dave
New Member
Posts: 7
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Post by dave on Dec 22, 2005 9:09:24 GMT -7
In the thread on string breakages Billyguitar mentioned stainless steel frets and they get the thumbs up. Now this is something I was thinking about myself recently as the PRS is due for a refret. I have been trying out a Warmoth neck on my strat which has high jumbo frets which I really like for bending and vibrato. So I was wondering about fitting jumbo stainless frets on the PRS - silky smooth and no wear? But I mention this to a well known guitar repair man in west London and he sucked his teeth and shook his head slightly and said "Well, I wouldn't... it will change the sound..." So the decision is on hold at the moment... so stainless frets - anyone use them? Do they affect the sound much?
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Post by billyguitar on Dec 22, 2005 9:47:49 GMT -7
First off, Tom Anderson reportedly has a proprietary fret source so you probably can't get that wire installed in your neck. They say their frets are harder than anyone else's stainless steel frets. I'm told Warmoth, Suhr and the other companies can only get a softer stainless. Your tech also may not want to install stainless wire because it'll ruin his nippers and other tools. It's not possible to A/B the same guitar with and without stainless frets but what I hear is a sweeter attack at the first of the note. A higher pitched attack. I can't speak for any other tonal aspect. I love 'em! On regular fret wire I tend to wear my frets out in a wide flat way that takes the crown off. Normally I have to get a dress and polish every 6 to 9 months. After a few of those I have to think about refretting the next time they're worn down. After every D & P I go thru a period of re-adjustment, which I hate. On my Tom Anderson that I use all the time, I've had since Feb. 2004, it developed a very slight low spot at one point. I sent it back to TA and they fixed it up. I feel it was a wood issue not the frets. If I hadn't needed that work done I'm sure the frets would still be like new and that's over a period of almost 2 years.
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Post by jwr on Dec 22, 2005 11:54:50 GMT -7
I've heard that they'll last a lot longer but the tone will be a lot brighter.
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Post by cheycaster on Dec 22, 2005 19:55:29 GMT -7
I have a 96 PRS Custom 22 that came with stainless steel frets and I also have a 97 Jeff Beck strat without them...... Both I bought new. I have played the PRS at least 10 times as much as the JB. and they show hardly no wear at all and the JB. needs to be worked on as the frets on it have flattened out all over quite a bit. I'm a bendin' fool too!!!! I have been looking at a Bill nash Strat with the Stainless steel option...............
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Post by hdahs143 on Dec 22, 2005 21:45:54 GMT -7
My TA Hollow Drop Top Classic has them and I love 'em. Very smooth string bending, and none of the string dents you get in regular fret wire, and I've had mine for over 2 years now, and gig almost every weekend.
As far as tone, I can't imagine that the type of fretwire makes much of a discernable difference.
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Post by billyguitar on Dec 23, 2005 5:56:57 GMT -7
Stainless really is just the best!
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Post by ztones on Dec 23, 2005 19:36:11 GMT -7
I played a Parker Fly for a couple of years. I really loved the feel of the frets! I missed the fret markers though. (none) Even if you get a bright tone, that is one of the easiest things you can adjust for.
I have had to replace the first 5 frets on my PRS, Taylor, Fender.
The Parker NEVER showed any signs of wear.
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Post by janinedoubly on Jan 2, 2006 20:37:12 GMT -7
Billyguitar is right, Anderson uses a very hard proprietary stainless, that nobody else uses. The reason is, most manufacturers need to be able to vary their fingerboard radius, thus they need a fret wire that can be hammered in to match the fingerboard radius. Anderson has one compound radius, so they don't need a fret wire that is malleable enough to hammer into multiple different radiuses. Thus, they can use a super hard stainless steel that barely wears and does not bend. Everyone else, has to use a softer stainless, which only offers slightly upgraded wear rate. All stainless frets do look better, since they don't tarnish. The after market stainless fret wire shop luthiers, Warmouth, Suhr, etc. offer will wear smoother however. Stainless doesn't suffer from the rough "pitting" nickel frets get after bending, so that is a plus. They stay smoother longer and you won't have to polish the frets as often, but after market stainless will still require re-frets in roughly the same time frame as nickel since its "softness" is almost the same. When frets "wear" it is due to them compressing over time. Frets barely lose mass over time, they only compress. So, soft stainless will still get string "pits" just not the really small rough pits that nickel gets that causes the "sandpaper" feel of old nickel frets when bending.
Tonally, I really don't think stainless adds any extreme extra brightness. If anything, to me it gives the pick attack a nice roundness that nickel doesn't have. I think the brightness is an illusion and is indicative of a guitar's inherent tone more than anything. Parker's are bright guitars due to their bridge assemblies and the composite fingerboard and poly finish.
I had a customer's Anderson Cobra re-fretted from nickel to stainless by Anderson themselves. It changed very little of the guitar's tone. I would actually say it swung the tone more towards the mellower side of the pendullum, than towards the brighter side.
As far as I know, Anderson and Parker are the ONLY manufacturers who use a stainless steel fret that has significant wear benefits. Analogy; its as though Anderson and Parker use 24K gold as opposed to everybody else's 10K gold. (Or premium gas as opposed to regular, or .....)
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Post by guitarman1 on Feb 8, 2006 13:02:40 GMT -7
As far as I know, Anderson and Parker are the ONLY manufacturers who use a stainless steel fret that has significant wear benefits. I spoke to Phil Jacoby (luthier extraordinaire) in Baltimore about this issue. He said he has seen stainless re-frets he has done, as well as Warmoth stainless frets on guitars that have been heavily played for the past one to two years with little to no apparent fret wear. The stainless is outlasting the nickel/silver (mostly bronze) fret metal. The stainless mentioned is not from Anderson or Parker.
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Post by Curt on Feb 10, 2006 14:25:37 GMT -7
+ 1 for SS. Just picked up a Tom Anderson and they sre soooo smooth, great eforless vibrato
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Post by teleslinger on Feb 21, 2006 7:34:43 GMT -7
I have to go with what Guitarman1 wrote...all the guitars I've put stainless wire on are lasting very, very well. From a machinist's point of view, what makes stainless a great fretwire is not that it is hard--but the 'toughness' properties that make it last so long in this type of application. Nobody has ever brought one back and asked to have nickel silver frets instead.
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