Opinion on stainless steel frets? - Page 2

jklotz · #16 08-20-2018, 08:48 AM

I can only comment from the electric side, as I've never had an acoustic with ss frets. My main gigging tele, which takes quite a beating, is a Warmoth with ss frets. After a year plus, I am starting to see the faintest wear in a couple of spots. My guess is this guitar will need a refret in 15 - 18 years at this rate, so it should outlast me (who knows? maybe not! Ha!). I love the way they feel to bend on, super smooth!

That being said, I do hear a difference. I prefer the sound of nickel frets. With ss, I hear a top end "zing", and if you hit them hard enough to cause a fret buzz, it's got the most annoying clangy buzz. But at full band volume, nobody is going to hear that.

So for me, it's a tradeoff. For a solo acoustic gig, I would not use ss personally, however, there are some amazing builders out there. Maybe some of them have figured out how to voice a guitar around that? I don't know.

This is electric, but probably the best comparison I've seen so far. It's worth a watch, and was revealing to me. Listen on decent monitors or good headphones:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLstfUO9OZ8

stephenT · #17 08-20-2018, 09:19 AM

I’ve been using EVO Gold frets on my last half dozen electric guitar builds. I don’t think I can tell a tonal difference from traditional frets. I suspect the difference might be more obvious on an acoustic.

rick-slo · #18 08-20-2018, 09:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by imc2111

Stainless steel frets seems like the way to go for durability, but I’m worried they might change the sound. What has your experience been with ss frets?

Won't change the sound if properly done, at least on an acoustic. Last forever. Slick under the fingers (i.e. good for string bends). Done three guitars in SS and one in Evo Gold.

Song · #19 08-20-2018, 10:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jklotz

This is electric, but probably the best comparison I've seen so far. It's worth a watch, and was revealing to me. Listen on decent monitors or good headphones:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLstfUO9OZ8

I knew immediately which neck was ss.
I have acoustic and electric guitars with both and I have no preference.

jklotz · #20 08-20-2018, 10:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Song

I knew immediately which neck was ss.
I have acoustic and electric guitars with both and I have no preference.

Yup, me too. I guess we are the only ones who can hear stainless steel frets.

rick-slo · #21 08-20-2018, 11:13 AM

In the videos you are hearing on the fret buzzing on the wound strings. The harder fretwires are slicker, the string may move on the fret, and you may need to fret a little differently to compensate for that. The guy in the video did not. It's also highly related to the shape and finish of the fret crowns. Not a problem with how I play or with the tech who did my guitar work.

tippy5 · #22 08-20-2018, 11:31 AM

I have two Goodall's with evo and one with nickel steel. I do not hear a pingy treble from them. But I would not be surprised if SS did have a slight tone impact, as indicated from the above believers.

I love them on TA, Suhr and other electrics. I have never played an acoustic before and after getting them replaced with SS.

BFD · #23 08-20-2018, 11:53 AM

After dealing w/more frequent fret work than I'd prefer (I do capo frequently), I got my Collings refretted w/Evo. No appreciable difference in tone to my ear. In fact compliments on the guitar's tone, esp from guitarists, are not uncommon.

blindboyjimi · #24 08-20-2018, 11:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rick-slo

In the videos you are hearing on the fret buzzing on the wound strings. The harder fretwires are slicker, the string may move on the fret, and you may need to fret a little differently to compensate for that. The guy in the video did not. It's also highly related to the shape and finish of the fret crowns. Not a problem with how I play or with the tech who did my guitar work.

I totally agree.

I have all 3. On the last re-fret I did one acoustic in SS and 2 in EVO. The SS one was a bit brighter and “pingy”. But honestly after a few days I was totally used to it and maybe it’s technique but it’s hard to make it “pingy” now. I love the feel of the SS as super slinky and there is zero wear on either. The EVO ones sounded the same right out of the box. My tech prefers working with SS as he feels once he gets it right, it’ll never need to come back.

jseth · #25 08-20-2018, 03:54 PM

My Goodall Grand Concert was built using EVO fretwire; I requested it after having the chance to talk with James about it and to play a few of his guitars that had the EVO Gold wire on them... James was NOT a fan of stainless steel fretwire.

I know that Taylor wouldn't use it on my friend's custom R Taylor - they even tried them on the guitar, but said it sounded extremely harsh and went back to standard fretwire.

Bruce Sexauer (one of our members and sponsors) has been using EVO wire for a good long time - and he tells his customers that, should they need the frets "dressed", he'll do it for free... when I read his words on the subject, he'd had that offer outstanding for 6 or 7 years and NO ONE had taken him up on it!

Never played an acoustic with stainless steel frets, but that's the scuttlebutt I've heard, from more than a few folks who would know... luthiers/techs usually hate stainless steel because it's so hard that they have to buy new files after working with them... not so with EVO.

My Goodall is just 7 years old now, and there is not a mark on that EVO wire. Granted, it's not my "main" guitar, but it gets played quite a bit. My Mark Angus #35 (1979) had to have new frets in it when I had some major work done to it; this was about 4 years ago, and the new frets are standard nickel. Those frets had marks on them within a years' time...

zeeway · #26 08-20-2018, 05:04 PM

Emerald guitars come with stainless steel frets as a standard. No complaints here.

justonwo · #27 08-20-2018, 06:25 PM

I have a lot of experience with nickel and EVO gold. I prefer EVO in all applications. Great feel and longevity and resistance to oxidation. I never have to polish them, which is a great plus. I don't buy guitars with anything else. I also like 'em tall.

llew · #28 08-20-2018, 07:22 PM

I have a pretty well worn D-15 12 fret that I purchased form another forum member here. A CS 15 style from Ted @ LAGS I believe. Anyway...several people owned it before me and it really needed a refret. So I took it to my local luthier/tech and he suggested SS frets. They are a tad brighter than the nickel fret wire but it really works well with the mellow and well played in all mahogany 12 fret dread. I wouldn't want them on every guitar but t sure works well for me in this particular case?

Wade Hampton · #29 08-20-2018, 11:31 PM

jseth wrote:

Quote:

Originally Posted by jseth

My Goodall Grand Concert was built using EVO fretwire; I requested it after having the chance to talk with James about it and to play a few of his guitars that had the EVO Gold wire on them... James was NOT a fan of stainless steel fretwire.

I know that Taylor wouldn't use it on my friend's custom R Taylor - they even tried them on the guitar, but said it sounded extremely harsh and went back to standard fretwire.

Most of the guitar builders I've talked to have.....um.....mixed feelings about stainless steel frets. Those that don't outright hate them, that is.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jseth

Bruce Sexauer (one of our members and sponsors) has been using EVO wire for a good long time - and he tells his customers that, should they need the frets "dressed", he'll do it for free... when I read his words on the subject, he'd had that offer outstanding for 6 or 7 years and NO ONE had taken him up on it!

Never played an acoustic with stainless steel frets, but that's the scuttlebutt I've heard, from more than a few folks who would know... luthiers/techs usually hate stainless steel because it's so hard that they have to buy new files after working with them... not so with EVO.

Right. All of the guitar repair techs I know charge double for working on stainless steel frets, if they'll agree to work on them at all. It's very hard on their tools. The EVO wire, by contrast, is well thought-of.

I own one guitar with EVO frets, built for me by Howard Klepper. Since that's the original fretwire on there, I haven't heard it with nickel, so I can't know if the EVO has any tonal impact on the instrument.

I must be pretty easy on my frets, since they rarely need to be dressed or replaced. The glaring exception to that are my mandolins, which need fret dressings and ultimately fret replacement on a regular basis. I've had the frets replaced entirely on my main performance mandolin a few times, and the frets on my main stage mandolin before that one had to be replaced four times.

Mandolins are ferocious little buggers when it comes to fret wear.....they're kind of the Tasmanian Devil of stringed instruments in that regard:

¥ ¥ ¥

Wade Hampton Miller

rick-slo · #30 08-21-2018, 01:04 AM

Regardless of the extra difficulty working on stainless steel frets many luthiers have no issues using stainless steel if the customer wants it.
Some luthiers use stainless steel as their standard material (Mario Proulx for example). The last time I had a guitar refretted with stainless
steel the markup was about 20%. Big saving in money in the long run by avoiding future refrets. Evo gold is also a nice material and the hint
of a golden hue looks especially good with golden tuners (and with cedar tops for example).