What do you think of stainless frets?

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I remember the Parker Fly had them, and the sustain on them was interesting, but seemed to require more pressure.

What is your experience with stainless (and other non-standard metals, whatever they might be) frets?
 
I have just refretted a guitar with SS frets. I haven't played it much yet because it has a buzz I haven't been able to identify yet. But I don't feel it has changed the tone much, if anything. Bends do feel smoother and just the thought of this guitar NEVER needing a refret is worth the price of admission. These frets are quite a bit higher than I had on this so that needs some getting used to. I have another guitar with this height frets (ordinary, Nickel 18%) and it has the same feeling of needing more pressure, So I'm pretty sure it's not the material. It's just needing a refinement of my technique. I should practice using less pressure because sometimes I feel I'm strangling my guitars to get the notes out and it shouldn't be like this. Makes it really hard to play once my palms start to get slightly sweaty. Which almost never happens at rehearsal, but always at gigs and I'm struggling to get through it.

Guthrie is of the same opinion. He has SS on his guitars and doesn't seem to stay on one guitar long enough to wear Nickel out. According to him SS hardly changes the tone any.

Nowadays there's a new alloy: EVO copper which appears to keep a middle ground between Nickel and SS. It has a gold-ish sheen, hence the nickname of gold fretwire. That's interesting too.
 
Pros:

  • No fret wear, for all practical purposes;
  • Bends are definitely smoother and more effortless.


Cons:

  • Price;
  • Diffficult to work with if you do your own fret work.


They won't change your tone in any significant way (though I do think they add just a hint of sparkle to fretted notes—this disappears with gain). Some folks will tell you that stainless steel means you'll never need fret work again, but that's iffy. Most necks shift over the years, and almost all of them will eventually develop a hump where the neck attaches to the body. When that happens, you'll need a fret leveling at the least, and that will cost you more with stainless than with nickel. If the neck shifts enough to require planing, the first thing the luthier will do is tear out all those frets, and you're back to a full fret job.

I have 'em on my 540, and I love 'em. Nickel feels sluggish in comparison.
 
I had a Parker Fly for years. I miss the stainless steel frets. I loved the smooth feel & the long wearing.
 
I love them. My two Suhrs have them and I let the Plekhaus Berlin refret my Morgaine Strat with them (not the best job although the frets are fine) and Joerg Tandler refret my old Tokai LS-120 with SS, too. As Rex said, Nickel feels sluggish in comparison.
 
Refretted All my guitars with SS 6105, love em, smooth as butter.Don't think it makes your guitar brighter.Are a bit harder to work with.I nip the tangs a bit so the over hang is easier to file. I use a 24" leveler and diamond file to reshape.Only thing is, fret work drives me nuts. I'm a little OCD
 
i think every guitar should have them. my parker (mid 90's fly deluxe) they are still brand new, and never need any cleaning or anything. always buttery smooth. My drop top also has them, same story. they are hell on fretting tools, and difficult to work with, primary reason they are not used everywhere. No difference in tone.
 
I tried them a long time ago and didn't care for them... thought they felt tinny... but from what I understand they have come a long way. I did go with gold frets (not quite as hard as SS but close) on my last Warmoth neck and they are fantastic... and they were super easy to dress (to my surprise). I will most definitely go with SS next time based on all the positive feedback.
 
Wouldn't use anything else ever again. Best feel, smooth as butter. Makes nickel wire feel like sand paper in comparison.
Then again, I'm a Parker fan so that's what's on all my guitars.
 
I guess I'm in the minority again. I haven't tried them for myself per say, but have refretted a neck with them as well as level a recrowns for others. Tried them on other's guitars but didn't care for them too much. Different feel. They do take a bit more work but the technique I've come up with for recrowning and polishing surprisingly makes the job easier, consistent and a lot more accurate. Maybe I'll have to giv'em a go on my next project. Do they make them in a Dunlop 6000 or type comparable? I could look but I figure it may be easier to ask here.
 
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I don't like them.....I love them.

Now I'm not talking about installing them because I've had the pleasure of replacing a zero fret on a guitar and went SS and it was a real pain....I can't imagine doing an entire refret. But if we're talking about a well made guitar that is setup well I love the way they feel. I also like the added security that they will probably outlive me. :)
 
As mentioned, the evo gold are great too. Put em on an anniversary 550 ,They look cool too:D
 
got 'em on a fly mojo, pretty nice i guess. can't say i'd rather it to my other nickel wire axes though. in my case, found that nickel wire wears very slowly and the frets are fine for a good 10 years or so -- EMMV. not surprisingly nickel will wear a bit quicker if you use stainless steel strings.
so yeah - great if you've got stainless frets as standard, but i certainly wouldn't rush to put them on an old strat or les paul whatever.
 
I got 'em put on my Axis (see my avatar) a few months ago. I've also had 'em on my Driskill. I really like 'em. In fact, it's a major impediment to my guitar GAS. None of the guitars I currently lust after come with SS from the factory so getting a new (to me) guitar involves an extra $400 for a SS refret.
 
I have SS on my strat. I have had galling ( metal on metal grind ) issues between my strings an the frets if I bend over one position long enough, or I engage in a very long session.

Other than that I really like it - but this is a problem. Not really sure what the issue is.
 
I love them. Bending is much smoother, and I know they aren't going to wear out. Like several people here I encountered them first on a Parker Fly. If any of my other guitars ever need a refret then I'll get it done in stainless steel
 
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