SS vs standard Frets anyone got clips?

[nuke_diver]

I need a refret and it seems I'm heavy handed so I'm thinking about SS frets. I hear some folks say they make a guitar significantly brighter and cause a ping to be heard when fretting (I think) and other say no difference

 

Anyone got any before and after clips (even if its a swap of a neck for a Warmoth neck with SS would be interesting).

 

Also when refretting is replacing the nut always necessary????

 

Thanks all

[Prages]

I've got no clips of a before and after, but I've got a couple of guitars with SS frets.

I don't hear them being any brighter, and I definitely don't hear pinging. I also don't experience more string breakage like a lot people claim.

All in all, I love my ss frets. I wouldn't mind having them on all my guitars, but I'm not going to stop buying nickel/silver fretted guitars, and I'm not going to rush out and have my n/s guitars refretted to ss.

[stormin1155]

Depending on the height of the new frets compaired to the old, you may or may not have to replace the nut. Most likely you will. And since you will already be laying down $200 or more for the refret, I wouldn't be so concerned with a new $15 nut.

[Patuney]

If you're going to refret anyway, why not go with frets that will last nearly forever? Any negatives you have heard are from people who do not have SS frets, or have a vested interest in regular frets.

[Stratmaster]

They have no significant impact on the guitars sound at all. They are just more durable and do not mash or rub down over the years they stay straight and level longer and keep intonation better because they dont dimple down where the string rubs them over the years of use.

are they worth the extra money? well depends on if you are very nit picky about your intonation and or have to pay for someone to do a crown and level very often. IMO yes they are worth spending a few extra bucks if your paying for a refret anyway I would just do it.

As far as clips go I got nothing.

[peavey_impact]

There is no tonal difference.

 

Stainless steel frets are the best upgrade you can make to a guitar though, IMO. I paid $250 for a full twenty-seven fret refret in stainless steel and I feel it was worth every penny.

 

My hands sweat profusely and nickel silver frets tarnish and get grungy pretty easily when I play. With the stainless steel they stay mirror smooth without polishing.

[Guitar Heel]

If you are the type of person that thinks that the type of tuning pegs you use has an effect on tone, then I would check out clips. However, if you're like the rest of us, then you won't be able to tell any difference at all. I wish all of my guitars had SS frets.

[jds22]

Another guitar myth that needs to die.

Like the others have said, no difference in tone.

[bsman]

I insist on fossilized tyrannosaurus-bone frets. Everybody knows the tone is in the bone...

[hecticone]

I would never go back to regular frets. There is not a downside to them. Except the initial cost.

[55gibby]

Only one guitar with SS fret (my tele). I like them so much that when I need a refret, I'll go with SS fret

[nuke_diver]

One of the comments I have is from one of the guys I'm considering to do the refret. He said he doesn't let personal opinions matter but that his shop does about 200 refrets a year and only 4 or 5 are SS, and about 20 are removal of SS and replace with standard

Depending on the height of the new frets compaired to the old, you may or may not have to replace the nut. Most likely you will. And since you will already be laying down $200 or more for the refret, I wouldn't be so concerned with a new $15 nut.

$200...I wish...maybe in Iowa but not around here (Bay Area CA). Prices quoted from 275-400

[twofoolsaminute]

SS frets suck. It's all tube for me.

[nuke_diver]

SS frets suck. It's all tube for me.

[normh]

Can't say that I do 200 refrets a year, but I have done enough to make my own decisions. I have destroyed enough tools, esp. crowning files, to say that without doubt SS is much harder than German Silver. EVO wire is harder still. I no longer use crowning files on SS or EVO, instead I use a kant saw file for crowning.

 

My own subjective opinion is that SS and EVO both impart a slightly brighter sound than German silver. However this is nothing that either the guitar tone controls or the amp cannot compensate for.

 

As for the tuning pegs altering the "TONE", BS. One the other hand, different tuning machines can have an effect on sustain. Look at a neck as a neck as a cantilevered system. If you change the weight of the suspended end you alter the dampening factor. In an electric this does not really matter as sustain can be increased by reducing the distance and direction from the amp. In support, I ask that you all look at peg head mounted sustain blocks like used on RKS guitars and ask why they work.

 

SS frets add an element of stiffness to the neck. This reduces, by some small amount, how well the neck can resonate. When the string vibrates, not only does the string stretch and contract, the neck also vibrates simulating a stretching and contraction of the neck.

[nuke_diver]

I have destroyed enough tools, esp. crowning files, to say that without doubt SS is much harder than German Silver.

 

Of this I am sure

 

 

My own subjective opinion is that SS and EVO both impart a slightly brighter sound than German silver. However this is nothing that either the guitar tone controls or the amp cannot compensate for.

 

 

That's one of the things i was thinking, even if it is a bit brighter there are adjustments available

 

 

SS frets add an element of stiffness to the neck. This reduces, by some small amount, how well the neck can resonate. When the string vibrates, not only does the string stretch and contract, the neck also vibrates simulating a stretching and contraction of the neck.

 

 

This is really interesting because no one else has said this before

 

Basically 1 guy is essentially saying ...I'll do SS no problem but you probably won't like them :poke:

Another guys is essentially saying I don't want to do them ($100 more for SS vs 35 from the first guy) but I can but instead says

 

I use 18% nickle wire that I work harden before I put it in. This increases wear life dramatically

 

Does that sound doable?

[normh]

What work hardening really means is that the fret is run through a radiuser several times at slightly different radii. This changes the structure of the metal to harden the material. The downside is that you can make the fret brittle if you run it through the fret bender too much. The other way of bending a fret is to cut a radius in a piece of pine (forget what it is called - damned medications - fret buck) then when you tap the fret in, the tapping of the hammer on the material slightly alters the material then when you pull the fret out of the form, you slightly bend the material further altering the structure, then you tap (if you hammer frets) the fret into the fretboard you alter the structure again. It is the heat from bending or beating that alters the material. In either case the man who says that he work hardens the fret before hand is an artful B.S.'r because that is the normal process of a refret.

 

And yes, it is doable.