Stainless steel frets?

rspst14

rspst14

Tone Cat
Hey guys, I'm getting ready to order a Warmoth neck for my Strat project, and I'm wondering if anyone has played a guitar that had stainless steel frets, rather than the traditional 18% nickel frets? From what I've read, stainless steel has a smoother, slicker feel and lasts much longer than nickel fretwire. But I've also heard some people say that it alters the tone in a negative way. For those of you who have tried it, what do you think? Should I go stainless steel or nickel? Any help would be appreciated.

Ryan
 
Re: Stainless steel frets?

Some say that it makes your tone brighter, but I'm not so sure. I havnt heard any difference, but the playing was phenominal. I could bend forever on those frets, they're SMOOOOOOOTH. And, you probably wouldnt wear 'em out in this liftime.
 
Re: Stainless steel frets?

I have 3 guitars with and 2 without SS frets. The 3 Warmoths are are not brighter than my 2 guitars with normal frets (80's Kramer Pacer and Gibson SG).
 
Re: Stainless steel frets?

I have stainless frets on my Driskill. They feel great and will last forever.

As for tone, everything affects everything. They might make things a tad brighter but in the grand scheme of things, I dunno if it's more noticeable than bumping the treble knob on your amp.
 
Re: Stainless steel frets?

in theory, it should become brighter, but I really dont think that our ears are that well developed that we can tell the difference.
 
Re: Stainless steel frets?

I love the SS frets on my friend's Parker. VERY smooth feel and they seem to last forever. I would go for it if I had the choice.
 
Re: Stainless steel frets?

just out of curiosity.. which guitars come stock with SS frets, just so i could try them ?
 
Re: Stainless steel frets?

Any set neck Parker Fly (not shure about the Nite Fly's) come with SS frets and carbon fiber fingerboards.
 
Re: Stainless steel frets?

hmm i'll have to try and find one!

they're like goldust over here though...
 
Re: Stainless steel frets?

I don't think Stainless Steel frets are a good idea on a Strat. Seems like it would add to the brightness of an already bright guitar. The difference between stainless steels strings and nickel is pretty drastic. I personally hate Stainless Steel strings on Strats, and I like my tone pretty darn bright.

I can imagine they'd be pretty tough on strings too.
 
Re: Stainless steel frets?

KoreanGuitarMan said:
I can imagine they'd be pretty tough on strings too.
Click to expand...
Some people claim they are but that hasn't been my experience. My strings have solid nickel (not nickel-plated) wraps but seem to last just fine on my Driskill. FWIW, back when I used stainless strings on my Aria with nickel silver frets, they weren't particularly hard on the frets, either.

IMHO, FWIW, YMMV, etc.
 
Last edited:
Re: Stainless steel frets?

I have two old 70's Srats refretted with stainless steel. Yes, they will eat up your strings, but if you change them often, that's no big deal. The trade off for shorter string life is that you can go many, many, many years before having the frets recrowned. They can cause a maple neck guitar to be significantly brighter on a clean amp setting, but that can be adjusted with the amp's tone controls. I also have the Dunlop scallop and 6000/6100 style frets on the necks, so the big tone makes up for any extra brightness-- and the steel seems to make the guitar neck more responsive to a lighter touch.
 
Last edited:
Re: Stainless steel frets?

I've read that the only reason Parker installs those is because you CANNOT re-fret their carbon fiber fretboards without destroying them.
 
Re: Stainless steel frets?

KoreanGuitarMan said:
I don't think Stainless Steel frets are a good idea on a Strat. Seems like it would add to the brightness of an already bright guitar. The difference between stainless steels strings and nickel is pretty drastic. I personally hate Stainless Steel strings on Strats, and I like my tone pretty darn bright.

I can imagine they'd be pretty tough on strings too.
Click to expand...

Well you could even the tone out by using a graphite nut ;) (see my graphite nut post)
 
Re: Stainless steel frets?

KoreanGuitarMan said:
Refrets are more expensive, aren't they? I've heard stainless frets pretty much ruin tools.
Click to expand...
I've never heard of anyone with SS frets needing a refret. That was part of the reason why I got 'em on my guitar. If one were necessary, it would probably be more expensive if you got 'em replaced with SS.
 
Re: Stainless steel frets?

nuntius said:
the nut only affects the tone on open strings
Click to expand...


ohhh yeah... LOL

The trend I'm seeing is that SS frets are best used on mellower-sounding guitars, and not brighter-toned guitars like strats and teles. Basically if the guitar is pretty toppy already then you might want to stay away from them, correct?
 
Re: Stainless steel frets?

Tom Anderson is going to Stainless Steel Frets exclusively I hear. I guess he thinks they do not cause a sound disadvantage.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Masta' C
Novo Guitars?
Replies
19
Views
748
Masta' C
Masta' C
I
How to measure fret height
Replies
8
Views
502
ehdwuld
ehdwuld
T
Necessity of stainless steel frets/refretting
Replies
12
Views
377
T-800
T
O
Back to my favorite humbucker set
Replies
14
Views
586
orpheo
O
ICTGoober
Eight Warmoth necks (some new, some used)
Replies
16
Views
807
ICTGoober
ICTGoober
Back
Top