Stainless steel vs traditional frets

[SustainerPlayer]

That doesn't sound good. But how low is low action with "slight buzzing"? It's pretty vague.
I believe in what you're saying. My ears are good and I don't want to fool myself.

I have never heard that issue about SS before though. I like pretty low action but not too low, because I play hard.

Hi - On Warmoth compound necks I usually go for 1 mm on the treble side and 1,4 mm on the bass side. Using standard 0,10 strings in standard tuning.

I am a "light" picker/strummer"

 

[SalsaNChips]

I my recently completed Tele build I used SS 6105's. First guitar I have ever owned or played with SS frets. My obeservation is:

1.) They play smoother, especially bends, feels like skating on ice. Big difference over standard fret wire.
2.) They sound a tad brighter, especially with stainless wrapped steel core strings (stainless on stainless)
3.) They do seem to amplify fret buzz a little more. On my ultra clean settings, I am hearing some fret buzz  that I don't normally hear on my Strat with lower action and a similar setup. It is not a big deal and way down on my list of things to think about.

Overall I think stainless frets are a good thing, probably worth the few extra $$$, if just for the feel of playing on them which is GREAT.

 

[Cagey]

I'd bet money the "brighter" sound you're getting is from the stainless-wrapped strings as opposed to the stainless frets.

I keep a generous mittenful of both stainless and standard strings in stock, and use what seems appropriate at the time for the guitar I'm playing to sharpen or smooth out the sound of a guitar. There's a very noticeable difference between them..

The selling point of stainless strings is their life expectancy - and that's valid. A set of those things last a long time while delivering a consistent sound. Oddly enough, they never talk about the sound itself, which is dramatically brighter.

I'm serial!​

The only reason I don't use stainless strings exclusively is they seem to have a limit to their "stretchability". It could just be me, but it seems like they feel perfectly normal unless you you really try to push them hard, then it feels like they get to a point where they just won't stretch any more. Normal efforts at bends and vibrato don't give you any grief, but if you want to really push a string, it seems like you hit a wall. Like if you go just a few more semitones you're either going to cut your finger or break the string. But, it could just be me. Stainless strings cost more, so there may be some subliminal tendency to not push them to the breaking point for fear of having to replace the whole damn set. I've yet to find them sold as singles,

 

[chriswest]

SustainerPlayer and SalsaNChips, do you hear the buzz with distortion? If you play rock for example.

SustainerPlayer, do you think the SS frets provide so much buzz that you prefer standard frets instead?

 

[chriswest]

Can't the buzz problem with SS frets be different depending on what fret size you have? Maybe 6150 is better than 6105 or something (just an example).

 

[SustainerPlayer]

SustainerPlayer and SalsaNChips, do you hear the buzz with distortion? If you play rock for example.

SustainerPlayer, do you think the SS frets provide so much buzz that you prefer standard frets instead?

Well - There comes a point when gain erases anything subtle in the guitar signal  :icon_jokercolor: :icon_biggrin:

But until that point - yes - I heard the buzz with drive too.

The "funny" thing about this was that it was an all rosewood-neck I borrowed from friend because I wanted to try out a rosewood neck.

I didn't know at that time that it had SS frets. When I later talked with the necks owner about my experience I asked him if it was SS frets? He replied yes and he asked how I knew it was SS frets?

When I told him about the "buzz-thing" he replied that was the reason he didn't use it himself.  :sign13:

And yes - I prefer standard frets on all my guitars - I got 7 Warmoths among the lot.

Can't the buzz problem with SS frets be different depending on what fret size you have? Maybe 6150 is better than 6105 or something (just an example).

Could be. I have tried SS frets on the aforementioned Warmoth neck. On a couple a Suhrs and Parkers (which apparently doesn't count according to Cagey ;-)) All with the same result. But I can't say which fret wire size they where.  :dontknow:

Factors such as action, how hard you play, signal path and so on can or will also influence the outcome.

I fully understand that most people don't have issues at all with SS frets. But under some circumstances they are not necessarily the biggest thing since sliced bread. 

 

[Strat Avenger]

"Buzz" has to do with the guitar's set up and action. SS frets do not buzz any more than nickle frets.

 

[chriswest]

SustainerPlayer, hmm alright. I have listened to many guitar clips on Youtube with SS frets in my reference headphones and I haven't heard any tendency of buzz. If there's a difference that I can hear, then it is that they are a little brighter and better articulated.

Thanks for your input though. I will hear with my Swedish guitar friends what their experience is.

 

[Cagey]

"Buzz" has to do with the guitar's set up and action. SS frets do not buzz any more than nickle frets.

Absolutely. No question about it, no interpretation needed. If any of my guitars or those I work on had even the slightest buzz, that neck would be off there so fast there'd be a hard vacuum around my worktable for 3 minutes that would draw up every spider and centipede in the house into one concentrated place where I could kill them all with a single judicious application of whatever that poison is the dealer sold me while thinking I was a licensed contractor (Hey, I didn't lie. I simply said I was authorized to apply the stuff, and left out the part about who authorized me. Don't ask, don't tell <grin>)

Anyway, the only times I've ever heard buzz is when I've forgotten to put any relief in the neck during setup. Even then, it wasn't buzz so much as they just sounded dead. Don't let anyone kid you: if there's buzz, a fret is still too proud or it ain't set up right, or both.

You can get away with some unusually tight action on an electric due to S/N ratio and either natural or electronically-assisted compression. But, acoustically, it'll sound like shit. Maybe that's what people are talking about. Personally, when I do a setup and am given free rein, I do the frets as if it is going to be a shredder, but set it up to sound clean acoustically. Can't go wrong that way unless you are a shredder, then the action may be a bit higher than is practical for that playing style. But, thankfully, there aren't that many Yngwies in the world.

 

[-CB-]

they bend like buttah

 

[stubhead]

Yngwie Malmsteen actually plays with pretty high action. Which, combined with the scalloped fretboard, the .008" - .038" strings, and the fact that his intonation is impeccable, means he works really hard at one thing at least. It's not anything that makes ME want to listen to him, but, he sure is in tune - which is pretty hard. He has his fans - if your teenage brain was in "latch" mode somewhere in the proper milliseconds between the death of Randy Rhoads, the buzzout of Eddie Van Halen, and the ascendancy of Dimebag Darrell and/or Slash,

Yngwie Forever!!! Yu Rawk!! etc!!! woohoo.... arty07: