Stainless Steel Frets

[Nando Vallart]

Hey people! Here in the forum and in the Warmoth Official site, I don't find to much talks about Stainless Steel Frets...
From a "renowed" "luthier" (who thinks he's God in person :icon_biggrin, I red: "pure shit - it make your guitar sing toooooo bright, glassy"...
But he still said, if you put Duncans instead DiMarzio, 85% is solved...

Is this truth or pure fresh and warm bullshit??

 

[Alfang]

Nonesensetele  I'm Gonna have to call B.S. on stainless frets making your guitar sing to bright and glassy,

I have 20 Guitars, Some with stainless fretts,  The only thing I can tell that is diferent, is bending strings with stainless fretts is smooth as melted butter.
Also the stainless does not wear near as fast as other non stailess frets.

Given a choice, I will always select stainless frets in the future.

The only downside to stainless is dressing and crowning the frets takes more time......

John

 

[u9]

no complaints with mine! I love these things and will be hard pressed to ever go back to nickel. strings float on them like NASA-engineered bearings (I wonder what the drag coefficient is on these things, lol). I also can't say I've ever noticed a huge tonal difference, but I'd rather have bright and articulate notes than muddy ones anyday. As Alfang said, working them would be more involved but they last forever. I've had them on one guitar for 3.5 years of serious, everyday playing (and I have a paint-shaker vibrato), and I still can't see any wear. can't comment on the DiMarzio/Duncan topic, I've never used DiMarzios.

 

[Superbeast520]

I agree with these guy's, I will say a blues purist / tone snob, may not like the subtle difference in tone, but the stainless allows you to bend nonstop over and over (in the same spot if ya want .....hahahahaha) without the strings digging in or the frets getting worn, Im amazed at how smooth they are in that respect.  (and I do some serious, repetitive lick practice at times....ahahahaahahaha)
I can't see going back to Nickel, though I wouldn't mind playing on someone elses Nickel frets to asses the difference, but since Alfang has 20 guitars and he dosn't notice a big difference except that their better in many ways........well that pretty much says all I need to hear. :icon_smile:

 

[CD]

So basically what everyone is saying here is that the "renowned" "luthier" aka Ed Roman (I can only assume :laughing7: ) is full of shit. I've planned on getting the stainless frets for some time and this just reinforces my intent.

 

[Alfang]

Who's Ed Roman?
How many guitars do I have to build to be a luthier?
And how long do I need to be a luthier to be renowned?
Ed probably doesn't like staimless cus it takes more time to finnish.

John

 

[Superbeast520]

AHHH, there's the Magic name..........heheheheehehheh, Its funny, cause Ed knows probably more people in the music buisness than most reps, yet the guy still feels the need to rant away............hahahahaahahahah,  Yeah, I caught his sight before my build and he had me freaking about the stainless, and I really wanted to try em, but Im from the school of fender, so Im like freaking at every word he says and all worried that I may be commiting Tone Hari Kari  if I buy em, then as I talk to the Warmoth reps I feel a little more trusting and get em anyhow, and what do I find 8 months later............the best decision I ever made in terms of frets..........they needed no leveling what so ever, will probably need no crowning for at least a few years and I may never see a refret job in my life.........hahahahaahahahahah  
So much for Ed freaking me out again, .........I quit reading into his B.S. after that.......... :laughing7:
Sure do love his sight though, infromative and entertaining, as long as you know which is which....... :laughing11:

Yeah he claims everytime he does a fret job it wreaks his files...hahahahahahha  really he does!!!....hahahahahah

 

[CD]

Yeah, it is definately entertaining. I take everything he says with a grain of salt. I've had no dealings with him, but I've heard good and bad about him, so I can't really say. Anyway, here's his rant on the stainless steel frets if anyone wants to read it:

http://www.edromanguitars.com/newsite/techarticles/stainlessfrets.htm

 

[Superbeast520]

Yeah I wouldn't mind giving his pearlcaster or some of his guitars a whirl just to see if their all that! ......... :icon_scratch:

 

[Alfang]

Ok I read Ed's article, I see he's in LasVegas, things in lasVegas should stay there.

Ok a guy would have to fret up a guitar with say nickle frets and play it and remember the "Tone"
Then rip the frets out and refret with stainless, and play it again and try to remember how it sounded before and make a judgement.

There are so many things that contribute to the tone of a guitar, it's not even funny.  People put way to much credit to frets, and paint.

you can get your biggest variations of tone by changing pickups. 

I want my guitar to play well, I will adjust my tone with pedals and amplifiers, Yes, I like both kinds of Music, "Rock" and "Roll"

John

 

[Superbeast520]

Amen!!!!!!!! ..........Vegas is for gangsters and hookers................hehehhhhehheheh  :laughing11:

 

[u9]

the biggest consituent of tone is your fingers. some things have more tonal impact than others but a great musician will sound good on any instrument. while I'm not a great player, I have recently come full circle and found I sound equally good on my $100 Dean as I do on my $1500 Warmoth. only my guitar-player friends with the trained ears could tell the difference.

 

[Superbeast520]

Thats because only trained ears know what tone is.................Im pretty sure your ears would be praying for your $1500Warmoth before too long..............

The girls only listen to the singer anyway so they don't count.....hehehehehehehhehe :laughing7:

 

[simple]

The girls only listen to the singer anyway

So true... :laughing11: 

I only order necks with stainless frets now. I spent so much $ on frets wearing out all my life that there's no way I'm going back to that. Tone? I have the best tone I've ever had these days.

I think that guy you're talking about that rips on stainless frets has gotten more publicity from it than anything else he's ever done. That makes him a marketing genious at least but correct about the frets....I think not.

 

[Jay Davidson]

I have Stainless Steel 6115 fretwire on my Korinacaster and I love them.  I always hated the feel of worn and rough frets, so it's a nice feeling that no matter how much abuse I put my frets under, they're going to still feel and play the same as they did the first time I played the guitar.  That is if I can ever find time off from my other musical endevors to actually play the thing!  :laughing7:

 

[Volitions Advocate]

HAHA "The Duncan's help about 85%"  Right cause he got out his nickel/silver to stainless steel tonal percentage guage to check it!
I'm pretty sure i read in a book or magazine somewhere that 93% of the time statistics that you hear are just made up on the spot :icon_jokercolor:

  Rock on U9! I"m a Dean Fan myself.  I've decided now they're the only gutiars i'll buy off the shelf anymore, I really wish Warmoth could somehow get the Dean body and headstock shapes in their catalog, probably lisencing issues with that though.  I'd buy a $400 dollar EVO over a genuine gibby LP any day.  Gotta get my hands on a soltero.  after all they have nickel frets.. they MUST sound amazazaing....        :icon_thumright:

 

[u9]

I"m a Dean Fan myself.  I've decided now they're the only gutiars i'll buy off the shelf anymore

I've been so impressed with my dean, and it was just the $100 Vendetta XM. I am now a fan also :icon_thumright:

I would love to see Warmoth get some Dean-inspired shapes going! At least a headstock shape, that would rock :headbang:

 

[simple]

would love to see Warmoth get some Dean-inspired shapes going! At least a headstock shape, that would rock

We did about 20 of them and put them on the showcase. It took a little over two years before the last one sold, and we had to sell it cheap to get rid of it!  :laughing7: .... Not a real mover we found.

 

[CD]

I remember seeing the split Dean headstock and maybe an ML body in the showcase a while back thinking, "They make those?!"  :icon_biggrin:

 

[Nando Vallart]

Hey guys! Thanks you to everybody, your answer help me so much... I have never played with SS frets, neither know if it could be found here in Brazil, but I'll give this a chance someday!




And yes, I was talking about the 'article' from Ed Roman, but I have tryied to not do verbal attacks and, then, be banned from here!  :laughing3: :toothy12: