SS frets wearing out strings?

[Cederick]

I just read this page:
http://avhguitarrepair.com/repair-blog/stainless-steel-frets-hmm/

Seems like SS frets wear out normal guitar strings, is this true?

 

[Patrick from Davis]

If they are harder than the strings then yeah.  However, most people change their strings more than once every six months, so it turns out not to be an issue.
Patrick

 

[fretless]

frets wear out strings anyway , I much rather do that than wear put frets  .

 

[TonyFlyingSquirrel]

Elixr's wear even less.

And, just to add to this.  If you have a highly acidic sweat/perspiration, you may re-consider your diet. 
I've had guitars handed to be to setup that were less than a couple of years old that looked like they've been relic'd in an acid bath by folks who eat nothing but Taco Bell.

It's all relative.

 

[Raunline]

I have standard nickel on some store bought guitars and both of my Warmoth builds have stainless steel frets. Stainless has a smoother feel to them when it comes to bends so that's an added bonus. I've never worn out the frets on any of my guitars so the longevity of the frets doesn't seem to be an issue for me. Some of the standard nickel fretted guitars that I have do have some "dents or nicks" in them from being bumped or dropped against something. I don't need to worry about that with the stainless steel frets!

 

[Cagey]

This guy sounds like a flock of ss frets came to him in the middle of the night and viciously attacked him for no reason, slicing his tender little fingers up mercilessly and trashing his shop and tools along the way for good measure.

He shows us what strings look like after riding on ss frets for some period, but neglects to show us what strings look like after riding nickel-sliver frets for the same period, as if in the latter case nothing happens. Fact is, all frets wear strings, and the more abrasive they are the faster they do it. A highly polished fret will also do it, albeit more slowly. Never mind the material.

SS frets will put the hurt on tools if you buy junk tools. You can't buy a 150 piece set of files from K-Mart for $5.99 and expect them to last. You need good high-carbon steel or diamond files to do decent fret work, I don't care what the frets are made of.

SS fretwire will tear up cutters fast if you get the wrong ones, and even the right ones don't want to last much more than one job. But, there are alternatives. You can grind them instead of cut them, and there's a jig out there that makes that easy. It also returns a much better job. I recently got one to do the frets on the L5S' neck, which is bound.

Grinding side. Those round black things are rollers that guide the file. The horizontal ones are height adjustable to set the depth
of cut for the file. You clamp the jig into a vise, then clamp a fret into the jig, and you're ready to go.

Rear view. The knob you see at the bottom is used to clamp the fret into the jig.

What you get

Another view​

It ends up being faster than the snip & file or Dremel grinder methods we're used to, and gives much better/repeatable results.

Not all luthiers charge more to work stainless frets. I don't. In fact, I prefer to work them. They're more forgiving. I'd highly recommend them to anyone, and can't think of a single downside to them for the user or the worker. It does take slightly longer, but unless you're doing a dozen setups a day, I can't imagine the time impacting your schedule enough to kick about.

 

[Patrick from Davis]

Is that the tool/jig LMII has had for a while?  There are two picts of it that are different, never knew which was the current model.
Patrick

 

[Cagey]

Yes, it is, and this is the more recent one. Apparently, the older one had problems and they stopped carrying it.

Actually, this design has an issue, too. That clamp screw that holds the fret in place needs to have the end that bears against the fret ground/polished, or there needs to be some sort of wood or nylon pad at the end that contacts the fret. Otherwise, the fret gets marked and you have to polish that out. It's not a huge problem, but it does create unnecessary work.

I filed and polished mine, but just a 1/4" diameter piece of dowel rod or something would work as well.

 

[Hbom]

IMO Changing strings is cheap & easy compared to changing frets.

 

[Cagey]

No doubt. I'm constantly surprised to find how infrequently some people change strings. If you play 2-3 hours a day, a set of strings is maybe good for a week. At that point, they've lost clarity and the chances of breakage go way up. Besides, it's not like they're expensive. It's a rare bar you can get a beer in or a McDonald's you can get a burger & fries for less than what a set of D'Addarios cost. At least with the strings, you can get 20-30 hours of use and pleasure out of them. The other two items mentioned are shorter-term in the satisfaction/usefulness categories by an order of magnitude.

 

[Cederick]

I use regular nickel wound Daddario 009 strings on all my Fender scale guitars. (the same but 010 on Gibson or similar scale)

Would these wear out fast, or should I go for something like Elixir strings if I got a stainless fret build?

 

[Cagey]

Don't even think about it. Use whatever strings you like. It's not an issue. The guy who wrote the article linked at the top of this thread had to turn in something for that week's or month's column, so he picked on ss frets. He could have as easily picked on lacquer vs. polyurethane or Fender vs. Gibson or Intel vs. AMD. Gotta write something, or you don't get to make your car payment.

 

[Updown]

Better than strings wearing out the frets.

Ummm all mine are SS Frets, never had a problem with strings.

:dontknow: someones mythical dreams ..........

 

[AutoBat]

Both my guitars have SS frets and the strings are still going great 8 months later (Elixirs).  I refuse to change strings until they break.

 

[stubhead]

There's a lot of hype about everything these days - in the contrarian department, I have even read manufacturers' blurbs wherein they claim that stainless steel frets "never" wear out. You could make some like that - you'd have to pre-bend, pre-cut and pre-crown them, because then you'd harden them up to a Rockwell hardness of 68, 70, 72... they'd be hard as rocks, and as fragile.

It's my experience that SS frets last3-4 times as long as nickel-silver. How hard you press makes a difference, which is where I have to bail on making any kind of judgement about this guy's claim. In those pictures I see at least three places where the windings are actually deformed by excessive pressure, pushed crooked to the plane of the surrounding wrappings. I don't care how drunk, punk or "inspired" you get, and I don't really know anything else about this guy's playing, but I do know if you're destroying strings just by pressing that hard, you're gonna be a very hard customer to please. In fact, I'd probably just run, cause youz gots some serious anger issues, boy. :evil4:

The reason I don't do O.P's frets for money is primarily because that time would have to come out of my playing time (and no space!)  but if I was doing them for OP's I'd likely take the Cagey route of no extra charge, too. The method I've gotten to in the last few years is to use wet/dry abrasive paper only, held in a few odd little pieces of wood "sanding blocks" with grooves in them. With the improvements made in these papers over the last few decades, they rip right on through stainless steel. I'd be more concerned with excess material removal rather than not enough.

There's some sort of issue about using like materials in a bearing situation, furzample if you have a stainless steel crankshaft you use bronze bearings, or they'll put a ferrous tool steel facing on a cam that rides on a stainless surface. I couldn't find an insty-link and I only remember it vaguely, so I'm not sure if it even has any applicability here. There may be somewhat different material specifications required for a 10,000 rpm funny car engine and a blues guitarist going "WEE-wee-WEE-wee-WEE-wee."

 

[dmraco]

This guy is a joke.  Like cagey said all frets wear strings.  I have found the new cobalt strings hold up will to both frets and human oils and sweat. 

SS will also tear up tools more quickly but a quality set should last a lifetime

I personally like the feel of SS frets and the longevity they provide is a bonus.  There are still plenty of historic les Pauls and strats with original nickel frets.  Frets last a while unless you play constantly or Conan the neck while playing. 

I read someplace that Eddie van Halen would refret his main guitar multiple times on tour.  Once he switched to stainless he never had to refret. 

Bottom line is strings are cheap and a fret job is not.  The $25 up charge Warmoth has for frets is a bargin.  I assume that is both a labor and material charge.

Now lets talk nitro vs poly.   

 

[stratamania]

I have a Hamer I have owned since the late eighties redone with SS frets. Still using Daddario 9s on it. They don't wear out quicker. Even if they did its better than worn frets. SS frets are a great improvement I think and they feel better for bending.

 

[mayfly]

Now lets talk nitro vs poly. 

Nitro?  Poly?  Both obviously inferior.  My new guitar was french polished and it's superior to all. 

So there :icon_jokercolor:

 

[Strat Avenger]

SS frets do not wear strings any faster than nickle frets. The surface is smoother, which results in less friction. It's basic physics.

The SS fret naysayers are really becoming annoying. First they say that they make the guitar sound "shrill" (absolute B.S.), and then they say they eat strings (more B.S.).

 

[Cagey]

The SS fret naysayers are really becoming annoying. First they say that they make the guitar sound "shrill" (absolute B.S.), and then they say they eat strings (more B.S.).

I don't understand it, either. It's not like any of these guys have a dog in the race. Why bash something that's so obviously superior? There's nothing but upside to the things, and no downside at all. They don't change tone, they don't eat strings, they wear forever, they play like a dream... what's not to love? If I were a guitar manufacturer, they'd be the standard and I'd charge extra for nickel/silver frets just to punish people. "Oh, you don't want good frets? That'll be extra. Would you like the extended warranty on those? Heh heh... oh, boy. Come sit here in the comfy chair..."