I realize this is an older thread but being a machinist, whoever said nickel is a soft metal couldnt be more wrong. Nickel is extremely hard, close to titanium it also work hardens if u look at it wrong. Stainless cuts like butter compared to high nickel alloys. I realise this has nothing to do with the thread but the machinist in me couldnt resist pointing it out. Havent worked with much nickel-silver but im sure its softer because its mostly brass, which is softer than aluminum, in fact we use brass hammers in the shop because u can beat on stuff all day without marring it
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Stainless steel frets
- Thread starter darkkent1
- Start date
I prefer SS frets with Nickel strings, just for the wear factor. I'd much rather replace strings than frets.
We all know tone is in the fingers... Bass, amp, strings, and setup have nothing to with tone. Common knowledge. Your opinion is moot. Hope you learned something, now move along.
We all know tone is in the fingers... Bass, amp, strings, and setup have nothing to with tone. Common knowledge. Your opinion is moot. Hope you learned something, now move along.
D
I have stainless steel frets installed on my six string bass that I had put together back around 2007. While they have performed as advertised, in retrospect I sort of wish I hadn't. Allow me to explain with the following pros and cons...
Pros of SSFs: They seem to place more emphasis on the tone of the string at the 'speaking' point. IMO this adds a little more high end shimmer, clarity, articulation, and attack to the sound. Because they make such positive contact with the string I think this also helps increase the sustain and bloom of the note. This is a plus when playing with a pick or playing chordal passages. I've found this to be true with both nickel and stainless steel roundwounds, as well as flatwounds. And as stated in other posts, SSFs are very durable. After years numerous gigs, rehearsals, and practices, to date my frets have virtually no wear on them. Another plus is the SSFs have a very smooth feel, very helpful when doing string bends and slides.
Biggest cons of SSFs: Aside being a bit more expensive to install and dress, they do wear out strings faster than standard frets. This is especially true if you do a lot of slap/popping, double-thumbing, tapping, guitar picking, or if you just play with a really aggressive fingerstyle technique. Again, this isn't news considering SSFs are much harder than standard fretwire. In my case on bass guitars with normal frets a set of strings typically lasts me(with regular use) about 4-5 months before sounding really dull and worn; its about 2-3 months on the bass with SSFs with similar usage.
Obviously the negatives aren't a big deal if you're like Anthony Jackson and change strings after almost every gig or practice. But I'm the type of player who doesn't care for changing strings often. Its not laziness mind you, I've just come to realize that I like the sound of strings on standard frets as they start to break in and wear over time. It sounds and feels more natural to my ear. I guess what I'm really saying that if you like a high fidelity sound, you're willing to shell out a few extras bucks for wear-resistant frets, and don't mind shorter periods between string changes, SSFs might be a godsend for you.
Pros of SSFs: They seem to place more emphasis on the tone of the string at the 'speaking' point. IMO this adds a little more high end shimmer, clarity, articulation, and attack to the sound. Because they make such positive contact with the string I think this also helps increase the sustain and bloom of the note. This is a plus when playing with a pick or playing chordal passages. I've found this to be true with both nickel and stainless steel roundwounds, as well as flatwounds. And as stated in other posts, SSFs are very durable. After years numerous gigs, rehearsals, and practices, to date my frets have virtually no wear on them. Another plus is the SSFs have a very smooth feel, very helpful when doing string bends and slides.
Biggest cons of SSFs: Aside being a bit more expensive to install and dress, they do wear out strings faster than standard frets. This is especially true if you do a lot of slap/popping, double-thumbing, tapping, guitar picking, or if you just play with a really aggressive fingerstyle technique. Again, this isn't news considering SSFs are much harder than standard fretwire. In my case on bass guitars with normal frets a set of strings typically lasts me(with regular use) about 4-5 months before sounding really dull and worn; its about 2-3 months on the bass with SSFs with similar usage.
Obviously the negatives aren't a big deal if you're like Anthony Jackson and change strings after almost every gig or practice. But I'm the type of player who doesn't care for changing strings often. Its not laziness mind you, I've just come to realize that I like the sound of strings on standard frets as they start to break in and wear over time. It sounds and feels more natural to my ear. I guess what I'm really saying that if you like a high fidelity sound, you're willing to shell out a few extras bucks for wear-resistant frets, and don't mind shorter periods between string changes, SSFs might be a godsend for you.
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I've always like DR stainless Hi Beams - I wonder if they'd fare better on stainless frets than other strings? Certainly would make for a very bright sound.
As for the whole "where tone comes from" argument, it comes from the knob, dummies!
Frets eventually become scalloped under the strings, where little divots have been worn out of them. This is most notable under the high strings of guitars where the narrow gauge of the strings make them "sharper" and more abrasive. A divot can eventually become so deep that the string crossing it is not supported high enough when fretted at that point to clear the next fret closer to the bridge, and buzzing ensues. The solutions to this condition are a) to file all the frets on the instrument down to the level of the deepest divot on the neck, or b) to replace the frets. As the frets wear, usually you can only do a) once or twice before you have to do b). Stainless steel frets are harder than the nickel alloy frets on most instruments, so they resist this wear better/longer. Whether they have much (or any) effect on tone is (obviously) the subject of occasionally vociferous debate.
Stainless steel isn't especially expensive, but it is more difficult to work with, so the labor charges for refretting with stainless steel can be significantly higher than for a fret job with more traditional fret material.
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Let me get this straight. If you start a thread people tell you to do a search and you will find your answers without starting a needless thread. If you respond to an old thread you are resurrecting the dead and just as guilty as you were for not searching. So is there a reason to start anything?
Ive read that stainless frets are harder to install on new or re-frets. Is this because the harder material takes more effort to hammer in, harder to file level?
Yep, that's why you don't tell the repairman what they are. When they call screaming about it you can say "What are stainless steel frets?"
Yes to all that. Stainless is harder to bend to the neck radius, harder to file, harder to cut to length, harder to dress at the edges of the fretboard... It's just harder.
D
I switched over to using stainless frets on all the basses I build about 4 years ago, and I've found the stainless wire to be wonderful to work with. It doesn't require any special files or tools, other than some good strong wire cutters. Overall, I've found that it takes about one half the labor to install, level and polish, as compared to Nickel-Silver fretwire. The main reason is because it doesn't scratch as easily, so much less time is spent polishing.
Recently I had the chance to try a bass with SS frets & it completely slipped my mind to try bending on it, DOH!
I have read a report from a luthier who claimed he put alternating frets on a guitar, 1 SS, 1 Ni/Ag, & left it in the shop for people to play.
No one noticed that there was a difference!
I have read a report from a luthier who claimed he put alternating frets on a guitar, 1 SS, 1 Ni/Ag, & left it in the shop for people to play.
No one noticed that there was a difference!
We have a demo Strat in the shop with 3 Stainless frets hidden among the nickel ones.
No one has ever been able to find them, not even with headphones on.
We do have to keep polishing the normal frets so they stay as shiny as the SS.
There is only an 8% difference in the amount of Nickel in normal and SS frets, so it's probably why they sound the same.
No one has ever been able to find them, not even with headphones on.
We do have to keep polishing the normal frets so they stay as shiny as the SS.
There is only an 8% difference in the amount of Nickel in normal and SS frets, so it's probably why they sound the same.
