In the past I've seen posts about stainless steel frets, but not about the sound that goes with them.

I'm very hard on frets. It seems that I cut groves in them, in no time (is it my manly grip?). When it came time to have the frets dressed on my MIM Strat, I also had the option of replacing the frets with stainless steel frets. I spoke to two luthiers about it, with one of them refusing to install stainless steel frets. He told me that the stainless steel frets ruins the sound on a guitar. The other luthier was willing to install stainless steel frets, but was unable to tell me about how it would affect the sound. After some thinking about it, I ended up just having the frets dressed.

At some time in the future, I know I'll have to put in new frets in the MIM Strat. At that point, I might put in the stainless steel frets (it's a bit more expensive). And....since that's my least expensive guitar, that is the one I would use for the experiment (would give me information, before I refret something like my American Deluxe Strat). The stainless steel frets might be my solution to the wear I tend to put on frets.

What my question is.........does anyone actually have a guitar with stainless steel frets, or have had their frets replaced with stainless? If so....did you notice a big time change in the sound. And if there was a change in the sound, was it a bad change in sound, or just "different", and very usable. So far I haven't spoken with anyone who has changed over to stainless steel frets. I was told that the job would cost about $450. The cost was due to increased labor, and the fact that the luthier would have to go through a set of files on the job. Apparently the Stainless Frets are very hard to work with. The costs is actually a touch more than a new MIM would cost......but with the end result of never having to do a fret job again.

Anyway.....for those with stainless frets.....give me your opinion on the sound.

_________________
"I won't be wronged, I won't be insulted, I won't be laid a hand on. I don't do these things to other people, and I require the same from them."-John Wayne

I've had a few guitars with them. I love the way they feel. Very smooth, easy to bend. I never noticed a change in tone like some have said. Personally, I say go for it.

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Being able to play and enjoy music is a gift that's often taken for granted.

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Mike do you think it makes bending easier over time with the stainless fret?

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Thomas Jefferson

Check out this page at Warmoth:

http://www.warmoth.com/guitar/necks/nec ... n=fretsize

But be aware, although they should last noticeably longer, they still won't last for ever. They'll need replacing in the end.

And because the hardness makes it tricky to cut the tang off near the ends your tech will likely leave the tangs going all the way to the end of the fret, visible on the surface of the wood, so if you have humidity changes that make the fret ends emerge from the fingerboard slightly it is going to feel very rough on the hand till you have them re-filed.

Not a reason not to do it: just something to know about.

Good luck - C

Edit: the normal term for cutting the end of the fret tang off is spelt n then i then p. But the "family friendly" software doesn't like that particular luthier's word. Interesting...

Great......that's what I want to hear. Did you buy the guitars with Stainless frets, or did you have them put in? If the sound is basically the same, I think I'd go for stainless. It's worth the extra money to me.

_________________
"I won't be wronged, I won't be insulted, I won't be laid a hand on. I don't do these things to other people, and I require the same from them."-John Wayne

I know you're not going to believe this, but..........When I made the post, I was thinking to myself...."I hope Ceri sees this and makes a comment." You're always a wealth of knowledge. Thanks for the info.

For info........the Luthier I saw that was willing to do the job, is the one who works on Santana's guitars (a side benefit for living in the San Francisco area). It's about a 20 minute drive for me. He charges more than most.......but I've heard he's good. He might solved that tang problem. The humidity here runs about 40%-58%. So I don't know how much that might make the wood change back and forth.

_________________
"I won't be wronged, I won't be insulted, I won't be laid a hand on. I don't do these things to other people, and I require the same from them."-John Wayne

Ceri thats something I never thought about nickel silver frets being a softer alloy then stainless acting differently along with the humidity effects on the neck.

_________________
The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.

Thomas Jefferson

Far too kind. In fact, I've never played or worked with stainless steel frets, so I'm only going on what I've read. I did hear that it was hard to pinch out that little end bit of the tang, and Warmoth's page seems to confirm that.

But lots of Fenders are fretted with the full tang length in place, it ain't much of an issue. Just something to think about if you're guitar currently has the little slots in the timber filled with slivers of wood or filler above cut back tang ends. It would likely be different after stainless steel frets were installed.



Now, I wonder who that is? I recall Dan Erlewine talking about work he's done on Santana's guitars, but I don't think that is who you are talking about - is it?

Cheers, guys - C

I'd have thought it would be a minimal issue. I was more thinking that if the guitar currently has the tang ends cut back then that is unlikely to be the case with newly installed stainless steel ones, for the reason given on that Warmoth page.

I seldom suffer from emerging fret ends - but it's a bit annoying when it happens. Still, easily cured...

Cheers - C

A suggestion, at $450.00, you might be better off buying a new neck from Warmoth that has the stainless steel frets already installed. Your cost for a standard replacement neck for a Strat or Tele would run you between $280.00 - $350.00.

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I can't remember the guy's name. The place is listed on the Fender Service Center list. I tried out several in my area. One of the luthiers listed as one of the service centers (Bananas at Large) took a look at my frets.....decided they were worn down to the point where he really didn't want to attempt the fret dressing, and he recommended the place in San Francisco. They told me that Santana took his guitars to that place.

It's a hole in the wall place, and not to easy to find. It was located in a back alley, and doesn't look like a music shop at all. It actually reminded me of a "speakeasy" in Chicago in the 1920's, during prohibition. I was looking over my shoulder for some Chinese guy to sneak up on me, and freared I would end up getting shanghaied. Once I entered the building, it was filled with all kinds of guitars and amps. They actually had a computerized machine that dressed the frets. Before any work, this machine would analyze if you had enough on the frets to dress (otherwise, you should replace), how much metal would be taken off, and how high the frets would be, once the job was done. There were actually dressing the frets on a guitar, when I was there. Interesting.

This is the location. It is also listed as a Fender Service Center on this website.

String Instrument Repair
15 Lafayette St
San Francisco, CA 94103
Ph: (415) 621-3904
Fax: (415) 621-6904

Maybe he really didn't work on Santana's guitars. I only know that from what the other luthier told me. And I know that Santana lives about a 30-40 minute drive from there in Marin County. There were a lot of customers in there, at the time, which sort of tells me that he gets a lot of business (he's the owner of the business), and those people spoke highly of him.

For the fret dressing, I ended up going to another Luthier (I visited three different Luthiers at the time, to get a feel of who I wanted to use for guitar work). I ended up using one in Berkeley, due to the fact that his prices were more reasonable. And in the end, the Berkeley guy did a good job.

In the future, if I replace frets with stainless, I'll probably go to the one in San Francisco. (The Berkeley guy refuses to do Stainless Steel.)

_________________
"I won't be wronged, I won't be insulted, I won't be laid a hand on. I don't do these things to other people, and I require the same from them."-John Wayne

I had bought a Parker that had the SS frets and later bought a Carvin CT3M with jumbo SS frets. I eventually got rid of both guitars, but not because of the SS frets. I just prefer Fenders.

_________________
Being able to play and enjoy music is a gift that's often taken for granted.

Don't leave home without it!

Interesting to know. I didn't know you could buy a guitar with Stainless Steel frets already installed.

_________________
"I won't be wronged, I won't be insulted, I won't be laid a hand on. I don't do these things to other people, and I require the same from them."-John Wayne

Ha! That's the Plek machine - very swanky. A luthier operation that has one of those may cost more but you should get the very best possible job done on your neck. I know a shop that has one of those machines but I've never had the oportunity to see it in action. Be very interested to hear about it if you ever get your fretting done by those guys - let us know about it if you do!

Cheers - C

I've never had them, never played on them, but have thought about it. I'm also very hard on my frets, and wear them down fast. But, I like that feeling. I prefer a very low, almost fretless feeling on my neck. I tend to play faster like that and there less fighting against them, which makes ideas and playing closer to effortless.

If I did go stainless steel, I'd want to have them low in the first play, and rather wide and flat on top, the way a worn-down neck would feel. I hate the feel of brand new, rounded frets myself.

The guitar I play the more effortlessly on, and the one ideas come out of the best, is my 94 MIM strat, which has been played since I bought it new, and has been used in over 400-500 shows, and countless jams and recording sessions. I would hate to have a guitar with a brand-new feeling neck, and have it stay that way.

Something to consider.