Stainless steel frets

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UberMetalDood

New member
How is your opinion of stainless steel frets? I first learned of them from a ridiculous sounding debate about Eddie Van Halen refretting his guitars once a month. I practice/play at least 2-3 hours every day and have yet to see but slight fretwear. I can't imagine having to actually refret so often even with nickle fret wire.

Consequently I purchased two new Carvins that are shipping next week and both I ordered with stainless steel fret wire. Even though I think the effects are minimal I still have small concern about brightness and slipperyness of the frets.

My research leads me to believe that the frets have as much impact on tone as fingerboard wood but probably a similar effect as using a brass nut vs bone nut. My hope is that I do not regret buying stainless steel frets on my new Carvins. I practically whored myself out to buy them so it would be a damned shame lol!

I don't want to come off as a knowledgeable person because I'm still learning but I try to be informed. What experiences have you had to lead you to like or dislike stainless steel frets?
 
Re: Stainless steel frets

I hate them...I had a Warmoth neck a few years ago that had SS frets and, for me they really messed with the sound of the guitar WAY too much.

They do feel very slick and they do last a very long time but the trade off is not worth it IMHO.
 
Re: Stainless steel frets

On the other hand, I absolutely love the feel and playability of them, and don't feel it to come with too much of a tonal tradeoff.
 
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They feel really nice to play on, and bends are very easy and smooth.

I can't comment on the tone because I've never owned a guitar that has had nickel silver frets then stainless steel or vise versa. I have one guitar with SS frets, and it has always had SS frets. Because of this, I have no idea if the tone would be better or worse without them. I am happy with the guitar as it is.

And that's the thing that you ALWAYS have to be careful of when people talk about stainless steel vs. nickel silver. Unless you've played the same guitar with and without SS frets, anything you have to say about tone is irrelevant. Comparing the tone of SS frets on one guitar and nickel silver frets on another guitar is apples and oranges.
 
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Love em. And no more refrets. Any new neck or refretting I do will be with SS frets.
 
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i have played and enjoyed guitars with both kinds
have never compared the exact same guitar with both types
i am sure you can enjoy your new guitars
i need a refret on my brian moore and i want it in SS ... i will be able to direct A/B that guitar before / after
 
Re: Stainless steel frets

I've never knowingly used SS frets, however I'm sure that at least a couple of the guitars I've played in the past had them. I'm almost certain one of the American made Dean guitars had them and I remember is was smooth like butter.
 
Re: Stainless steel frets

UberMetalDood said:
I've never knowingly used SS frets, however I'm sure that at least a couple of the guitars I've played in the past had them. I'm almost certain one of the American made Dean guitars had them and I remember is was smooth like butter.
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You'll know SS frets when you feel them...slick as snot and even unplugged they have a PING to the sound...
 
Re: Stainless steel frets

I've never tried the same guitar with both types, but the Warmoth neck I have with SS frets feels awesome. Really smooth bends. Just a cleaner feel. As for the tone, I would bet this is one of those things that "theoretically" affects tone but that can't be heard in the real world. Or maybe my ears aren't so great.
 
Re: Stainless steel frets

SabbathFan0220 said:
I've never tried the same guitar with both types, but the Warmoth neck I have with SS frets feels awesome. Really smooth bends. Just a cleaner feel. As for the tone, I would bet this is one of those things that "theoretically" affects tone but that can't be heard in the real world. Or maybe my ears aren't so great.
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I dunno about the sound...it really dependson the setting...

I don't play with crazy amounts of gain but i'd bet under really saturated settings it wouldn't be noticed at all but I noticed it wiht my rig and even at a rehearsal once my drummer asked why that guitar sounded "plinky" was the word he used...
 
Re: Stainless steel frets

I had them on a Warmoth build once, they actually made the action too slick and slinky for me. I need a little more resistance!
 
Re: Stainless steel frets

TattooedCarrot said:
I had them on a Warmoth build once, they actually made the action too slick and slinky for me. I need a little more resistance!
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Too funny...I didn't notice how slick they were until I went back to a guitar with normal frets aftering playing the Warmoth build for a few days....but they were very slick feeling, an like you i'd say too slick!
 
Re: Stainless steel frets

I had my main guitar refretted with SS frets about a year ago and I friggen love it.

Before i had the refret done, the guitar had it's normal nickel-silver medium fretwire and I'd been playing the guitar as my main axe since mid 2005. After four years of getting regular play, the guitars frets became worn to the point where they needed at the very least a dressing, but that would've taken enough metal off the fret that it would've made playing uncomfortable for me. I chose to refret with a 6115-size wire and in stainless steel.

I'd played several guitars with SS frets before and loved the feel of them - very smooth and slick, very little resistance, like how normal frets feel when they've been polished, only a little more so. I never heard any excessive brightness on these guitars when playing them, but they did seem to have a tad more treble definition in the attack.

I got my axe back and it was almost TOO easy to play, but I quickly adapted to the new feel... I got used to not bending and doing vibrato against the normal feel of resistance on the metal and it was fine.

I didn't notice any tonal change on the guitar from the SS frets, aside from a little more treble and definition in the attack, sort of like moving the presence knob on the amp from 5 to 7.

I'd had one guitar refretted before, and that was in 2003 and I'd had the guitar since 1998 and had had the frets dressed twice in that time before refretting, so under normal circumstances it takes me about 5 years to wear down a set of medium nickel-silver frets to the point where it's uncomfortable for me. After a year of playing my SS fretted guitar, I haven't noticed any wear whatsoever.

Bottom line, I love SS frets, but they're not for everyone. Many shops charge an extra fee for SS frets because they're difficult to work with, or so they say.

UberMetalDood... let us know how you like them when your guitars come in!
 
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My only experience of SS frets is on the Chapman Stick in my current avatar photo. On my example, the fret wire is of triangular cross-section. They resist wear very well. This is extremely helpful on an instrument whose heaviest string lies close to the centre line of the touchboard.
 
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I love them. SS wire and Scalloping is what I like on my guitars. More control on my bendings, better action, better attack, and it's shiny forever.
 
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I have had SS frets on both my Carvins (1 of which I just sold)... I have always been very pleased with them. They feel absolutely amazing, and the guitars still sound excellent. My CS4 has SS frets and is a monster of a guitar... If I could go back I would have ordered it exactly the same...
 
Re: Stainless steel frets

Proverb-Man said:
I have had SS frets on both my Carvins (1 of which I just sold)... I have always been very pleased with them. They feel absolutely amazing, and the guitars still sound excellent. My CS4 has SS frets and is a monster of a guitar... If I could go back I would have ordered it exactly the same...
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Yes that's the exact guitar I ordered a CS4. I also ordered a ST300 with flame maple top. Both have SS frets. I want to sell my other Fenders and buy two more Carvins but I'm waiting to see how it goes with the SS frets before I make that decision.
 
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I completely love the stainless, and will never go back. If there is a tonal difference, it is minimal...not nearly as much as old strings vs. new strings.

They did feel strange, at first, but I adapted pretty quickly.
 
Re: Stainless steel frets

You're getting a guitar with SS its not like you're refretting. You wont know what its like to have nickel it'll be fine. When I do my total custom build I'm doing SS. I use my guitars wayyy too much to have nickel frets. I have a Mockingbird that isn't even a year old and it looks like its 5 or 6 years old judging by the frets. I will definitely do SS when I refret any of my guitars.
 
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