Stainless steel frets

[m165]

"So your question is: Do I dislike going back to play guitars that don't have SS frets."

Yeah that was the basic idea of my question, as I mentioned earlier I am thinking about a ES 335 or 333 purchase, but I dont think the feel of the nickel frets is something I could or want to get used to again having played my Warmoth SS fretted guitars. A new 335 doesnt come cheap so on here looking for your views, helpful as always.  Thanks.

 

[AprioriMark]

It's funny. Eddie Van Halens latest signature guitar (what a joke) comes with SS frets.
Eddie raves about them like hes the first person to have discovered them.

See what too much booze and nose candy does to you!

Sorta like two hand tapping~

-Mark

 

[whatwasithinkin]

I had SS frets installed into my Warmoth neck 2 years ago when I bought it.

Strat neck, Indian Rosewood with Jet Black Ebony board.

I play every day and smile as I do.

Its my first ever SS fret neck and I love it. SS is the only way to fly for me now.

And that also goes for the unfinished neck and ebony fret board. Together they are pure heaven to play.  :rock-on:

 

[blue313]

I had SS frets installed into my Warmoth neck 2 years ago when I bought it.

Strat neck, Indian Rosewood with Jet Black Ebony board.

I play every day and smile as I do.

Its my first ever SS fret neck and I love it. SS is the only way to fly for me now.

And that also goes for the unfinished neck and ebony fret board. Together they are pure heaven to play.

Welcome to the boards! 

IRW/Ebony neck?  got pics?

 

[whatwasithinkin]

I had SS frets installed into my Warmoth neck 2 years ago when I bought it.

Strat neck, Indian Rosewood with Jet Black Ebony board.

I play every day and smile as I do.

Its my first ever SS fret neck and I love it. SS is the only way to fly for me now.

And that also goes for the unfinished neck and ebony fret board. Together they are pure heaven to play.

Welcome to the boards! 

IRW/Ebony neck?  got pics?

I posted a pic over in the Strat pic area. Its not the best quality and unfortunetly the only one I took of it before my digi camera crapped out but good enough to get the idea.
http://www.unofficialwarmoth.com/index.php?topic=9656.0

 

[ss396]

i can easily go back to play a nickel steel fretted guitar, thats no problem. i wouldn't buy another one though, i now have four necks with SS frets.

 

[stormbringer]

Stainless FTW...

 

[dmraco]

love the SS frets...smooth bends...I canot tell any tonal difference.  They are a bitch to profile if needed bacause they are so hard...fortunatly...all 3 of the WARMOTHS have been installed PERFECT! :icon_thumright:

 

[tfarny]

I wish they made 6130 SS. I had one guitar, briefly, that had SS frets and they were cool, to me it wasn't a big huge deal though. But I like my low frets.

 

[Mark W]

I use SS and every time I play the a guitar with old style frets I am glad I have SS. Wouldn't buy another guitar without them.

 

[callaway]

No comment, but I'm fairly sure that your question could have been answered by doing a search.

Posts like this are almost useless.

Anyway, seems like I'm the only one on this thread that's going to say that I had one guitar with stainless steel frets and that discouraged me from ever going with stainless steel again. It played very smooth, but there was something about the tone that I fought with for about 5 or 6 years. I got rid of it and have no qualms with good old nickel. It's probably relevant for me to mention that I play in the clean to light crunch region, mostly blues, jazz, and classic rock.

 

[SlingBass]

I've owned basses with SS fretted necks from Warmoth and other manufacturers.  Acoustically speaking - I find nickel to be more pleasing to the ear.  In live (and reasonably loud) situations *I* can tell little difference.  In softer settings it IS discernible.  I love the way SS frets feel for the most part - unless one is playing more traditional and/or fundamental music.  It's my experience that fret size has more to do with one's take on sound and playability than fret material.

 

[McNulty]

Hey, new here.

I JUST got my neck with SS.  I'll let you know what I think.  It's a one piece all rosewood with SS6100 and a graphite nut.  425.50 with shipping.

First impressions:

Very nice wood and workmanship, etc.  The frets look very slick.  Not nearly as big as I thought though.  I actually thought it might be a mistake at first.  The fret ends are sharp and will require a bit of filing.  But I can get along with that for now.  That's it for now.  Pics soon I promise.  It's going on my sunburst 96 American Std. Strat.

I'm really interested in the Stainless Frets debate.  I cannot wait to get it hooked up and give my impressions.  The neck is light as hell btw!!  I've heard stories to the contrary about rosewood but that is definitely not the case here.  I think I did good!

 

[clearerphish]

I went with nickel over Stainless on my first Warmoth build. I asked my luthier about the stainless, it seemed like they would be right up my alley. He advised against them vehemently. His reasoning was that if you ever have to do a refret, it is extremely difficult to get them out of the fretboard without damage. He runs the Atlanta Guitar School and they train luthiers, plus as long as I have known him he has made my guitars feel incredible, so I trust him. Your mileage may vary, he said he liked them better in all other areas but that one aspect had him recommend me nickel. I went with his advice because I got a one piece neck.

 

[-CB-]

He advised against them vehemently. His reasoning was that if you ever have to do a refret, it is extremely difficult to get them out of the fretboard without damage.

I'm sorry... but thats total and unequivocal horse crap.  Go back and ask him WHY.  What property does stainless have that makes it worse than nickel silver when being pulled out of wood? 

A lot of "luthiers" (ahem... guitar-smiths... fixers) dont like RE-fretting in stainless because stainless must be curved precisely or pulling out the the already-used slot is a greater risk.  They dont like dressing the stainless because its more work.  Their tools are made for nickel silver - and wont cut stainless as nicely, or stainless may even damage their delicate nippers and such.  Its harder to file.  It takes more work.  For best results, instead of just pressing in, you need to glue them in as well - to avoid pull-outs.

I think your luthier friend doesn't like stainless, but given that someone else was doing the work of installing, he made a stab at the only thing he could, in order to still get his jab in.  That was the taking-out part, since putting-in was already covered by somebody else.

Truth is - nickel silver frets are a bitch to get out sometimes too.  You get chips, you get pulled wood, you get splinters, you deal with it and move on.

 

[clearerphish]

Like I said, your mileage may vary. I'm simply relaying what my close friend the luthier told me. I make no claims to it's veracity. However, my friend builds acoustic and electric instruments from scratch, and trains others in all aspects of instrument repair from cracked necks to nut installation, refrets, acoustic and electric instrument construction, et cetera. He doesn't exactly work in the repair dept of guitar center.

 

[-CB-]

Well, ask him the why part, and get back to us.  I'm very interested in hearing what he has to say.

 

[dmraco]

As far as longevity, I have a nickel fretted guitar from 1986...still plays well.  Granted the frets are Charvel and HUGE and the guitar does not see as much playing now, but its still playing fine even with some wear.

Take it for that it is worth, but I saw an interview with Eddie Van Halen discussing his new EVH wolfgang and the reason for SS frets.  He stated that after a tour, a normal nickel fretted neck would need refretted.  One with SS frets, showed no wear.  Know one plays harder than Eddie but is may have just been a marketing gimick. :-\

to me the re-fretting and dressing was not an issue since this neck and frets are likely to outlive me.  My sons can deal with it when the time comes.  :sad: I like them because they are SOOOO slippery and make bends and vibrato a dream! :guitarplayer2:

 

[stubhead]

It stands to reason that a "luthier" who makes a substantial part of his income from refrets, and level/crown/polishes, isn't going to get emotionally attached to something that only needs to be leveled about 1/4 as often, is harder on his tools and he (probably) can't charge twice as much.... what will happen, as these become more popular, is a certain market setting of the cost of working on SS frets. Because electric guitarists are so ridiculously conservative, I don't think nickle frets will ever go away entirely. But it has nothing to do with tone, jeez turn your treble knob from "4" to "3 1/2."

 

[callaway]

I went with nickel over Stainless on my first Warmoth build. I asked my luthier about the stainless, it seemed like they would be right up my alley. He advised against them vehemently. His reasoning was that if you ever have to do a refret, it is extremely difficult to get them out of the fretboard without damage. He runs the Atlanta Guitar School and they train luthiers, plus as long as I have known him he has made my guitars feel incredible, so I trust him. Your mileage may vary, he said he liked them better in all other areas but that one aspect had him recommend me nickel. I went with his advice because I got a one piece neck.

But you'd never need to re-fret a neck with stainless steel frets. I mean, they don't wear at all. It would take decades just to see a hint of a groove. Keep in mind, this is coming from someone who prefers nickel frets for a different reason (tone), but I'm serious---stainless steel frets will not wear.

Some people say you can get the same tone by just turning the treble down slightly, but that's entirely not the case in my experience. I guess it might technically be a timbre thing then...