Question About Stainless Steel Frets

[MHoward878]

So I just received my first Warmoth custom neck a couple of days ago and everything seemed to be as ordered. The neck looked great, so I went ahead and installed the tuners, the attatched the neck, etc. Once I got my Strat strung up, I realized that the SS 6105 frets weren't quite what I expected :-\ . Any kind of bend or vibrato is a struggle, as the strings against the frets feel sort of rough and grainy, especially on the wound strings. This is a stark contrast to all the reviews I've heard on these boards that say that bending feels silky and almost effortless right out of the box. Did Warmoth miss a step in preparing the frets, or am I supposed to do something? I am using SS strings as well, so could that be the problem? Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks. 

 

[JamesL]

Sounds to me like you have Nickel frets by mistake.

 

[stubhead]

I had to polish mine, and round the ends a bit too. I'm really picky though. Warmoth does say right on their site that you may have to do some fret finishing. They're usually (always?) level enough, but there's no comparison between unfinished and finished frets, IMO. If you don't want to do it yourself, or learn how, it shouldn't be more than $100 unless you live in Los Angeles, New York or Nashville. There are some internet tutorials that teach you how to do it wrong, or you can buy Dan Erlewine's book "Guitar Player Repair Guide" and learn how to do it right.

 

[taez555]

When mine were brand new they did the same thing too.  After some playing though it just naturally loosened.  I'm not sure if the strings buffed them or my finger grease did something, who knows.... it's perfectly silky smooth now.  It just needs to be broken in and it'll be fine.

erik

 

[DocNrock]

Just curious, what fingerboard wood do you have?  Is it maple?  If so, the finish is on the frets and will need to be dressed off before you actually get down to the slinky stainless.

 

[Chris of Arabia]

Braveheart felt a bit like this after it was first assembled, as did the blue bound tele. All the frets were polished at the time the guitars were assembled, but for some reason they seem to feel like this at first. Something a little over a week later, Braveheart is beginning to feel a little more like, but I had the same concern at first.

 

[jackthehack]

Just curious, what fingerboard wood do you have?  Is it maple?  If so, the finish is on the frets and will need to be dressed off before you actually get down to the slinky stainless.

+1 Sounds like a maple fretboard without the finish on the frets taken off.

 

[MHoward878]

Thanks for the replies. I have a rosewood fingerboard, so it's not the finish. Guess I'll give it a week or so to break in before I consider getting work done.