now I don't have to polish every year or dress frets about every 5 years!

[GuitarStv]

I love SS frets. There's no down side, only upside. The only reason most guitars use nickle steel is that it's cheaper for the manufacturers.

[Snake Aces]

I am a fan of Richlite, too. So far, I've only seen black on guitars, but that stuff can really be any other color. I'd love to see a guitar with a red or purple fingerboard, too.

I would be happy to check out some blue or purple Richlite

[Mincer]

When I visited their booth at NAMM, they had a whole bunch of cool, bright colors. I guess so far, no company has bought those.

[JB_From_Hell]

Thanks to everyone for the input.

I have something incoming with stainless frets, and can't wait to post the NGD thread an pics. For now, I'll say it's built by a luthier that should be familiar to the long time regulars on this board.

[DavidRavenMoon]

Yep like Richlite. I think if more people played Richlite necks more people would adopt the material. I absolutely prefer it and I can feel a difference now when I am playing rosewood or ebony.

I’ve built several basses with phenolic fretboards. That’s what is commonly called “ebonol.” It’s black paper impregnated with phenolic resin under pressure. I like it. I’m assuming Richlite is similar. I’m going to try some on one of my next builds.

Regarding SS frets, I’ve installed them on people’s guitars. That’s a pain in the butt! But I also get to charge more.

I wasn’t crazy about playing on them. The tone is a little “plinky” compared to the original frets, and they are so slick you can do vibrato and get the note to ring out... like Hendrix does on Foxy Lady.

But there’s no denying they will last a very long time. My personal instruments all have nickel silver frets.


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[6stringerguy]

Who loves them, who hates them, but mostly, who has extensive first hand knowledge?

I love them, expensive but have had most of most collection refretted with stainless steel over the stock frets and it’s only been an improvement.
Some guitars you notice the improvement more than others, my ESP EC-1000 and my Telecaster especially.


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[Top-L]

Crowning nickle/steel jumbos takes a ton of work. Can't imagine doing jumbo SS neck. Not even sure my files would do it.

[Clint 55]

^ That's what all my necks are. I round the ends too. It takes me like 12 hours lol.

[Metalman_666]

I've got two guitars with SS frets, my JPX and Schecter KM7

Aside from the fact these are both awesome players, I do notice moving around the fretboard and bending is noticeably smoother. I wasn't sure if it was placebo effect at first because of everything else about these two axes being amazing.

The sound? I definitely wouldn't say thin, but you can hear a bit more brightness to the attack especially on single notes. Not a bad thing at all and in the case of these two, it fits the vibe I'm feeling when I reach for either guitar.

How about EVO frets? I chose them for a custom build in the works because of the luthier said they are supposed be somewhere in the middle between SS and nickel, tone and durability wise. Anyone else tried those?

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