Meanwhile, at Warmoth....Nickel vs Stainless Steel frets video!!

[Cagey]

Hehe! Too much fun.

Now I'm gonna have to go through my album collection, and remind myself of my roots.

 

[Cagey]

SASQUATCH!!!!!!!!

I knew it!

Just about as evil as an eskimo boy can be.

 

[Fred_Buzz]

Ok so SS lasts longer but which is easier to refret? Ni or SS?

 

[aarontunes]

Ok so SS lasts longer but which is easier to refret? Ni or SS?

Is this a trick question?  :bananaguitar:


If you were doing a refret of both materials, nickel would be easier.


But....you won't have to do a refret on on Stainless, so.....

 

[Cagey]

Ok so SS lasts longer but which is easier to refret? Ni or SS?

It depends on who you talk to. Some guys, like Ed Roman as referenced earlier, will either refuse the work or charge a substantial premium for it, badmouthing the idea the whole time. Others, like myself, don't care. In fact, I've gotten to the point where I actually prefer to work on stainless frets.

The reason for the hate is mainly because the some guys buy cheap tools. If you try to use some traditional tools on stainless fretwire, you will ruin them in short order. Stainless steel is very  hard relative to nickel/silver, and you can wreck your fret cutters/nippers/etc. in less than one fret job. That means replacing them all, which is expensive. Fretting tools aren't like screwdrivers, where they make 83 bajillion of them a year, so there's no economy of scale to take advantage of.

But, in general, there's no difference in what you have to do. Pulling old frets and installing new ones is no different. it's the cutting/shaping that might take a little longer. If I had to guess, given the right tools there's probably only $5 difference in cost and maybe a half hour to an hour's difference in time between the two.

The exception would be for compound radius fretboards. Stainless and EVO frets are very hard, so they have to be radiused very close to their installed position or you risk pop-ups. They won't conform like nickel/silver wire will. That can eat up some time, but again, it's not exorbitant.

 

[Fred_Buzz]

Ok so SS lasts longer but which is easier to refret? Ni or SS?

Is this a trick question?  :bananaguitar:


If you were doing a refret of both materials, nickel would be easier.


But....you won't have to do a refret on on Stainless, so.....

Not a trick question. Just that I when I ordered my new Warmoth build I missed this thread until after I'd already plunked down on a Warmoth neck with Ni 6105. So I'm trying to find a bright side rather than have any sort of regret about any part of my soon to be amazing dream Warmoth custom Tele build that you guys are making for me.

Ok so SS lasts longer but which is easier to refret? Ni or SS?

It depends on who you talk to. Some guys, like Ed Roman as referenced earlier, will either refuse the work or charge a substantial premium for it, badmouthing the idea the whole time. Others, like myself, don't care. In fact, I've gotten to the point where I actually prefer to work on stainless frets.

The reason for the hate is mainly because the some guys buy cheap tools. If you try to use some traditional tools on stainless fretwire, you will ruin them in short order. Stainless steel is very  hard relative to nickel/silver, and you can wreck your fret cutters/nippers/etc. in less than one fret job. That means replacing them all, which is expensive. Fretting tools aren't like screwdrivers, where they make 83 bajillion of them a year, so there's no economy of scale to take advantage of.

But, in general, there's no difference in what you have to do. Pulling old frets and installing new ones is no different. it's the cutting/shaping that might take a little longer. If I had to guess, given the right tools there's probably only $5 difference in cost and maybe a half hour to an hour's difference in time between the two.

The exception would be for compound radius fretboards. Stainless and EVO frets are very hard, so they have to be radiused very close to their installed position or you risk pop-ups. They won't conform like nickel/silver wire will. That can eat up some time, but again, it's not exorbitant.

Thank you. I appreciate your time and response.

 

[Cagey]

Call them up RFN and find out if they've fretted your neck yet. If not, change the order to stainless. As Aaron said, replacing them won't be an issue, as for all intents and purposes they don't wear. I mean, they will, but it takes eleventy bajillion hours of play to do it, unlike nickel/silvers that most professional players have to do once a year or more. Plus, they play so much better, even if they did wear as fast you'd still want them.

I'm not kidding. I almost never install nickel/silver frets any more and I buy stainless wire in bulk. If anybody asks, I hand them one of my guitars and say "play this". Never fails.

 

[dmraco]

Call them up RFN and find out if they've fretted your neck yet. If not, change the order to stainless. As Aaron said, replacing them won't be an issue, as for all intents and purposes they don't wear. I mean, they will, but it takes eleventy bajillion hours of play to do it, unlike nickel/silvers that most professional players have to do once a year or more. Plus, they play so much better, even if they did wear as fast you'd still want them.

I'm not kidding. I almost never install nickel/silver frets any more and I buy stainless wire in bulk. If anybody asks, I hand them one of my guitars and say "play this". Never fails.

I read an interview with EVH and was singing the praises of SS frets (obviously since his guitars {now only the USA models} have them).  He said he has NEVER had a neck last a tour.  With the SS frets, even after a tour they show hardly any wear.

I am glad I got my EVH wolfgang standard when they still had stainless.

 

[Steve_Karl]

I'll answer all these questions as accurately, and with as much humor, as I can.

Thanks for taking the time!

 

[Fred_Buzz]

Call them up RFN and find out if they've fretted your neck yet. If not, change the order to stainless. As Aaron said, replacing them won't be an issue, as for all intents and purposes they don't wear. I mean, they will, but it takes eleventy bajillion hours of play to do it, unlike nickel/silvers that most professional players have to do once a year or more. Plus, they play so much better, even if they did wear as fast you'd still want them.

I'm not kidding. I almost never install nickel/silver frets any more and I buy stainless wire in bulk. If anybody asks, I hand them one of my guitars and say "play this". Never fails.

Talked to Spike, it's already fretted. My new Warmoth neck is nickel. No way I can lose with a Warmoth but this thread has taken a bit of the shine off NGD feeling.

 

[Cagey]

It's actually against  a tech's/luthier's best interests to recommend stainless frets, since it may be the last time they'll see the guitar. Other than nuts and maybe  truss rod adjustments, most people can handle most other adjustments with simple hand tools almost anyone's got around the house and advice from sites like this one.

 

[Cagey]

Talked to Spike, it's already fretted. My new Warmoth neck is nickel. No way I can lose with a Warmoth but this thread has taken a bit of the shine off NGD feeling.

Spike's a good guy - been there about 100 years and would never steer you wrong. So, not to despair - new frets are always great, no matter what they're made of. After you've played them for 25 minutes or so and they're all worn out, gimme a call  :laughing7:

 

[Fred_Buzz]

Spike's a good guy - been there about 100 years and would never steer you wrong. So, not to despair - new frets are always great, no matter what they're made of. After you've played them for 25 minutes or so and they're all worn out, gimme a call  :laughing7:

He seems pretty cool on the phone. I'm not too worried. I thought the nickel sounded better in Aarons video but the idea of not having to refret a fancy exotic wooded neck possibly ever is enticing.

On the awesome side, Warmoth's had my order just 5 days and already my new neck is fretted. The idea of my custom body and showcase neck showing up early is intoxicating.  :headbanging:

 

[Cagey]

Opening a box from Warmoth is always an occasion. That's one of the reasons there's a "Just out of the box" category here. The reality is always better than the pictures, and pleasantly so.

 

[mayfly]

Don't worry too much!  It takes me ages to wear out a set of nickel silver frets.  I still have not sent the neck from "Kashmir" (my main guitar) to Cagey for a re-fret; I'm just living with the divots in the fret faces 

 

[Cagey]

Sounds like somebody needs to give themselves a Christmas present  :icon_biggrin:

 

[swarfrat]

I have an ESP neck which has had been leveled at least twice in the 20 years I've had it. And I don't play nearly as much as I should.

 

[Verne Bunsen]

SASQUATCH!!!!!!!!

He may have started dabbling in production after giving up drums?

[youtube]xupQHKzirRE[/youtube]

 

[stratamania]

Call them up RFN and find out if they've fretted your neck yet. If not, change the order to stainless. As Aaron said, replacing them won't be an issue, as for all intents and purposes they don't wear. I mean, they will, but it takes eleventy bajillion hours of play to do it, unlike nickel/silvers that most professional players have to do once a year or more. Plus, they play so much better, even if they did wear as fast you'd still want them.

I'm not kidding. I almost never install nickel/silver frets any more and I buy stainless wire in bulk. If anybody asks, I hand them one of my guitars and say "play this". Never fails.

Talked to Spike, it's already fretted. My new Warmoth neck is nickel. No way I can lose with a Warmoth but this thread has taken a bit of the shine off NGD feeling.

Enjoy it until it needs a re-fret which could be quite some time depending on how much playing time it gets. Then when the time comes go for Stainless steel then.