Stainless steel frets - worth the cost or not?

Jtaylor

Evening all! I have just placed a deposit on a Frank Brothers guitar and I have the option of having stainless steel frets. Never had them on a guitar before, does anyone on here have any experience with them? Worth the extra cost over nickel steel? 

DefaultM

Yeah cos they don't wear as fast so you save money in the long run. 

chris_john

I think so. I love the extra slinkiness of them, which really helps with certain styles of playing. Plus, they last for ages.

Voxman

Go stainless, last longer, slinkier, no down side I can immediately think of.

Seziertisch

Really like them. Unlikely that the guitar will need a refret in your lifetime. They feel very slinky. 

Soundwise, I don’t think I could tell the difference from nickel steel, but there are those that say they could/can

monquixote

Recently got some on my strat.

They feel slinky and I didn't notice too much difference in sound.

mrkb

New stainless feel like new regular frets to me, but worn regular frets feel bad compared to hardy worn stainless.

Roland

@GSPBASSES gave me advice on Fretwire a couple of years ago. He recommended using Jescar EVO Gold, which will last as long as stainless, ie you are unlikely to want to replace it over the life of the instrument. It has two advantages over stainless: it’s easier to work with, so cheaper to fit. It also avoids the plinky sound which you can get when hammering on notes against stainless steel frets. The downside for some people is that it has a faint gold colour.

BlueStrat

Stainless frets are great, don’t wear or need polishing and feel so smooth compared to regular nickel. 

Play one if you can, personally I love them. Standard on Tom Anderson’s I’d like to have them on my other guitars too

sweepy

Stainless Steel frets always sound "tizzy" to my ears, Jescar is a good alternative imho

BillDL

I haven't played on stainless steel frets, so I can't comment on the playability, but from a workability point of view I'll bet they are a bugger to dress if your fretboard shrinks a little and leaves sharp fret ends.

Dontgiveupyourdayjob

I only have one guitar with SS frets but it's the nicest playing, 'slinkiest' feeling guitar I've ever owned. It came with SS frets so can't really compare to how it would feel with nickel frets, and it could of course be other factors that make it play so well.

Out of curiosity, how much more are they gonna cost compared to the Nickel frets? 

Jtaylor

Thanks for sharing your thoughts everyone. sweepy said:

Stainless Steel frets always sound "tizzy" to my ears, Jescar is a good alternative imho

That's interesting to know, I definitely don't want it to sound tizzy. Frank Brothers usually spec Jescar frets as standard, specifically the 51108's. Jescar make frets in nickel steel and stainless steel, which have you tried (if any)?  

Dontgiveupyourdayjob said:

I only have one guitar with SS frets but it's the nicest playing, 'slinkiest' feeling guitar I've ever owned. It came with SS frets so can't really compare to how it would feel with nickel frets, and it could of course be other factors that make it play so well.

Out of curiosity, how much more are they gonna cost compared to the Nickel frets? 

Stainless is an extra $150. Currently thinking to be safe I'll go with nickel as that's what I'm used to and is more cost effective. 

bertie

I have one with s/s frets,  I got them put on a custom build  "blind"  under advice  -  but for me, they're too high and are uncomfortable at the edges,   I was going to send it off to Jon  @FelineGuitars ;; to have a look but couldnt find a packing case and then bought the LP and just never got round to it.  (sorry Jon - I will get it off at some point,  dont suppose the SoL boys are due to send anything up ??  ) 

I guess a lot is dependent on what kind of player / touch you have,  Im very agricultural, thumb over the top and quite heavy handed  -  I think if you're a light touch "thumb behind the neck" player then they'd more suit, but for me - no

Anyways,    apart from being taller than all my other "medium jumbos"  they as people have said,  much "zingier/tinnier" tone wise.

Best advice,  go play one before you make any decisions -

guitargeek62

Roland said:

@GSPBASSES gave me advice on Fretwire a couple of years ago. He recommended using Jescar EVO Gold, which will last as long as stainless, ie you are unlikely to want to replace it over the life of the instrument. It has two advantages over stainless: it’s easier to work with, so cheaper to fit. It also avoids the plinky sound which you can get when hammering on notes against stainless steel frets. The downside for some people is that it has a faint gold colour.

Aye, I’ve had these on a couple of guitars now too and really rate them. The colour’s quite subtle, and doesn’t look out of place next to chrome or nickel hardware either. I’d default to these on any future builds or refrets from now on.

Caffeine_Vampire

Stainless on mine.  Transformed the guitar from great to greater.  Love 'em.

Seziertisch

Jtaylor said:

Thanks for sharing your thoughts everyone. sweepy said:

Stainless Steel frets always sound "tizzy" to my ears, Jescar is a good alternative imho

That's interesting to know, I definitely don't want it to sound tizzy. Frank Brothers usually spec Jescar frets as standard, specifically the 51108's. Jescar make frets in nickel steel and stainless steel, which have you tried (if any)?  

Dontgiveupyourdayjob said:

I only have one guitar with SS frets but it's the nicest playing, 'slinkiest' feeling guitar I've ever owned. It came with SS frets so can't really compare to how it would feel with nickel frets, and it could of course be other factors that make it play so well.

Out of curiosity, how much more are they gonna cost compared to the Nickel frets? 

Stainless is an extra $150. Currently thinking to be safe I'll go with nickel as that's what I'm used to and is more cost effective. 

Ask the Frank Brothers what they think. Their opinion is probably more valuable than anybody else’s as they likely know the voicing of the instruments better than anyone else 

joeW

They have to be done very well and could imagine less than perfect initial fretwork will be a pain to dress. But done well, I find they feel good and sound is unchanged and will always have them on future guitars for choice. 

Grumpyrocker

I haven't noticed a massive difference to the one guitar I have with them. But I guess it's time and wear that'll show the benefit. Biggest thing I notice on the guitar with them is rolled fretboard edges - now that is a fabulous upgrade. 

DrCornelius

I get a bit obsessed with things that most people wouldn’t care about as far as sound goes so every guitar I’ve had with SS frets didn’t stay because of the zingy ness and plinkyness they give the notes as others have mentioned. 

grungebob

I’ve had them in two guitars , the first time I tried them I thought I could hear a zing but I changed the strings to my preference and notched the treble down on my amp and it went away. 

I liked the way they play, didn’t keep that guitar as it weighed 9.5lbs. 

I have them now on a Schecter C1 and their great, no zing/tizzy ness and very smooth. 

It feels like there’s fast fret all over them as you can glide. It’s no too much though. 

Saying that though I’ve another guitar that was refretted by Feline and it feels every bit as good. So I guess it’s down to the quality of the fret work rather than the materials.