I wonder if the OP has any pictures of his issues to show us all?

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Don't worry, Be happy.

Where are you buying your guitars.?

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"Another day in paradise!"

Well Soothme, if you are wearing out frets like gangbusters I'm going to suggest that maybe your technique is not what it should be. No one needs to bend that many notes or use enough fret hand vibrato to burn through frets at the rate that you are implying.

I'm not denigrating your ability or experience. I'm only suggesting that your situation may have come about because of a something other than Fenders fret material.

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"Life is like eating jalapenos. What you do today may burn your arse tomorrow"

Maybe the OP has OCD.

Your observations may explain why EVH put steel frets on his new signature guitar. The OP might consider that model for his next axe, or have his favorite Strat refretted w/same.

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"Another day in paradise!"

my strat is my main guitar and the frets on it are fine and i play it everyday.

Sorry the OP has had such problems: I've never experienced any problems with any Fender guitar I've ever owned. They all seem to be built to last, and quality ta boot!

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"Go wash an elephant, if you wanna do something big."

65 Deluxe Reverb Reissue
2006 American Deluxe Strat
2009 National Steel Body Tricone Cutaway
2009 Highway One Texas Telecaster
Mustang III amp
Fulltone Gold Standard Cables

Yeah.....No. I have a 2001 MIA std and there is zero fret ware. My 1989 could probably afford new fret wire but it still plays like a dream.

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Live guitars: 2009 LTD Truckster, 1989 Strat Plus, 2001 Am Standard Strat, 1996 MIJ Jaguar, 2007 Gibson Explorer 76 reissue, 1999 Ibanez RG7621, LTD MH-301, LTD FM400, 1999 Jackson Kelly, Mystery Les Paul, Hamer Chaparel, Fender FM 62SCE A/E Mandolin

I have worn frets on my two of my electrics, an esp and a Ventura. My Ventura was crowned and leveled and came back great. My ESP needs the same, but is still playable.

My 08 strat shows no signs of wear after one year, and I feel it will last as long as the other two did, maybe longer. And I use a ton of vibrato and bends. Plus I feel like I hit the note pretty hard with my fretting hand. I have stopped doing pick tapping, and its hell on frets.

If your frets are wearing that fast, its something you are doing, not the guitar. Or maybe you are just trying to stir things up, but we do not shar your experience

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Guitars:
1. mid 70's Ventura MIJ Gibson l6-s clone (Pre-lawsuit) in Black with Rosewood FB and EMG 81 BR/ 85 Neck
2. ESP KH2 Neck Thru
3. 2008 Am Std Strat in 3 tone sunburst

As a beginner, I'm somewhat hesitant to post this but my 6 month old AmStd definitely shows fret wear. Since I have such limited experience, I've been wondering if it's normal for such a new guitar. It could very well be from the tendency to play the same chords/licks over and over while learning but some of you sound like the frets are practically bullet-proof. Mine sure don't seem to be.

I'm not commenting on Fender's quality, just sharing my (limited) experience. Maybe I have a lemon or ... maybe I'm simply fretting WAY too hard? (don't think so but as my sig says ...)

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Then again, what do I know ... I've only been playin' for 6 months ... !

Playing on the same handful of frets most of the time and with the heavier touch most beginners usually have, that wear looks about right and normal to me. YMMV.

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You dig?

No fret problems here. Go ahead and switch if it's that problematic for you. I personally can't stand how sticky the back of the neck gets on a Paul.

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10-4 good buddy, over and out!

Just had the frets replaced on my Strat. They were about 3 yrs old. I play every night and average about 2+ hours of playing a day. I use pure nickel strings. Not sure if that makes a difference because nickel is softer than stainless. There is no real time frame for how long frets should last. Talking with my luthier, he has players that need them replaced every year. It does depend on your style and how much you play. I am a bit of a flailer (real word?) with my fingering and continue work to get more control. However, lots of bending and vibrato is not necessarily an indication of poor form or a novice (listen to Albert King or BB for bad form see Greg Koch or Jerry Donahue). Although I have heard many players that struggled with what notes could/should be bent, and vibrato that felt out of place.

I agree with a previous poster that the quality is getting BETTER! However, some of the lower-end Fender I have played needed nut and/or fret work bridge adjustment etc. You get what you pay for, and for less than $50 a luthier can work miracles. We tend to have fond memories of the older guitars and amps. But the quality was all over the place. A fretboard radius would be what ever the machine was set to that day. Amp components would come from the local hardware store if Leo ran out of parts. I remember reading something about the soft-v or deep-v neck resulting from a whole batch of necks being incorrectly manufactured.

The fit and finish on my 2006 CS Strat and my 2009 AV Tele are fantastic, as is the quality of the tone woods and general playability. Sometimes I wonder if these "poor quality" Fenders are really Fenders at all. They may also have been bought second hand after the original owner "modified" it,or had the guitar tech at one of the big-box stores give it a 'set-up". A co-worker of mine purchased a MIA Strat. They had only been playing for a year, but really dug playing. He made his own adjustments to the guitar. Then thought he had been sold a lemon. Took it to some corner shop rather than to the original dealer that has a real luthier on staff. The corner shop made more adjustments. The results were not good. He was disappointed and considered selling the guitar. I convinced him to take it to an actual luthier and spend the $50 to have the luthier go over the instrument. After that the instrument was perfect.

This is why I have a stable of guitars. I spread the fret wear across them all.

Cannot say I am having those problems with my Strats. Sorry to hear that you are. Now that is not to say that I do not have "normal fret wear" that is common for any guitar that gets played as often as I play and is more than a couple years old, but not abnormal or premature wearing.

RK