Do Stainless Steel Roundwound Strings Still Eat Frets?

[coreyfyfe]

No, and it may depend on the brands of string.
Back in the day, Rotosound was the game in town for stainless, and the surface was very coarse.
I use DR stainless for almost 30 years and have never worn or grooved any frets.

Back when the DR fat beams were called Marcus Millers they had a quote on the back of the package from him about the strings not eating his frets, so I guess take that for whatever it's worth. I don't know about other brands, but I've been using the DR fat beams and hi beams on a number of basses for the last 15+ years, haven't had any issues with extensive fretwear.

 

[dbsfgyd1]

Short version - interested in hearing others recent experience with using stainless steel round wounds on newer issue basses. Trying them on a newer Player P I bought new about a year ago, don't want to destroy the frets and have to deal with all of that.


Longer story version - Back in the day I had a new '74 Ric 4001 (same one in my avatar) that I used RotoSound stainless steel strings on. Because I wanted that Chris Squire Ric sound and thought that was the ticket. What I really needed was more talent, but anyway...

Over the course of about two and a half years and three fret jobs the damn thing was practically fretless due to how the strings destroyed the frets and I finally just sold it off. Now, I've read that "soft" frets was an issue with that era Ric's but since that day I've never used SS strings on another bass being worried about how much fret damage the SS strings might do to another one.

So I have a slightly used set I took off another recent new purchase (SS Sadowski strings from a new Metro Express) because it was TOO bright and put some NYXL's on it, which that and a bunch of tone tweaking finally got me where I wanted it to be with that one tonally. Put those Sadowski strings on my year old Player P as a test just to see if it would wake it up tonally and it did, in spades. But now I'm concerned about leaving them on long term, don't want to go through that again. Liking how they sound on the P but worried about premature fret damage.

Finny you mentioned have a Rick to sound like Chris Squire, I found that not only I couldn't play like him, I never could get a sound like him out of my 4001.

I had round wounds on that bass from 1976-2008 when I sold it. Between 1974 and 1976 and using Rickenbacker branded flat wounds, there there was wear on the frets due to a lot of hours of play and a very aggressive plucking style. There was not much more additional wear from 76-to 08 when I sold it.

I've had rounds on my current bass that I've owned for the last 20 years, a 90's N series MIA PBj and it has little to no wear at all. My 2006 MIG Warwick Corvette has Round wound strings on it when I got it and still has them on it today. There is zero fret (brass) wear.

Based on my experience, I'd say the frets on those 4001s was a softer alloy than what they use today. Some wear is to be expected on the frets as well as the the strings, especially if your fretting hand exerts more force than a pair of vice grips.

Over the years I've had more than a few fret jobs done on guitars mostly, but had one done on a short scale EB3 I abused. It's not fatal, and it's cheaper than a new neck.

 

[Phaidrus]

SS roundwound strings, being harder, will eat your regular alloy frets faster than NPS or pure nickel strings, especially if you fret with more force than necessary, as I do. This is one of the reasons I stopped using them (namely D'Addario Pro Steels).

 

[blr2]

With modern frets, it's purely a folklore. No matter what rounds you use, the frets will last from 8-10 years to forever, depending on how much you play and technique.

 

[logdrum]

Since 1998, my Jazz Bass Special only had stainless DRs and just last year flats, aldo stainless except for 6 months of Cobalt. No wear. The bass is from 1984, when I got it, it had Roto sounds

 

[logdrum]

If you sell your bass within 3 months or less than a week, no need to worry. Use diamond coated strings if your fingers can take it. You are selling it anyway

 

[lug]

Solution is simple. Buy 20 basses, rotate them, never worry about the frets on any of them again in your lifetime. Who says GAS has no positive traits!

 

[Dbassmon]

Frets are a wear n tear item. Use the strings that give you the sound and feel you like. Frets can be dressed a leveled a few times, then you replace them. Worry about making great music, not fret life.

 

[Lava]

Yes

 

[mdogs]

I always say, I can't imagine altering my equipment if I am getting the sound and feel that I want. If you need RS to get your tone, then who cares about frets. I've never really been a Rotosound guy, but I used DR Hi Beams and Fat Beams for probably 25 years before I switched to nickel DR's of the various types. If you are worried about your frets, you are not focused on the right things.

 

[bassfran]

Only if you're doing it right.

 

[jim nolte]

Used Rotosounds on my '65 Jazz Bass for about 3-4 years back in the day, had flats on it before, in that time frame the frets had worn down to the point that the windings had started to leave marks on the rosewood fretboard, switched to XLs nickel wound and the fret wear stopped, contrast that with my Fbass BN5 which I've had for 24 years and has only had XLs on it and virtually has no fret wear, I would never ever use Rotosounds again even if somebody was giving them to me for free . YMMD

 

[Gilmourisgod]

Especially if you play more than one bass (imagine that!)

Agree with Gilmour, the original G&L frets wore quicker than the replacements

Actually mine held up really well, it has stainless frets, not nickel silver. I bought my G&L at a guitar store in Northampton MA in 1983, having just sold the Ric 4001. (partly due to the fret wear, partly an unstable neck). The G&L was a returned item with a couple very minor finish scratches, so I got a deal on it. I always wondered if it had been a special order bass, because I think nickel -silver frets was standard. Mine are definitely stainless. They do sound a little "clanky" with stainless rounds, not so much with nickel rounds. Supposedly harder/more expensive to refret, but I don't see that happening in my lifetime.

 

[Thumb n Fingers]

Really like Dunlop's Marcus Miller Super Bright strings, and have used them for years. But they have caused substantial fret wear in a short time on a couple of my jazz basses. Currently trying out DR High Beams and D'Addario Pro Steels on those same basses. I like both as much as the Super Brights, maybe leaning a little towards the DRs. Too soon to tell for sure, but I think either of those are a little less abrasive than the Super Brights. The rate of wear seems to have slowed a bit.

 

[MultiScaleMale]

Playing technique affects fret life more than string choice, IMHO. You let someone try your bass and then cringe when every note is fret vibrato. One exception is that Ernie Ball Cobalt rounds seem to be fret eaters. They have a gritty texture like a nail file or something.

 

[Killing Floor]

Fret and string make from metal. Metal come from rocks. Rocks strong like bull. String and fret both can be strong like bull.

 

[Cleezmo]

I've used DR Fat Beams on a bass that gets played a LOT, since I got it in 2014, and I've only had to have the frets leveled and crowned once. I do not have a 'light touch', I dig in and play hard, so there is that. I've used mostly Fat Beams but sometimes Sunbeams on another bass, with similar 'not eating the frets' results.

Also - I agree with others that worrying about it doesn't need to be a major concerns. Sort of like 'don't put rounds on a fretless, because they will eat up your board' cautions. Maybe, but you can always have it re-planed, and if the round wound sound is what you want, you are not gonna get it with flats.

Or another tire analogy - you can have grip, or you can have longevity; pick one. If you have a sports car or sport bike, you have to give up longevity to have the grip you want/need.

 

[Pyrrho Epoche]

 

[lowfreqgeek]

It's gonna depend a lot more on HOW you play. Do you grind the strings into the frets with your fretting hand? Do you do press down the string straight into the fret, or tend to push it up/pull it down slightly out of perpendicular to the fret?

Those things will have a lot more impact on fret wear than the specific alloys used in the strings and frets.

 

[mauerkraut_]

I had a 70s Ric that suffered the same fate due to Rotos as well. Modern basses typically use fatter fret wire and they wear a little more slowly but wear all the same. I however loved the tiny vintage fret wire for speed and comfort. Because of this I built a Warmoth neck with stainless vintage fret wire (SS6230 I think) and use Roto flatwounds and couldn't be happier. No wear but still have that low action and glide with vintage fret wire.