PRS Fret Wire

Bill1988

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Sep 15, 2020
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Hey guys,

I wanted to ask what all of your experience has been with the frets on your PRS guitars. I was just in my local dealer yesterday and I just love how the PRS guitars look and sound. One CE in particular had me thinking this is the perfect guitar for me except... I would love to buy one but I'm hesitant to go through with it knowing they don't come with stainless steel frets. I have owned a Kiesel for a year now and I love the feel/sound of the SS frets and the thought of never having to worry about refretting.

I've heard Paul mention in a video that PRS uses the hardest nickel fret wire available, but even still the thought of having to refret in the future after spending 2k+ on a guitar has me a little concerned. Thanks in advance.
 
From what I understand, Paul does not like the sound of stainless frets and that is why PRS does not use them. Even steel frets used heavily will eventually need to be changed. The PRS fret will have a somewhat shorter life then steel, and many people have refretted their PRS’ with steel, but for normal use these frets will last a long time. The PRS fret does seem to be more durable than what comes standard on Fender and Gibson.
 
I had a 2001 Singlecut that I bought in 2006 or 2007 that I had to have refretted. The guy that did it said whomever owned it before must have been ham fisted. They were seriously dented in spots. Fortunately, that's the only PRS that I have had to have that done on. I've owned more than 50 over the years, and haven't seen issues on any of them. Meaning, I bought a lot of them used, and they came to me in good shape. My oldest, currently, is a 1991, and it is fine. So is the '97 Santana I. Make the jump!
 
No issues here with frets. Gigged them for years with no appreciable wear to the frets. If you’re worried about fret wear, it sounds like you’re a “buy it and keep it forever” kind of guy. So, as you mentioned, they’re not stainless. If the concern is severe, buy it and refret it right away. A great guitar that lasts a lifetime maintenance free is a bargain at under $3K all in.
 
Thanks for the info guys. This is reassuring. My main concern about having to get a refret job in the future is I wouldn't trust anyone remotely near me to do it, though I suppose you could just send it in to the PRS techs themselves to have it done? As far as the tone: hmm...I don't buy that. I wonder if it's more that SS frets are harder to work with, rougher on tools, and more expensive than the tone thing. I have both and can't notice a tone difference. Maybe the SS are the slightest bit brighter and more snappy but playing hard rock/metal I tend to prefer this anyway.
 
Not that it helps the original poster, but most of my PRSi get refretted right away with Jumbos if they don't already have them.
 
In my mind, if you like the CE that much, the question becomes “do I like this guitar well enough to buy it and have it refretted with stainless steel frets”? And if that answer is yes, my advice is buy the guitar and don’t refret it right away - give the PRS frets a fair trial. You may like them well enough to not do the refret, at least not immediately. But it sounds like stainless steel is your thing, so I’d think you have to go into that deal ready to make that change.

Personally, I’ve never had an issue w/the PRS frets. Maybe I don’t spend enough time on any one guitar, but I definitely have my favorites, and I haven’t noticed any fretwear on any of them.
 
My experience with PRS is this, I had 3 PRS from their core line, which wasn't call that way back in 2002 or so, anyhow, i had a custom 24, a custom 22 and a Ted Mccarty model which was my favorite, but all of them after about 18 to 20 months did show heavy fret wear, i hate refretting my guitars so i sold all of them and now only play Suhr guitars since they come with stainless still fret wires, till now, none of them show any wear whatsoever, but I'm dying to get PRS SC 594 the only thing that holds me back is their wires, have they gotten any better?
 
None of my PRS guitar show any fret wear, and several are played almost daily.
 
There’s a lot of nonsense on Internet forums about the wear rate of nickel frets, to the point that people get an idea in their heads that they’ll buy a guitar and immediately have to refret it. It’s just not the case.

Things you need to ask yourself include: Do I have a death grip? Do I play with worn and rusty strings? Am I a guitar god? The answer to all of those questions is of course, no, so chances are you’ll only see average fret wear over the life of that guitar.

In reality most guitars can have their frets levelled and dressed at least once, effectively doubling their life span (unless you’re using really tiny frets). And if you love a guitar that much, to play it that much, then you’ll just get it refretted anyway. So do it, should it ever be needed, but most often it actually doesn’t.
 
If the concern is severe, buy it and refret it right away.
Oh ffs.

I’m sure you had good intentions when you posted this and meant it to be reassuring to the OP, but seriously?
 
Oh ffs.

I’m sure you had good intentions when you posted this and meant it to be reassuring to the OP, but seriously?
Thanks for giving me the benefit of the doubt, I was sincere in trying to help. So, yes, seriously. It isn’t unusual for someone to buy a new guitar, then put $500-600 worth of pickups or other mods in because that‘s what they prefer or require. Planning a refret because you like everything but the frets is no different.

I think the stainless fret thing has become such a bone of contention that, while other mods of equal cost are considered normal, this “fixing what PRS refuses to fix” mod is unthinkable to those who feel it should be available OEM. Really, it’s just another part. That was my point. New or not, if I don‘t like a part on a guitar I otherwise love, I change it. If I like and use the guitar, it’ll pay for itself.
 
Thanks for the info guys. This is reassuring. My main concern about having to get a refret job in the future is I wouldn't trust anyone remotely near me to do it, though I suppose you could just send it in to the PRS techs themselves to have it done? As far as the tone: hmm...I don't buy that. I wonder if it's more that SS frets are harder to work with, rougher on tools, and more expensive than the tone thing. I have both and can't notice a tone difference. Maybe the SS are the slightest bit brighter and more snappy but playing hard rock/metal I tend to prefer this anyway.
SS frets do have a ping to them in the high end. Some people are bothered by this, others not.
 
I love SS frets, for me the positives FAR outweigh any negatives (the "ping" is subtle, IMO).

So... when then time comes to have a PRS refretted, how long does it take for PRS to get it done these days? And will they do SS frets if requested? My DGT is only a week or two old, but when they day comes that it needs new frets, I will want SS. I'd prefer PRS to do the work (best fret finishing I've ever seen), but if they won't do SS, I'll have to take it somewhere else (unfortunately)
 
I love SS frets, for me the positives FAR outweigh any negatives (the "ping" is subtle, IMO).

So... when then time comes to have a PRS refretted, how long does it take for PRS to get it done these days? And will they do SS frets if requested? My DGT is only a week or two old, but when they day comes that it needs new frets, I will want SS. I'd prefer PRS to do the work (best fret finishing I've ever seen), but if they won't do SS, I'll have to take it somewhere else (unfortunately)
I’d probably refret my DGT with the same jumbo frets but with Jescar Gold which is between nickel and SS in hardness with no ping……. but it’s 6 months old, played A lot, no fretware yet. I have a great luthier for this..
 
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