Stainless steel frets vs. regular

Re: Stainless steel frets vs. regular

Bob Zombie said:
How much would a refret cost in SS?
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$300 or more in most cases. Many luthiers won't even do it because the stainless wire is much harder on their cutting and bending tools.

Ryan
 
Re: Stainless steel frets vs. regular

is the gold colored wire more durable than the regular nickel frets?
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Although I don't have any personal experience with them, the material is harder so it would stand to reason that they would last longer. They sure look cool when they ship out of here on different necks.

strings wear out quicker on SS since it's harder
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My strings will still break at the bridge first. If your strings wear out from the frets, you should probably change them more than once a year. Ar-ar :)

Gregg-
 
Re: Stainless steel frets vs. regular

Hello, thank you for reading this post.

I just wanted to have your opinions on this Stainless Steel Refret I had done a few days ago in Singapore.

Could this be improved?
Could you briefly state your experience in this matter?

Ref.:

Ibanez RG3120TW 1999
Second Refret in 5 years
Previous Frets Nickel Jumbo

The exact fret wire used this time is this one:
http://www.lmii.com/products/mostly-not-wood/fretting/fretwire/stainless-steel-fretwire
FWSS1100
Bigger than a Dunlop 6150:

0.102" vs 0.110” wide
0.042 vs 0.057” tall

Thank you
Best Regards
Alex

Image Gallery:
http://imgur.com/a/v4b8j

Hi-Resolution Pictures:
http://www.quebecguitare.ca/2015_09_28.zip

Sound Clip - D String
https://clyp.it/tp5rer10
 
Re: Stainless steel frets vs. regular

Xeromus said:
Here's a possible issue with warmoth though, the guitar tech I use believes that warmoth's Stainless fretwire isn't in fact Stainless Steel. He says it's much softer and works like regular fretwire and that warmoth may be cutting corners here and making extra dough off the claim that the SS they use takes longer to install. He said he can't tell the difference between that and regular fretwire from warmoth aside from the fast that it doesn't oxidize. It may be a SS alloy of some sort.

I can't verify this, but I put it out there. I may call gregg and ask him about it.
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Sorry, but your tech is very wrong here. I have 2 Warmoth necks with SS Frets and they are most definitely Stainless Steel–my tech complained that he went thru all of his files and had to order more just to roll the edges (I like mine heavily rolled.) On top of that, my dad has worked with Stainless Steel for years in both Aviation and Construction, he confirmed they were SS.

For tone, I could see possibly a tad brighter but not anything really noticeable. String bends are amazing and super smooth. Haven't had them too long but zero fret wear whatsoever. I'd recommend it!
 
Re: Stainless steel frets vs. regular

treyhaislip said:
Sorry, but your tech is very wrong here. I have 2 Warmoth necks with SS Frets and they are most definitely Stainless Steel–my tech complained that he went thru all of his files and had to order more just to roll the edges (I like mine heavily rolled.) On top of that, my dad has worked with Stainless Steel for years in both Aviation and Construction, he confirmed they were SS.

For tone, I could see possibly a tad brighter but not anything really noticeable. String bends are amazing and super smooth. Haven't had them too long but zero fret wear whatsoever. I'd recommend it!
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+1 to this; I also have 2 Warmoth necks with SS frets. They are definitely SS all the way!
 
Re: Stainless steel frets vs. regular

treyhaislip said:
Sorry, but your tech is very wrong here. I have 2 Warmoth necks with SS Frets and they are most definitely Stainless Steel–my tech complained that he went thru all of his files and had to order more just to roll the edges (I like mine heavily rolled.) On top of that, my dad has worked with Stainless Steel for years in both Aviation and Construction, he confirmed they were SS.

For tone, I could see possibly a tad brighter but not anything really noticeable. String bends are amazing and super smooth. Haven't had them too long but zero fret wear whatsoever. I'd recommend it!
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You realize that his post is 10 years old right? Who knows whats changed in 10 years.
 
Re: Stainless steel frets vs. regular

There's gold frets too- they're only gold in color- they are much harder than Nickle silver, but slightly less hard than stainless- so techs don't complain about them
 
Re: Stainless steel frets vs. regular

jmh151 said:
There's gold frets too- they're only gold in color- they are much harder than Nickle silver, but slightly less hard than stainless- so techs don't complain about them
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Evo-gold by jesca? I recently used that stuff and it's a superior product to most fretwire. I am looking forward to trying some of their other wire
 
Re: Stainless steel frets vs. regular

kramersteen said:
Evo-gold by jesca? I recently used that stuff and it's a superior product to most fretwire. I am looking forward to trying some of their other wire
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Yup- Jescar Evo gold. Jescar frets in general - even their Nickle silver are much harder than others such as Dunlop or stew Mac, (PRS uses Jescar on their USA line) but the Evo gold is even better.

Techs hate working on the stainless, so if you have a tech that hates stainless, Jescar or Jescar Evo gold is the answer
 
Re: Stainless steel frets vs. regular

All I have to add is that I've had two guitars refretted with stainless (sent to Phil Jacoby in Baltimore--he also does a Plek job when he refrets) so I feel like I can actually comment on the tonal differences between SS and nickel silver. That is, I could if there was any meaningful difference. One of the two guitars had the same make and model sitting in my harem and there was no discernible difference that I could chalk up to the fret material.

My $0.02, IMHO, FWIW, YMMV, etc.
 
Re: Stainless steel frets vs. regular

In 2009 I had my #1 player refretted in stainless (by Frank Falbo, no less!) and he did a fantastic job. I love stainless frets and I'll go for them every chance I get.

It is a tiny bit brighter - but not so much that you can't turn your presence/treble down to tame it. It's awesome. Slick feel and after 6 years of play, no visible wear.
 
Re: Stainless steel frets vs. regular

kramersteen said:
Evo-gold by jesca? I recently used that stuff and it's a superior product to most fretwire. I am looking forward to trying some of their other wire
Click to expand...

How come there's a fret with smaller space followed by frets that are farther apart?
 
Re: Stainless steel frets vs. regular

^Looks to me that with half-step increments, the frets start getting so close together that it becomes impractical. So the frets are placed in whole step increments.
 
Re: Stainless steel frets vs. regular

i have plek'ed SS frets in one guitar of mine and i am echoing other replies:
-smooth bends
-not bright
-lifetime wear resistance
-strings don't wear out any differently
 
Re: Stainless steel frets vs. regular

After a few years with SS frets, I am sold. I am using them on every refret I have to get done, now.
 
Re: Stainless steel frets vs. regular

Mincer said:
After a few years with SS frets, I am sold. I am using them on every refret I have to get done, now.
Click to expand...

Same here, no wear whatsoever on mine, string bends are a breeze and I don't feel like I'm "biting" into the frets. Definitely worth the extra bucks IMO.
 
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