SS frets!

[bodia]

I have guitars with nickel and guitars with stainless. When I comes to things I really care about, fret material isn’t one of them.

Would I refret a nickel guitar with SS? No.

Would I refret a SS guitar with nickle? Also no.

If it ain’t broke….

100% agree

 

[alantig]

You forgot Lex

He's a Luthor, not a Luther. Unless you mean the wrestler.

 

[Tosca]

Options are simple: refret with stainless on a PRS, buy a guitar that comes with stainless frets.

Make yourself happy. You can only control your choices.

If only attitudes were as easy to change as frets.

 

[dmatthews]

He's a Luthor, not a Luther. Unless you mean the wrestler.

You're a good sLuther!

 

[László]

All I can say is I'm a Jazz head and "zingy" tone is a no no in this game, but I have SS frets and have no probs whatsoever getting a smooth rich Jazz tone.
I feel the difference between SS & Nickel sonically is so overblown it's becoming a myth to me.

I also feel the benefits (durability & smooth feel) vastly overshadow the minute sound difference.

It's all a matter of personal taste, of course, and it's great that you like the SS frets!

One has to consider that tone controls also affect frequencies that may or may not be desirable to mess with in any given tone control. So yes, you can easily roll off unwanted high frequencies. The question is whether you're also rolling off some frequencies you wish to retain, and every EQ on every amp or processor sounds a little bit different owing to different turnover points, frequencies and Q affected, etc.

This is where guitar and pickup choice does matter quite a bit, and to a much smaller extent, fret material.

For most folks, I suspect that this is a much smaller issue than it is for others. For me, it matters. For you, less so.

But it's certainly not a myth - you can easily hear it.

 

[RickP]

If only attitudes were as easy to change as frets.

Amen to that!

Were it so, we’d fret less over the minutiae.

 

[Screamingdaisy]

It's all a matter of personal taste,

Agreed.

What I don’t understand however is why some people seem to take it so personally that PRS doesn’t want to use SS frets? I have opinions about things too, doesn’t mean I go out of my way to try to prove him wrong.

 

[jimfisher]

 

[aphantomvaper]

Maybe he's a luthier named Luther, and he's the best Luther there is while also being a great luthier. (I assume that's of the current Luthers - Martin Luther, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Luther Perkins were pretty damn good Luthers.)

A Luthier named Luther...is that like a Dentist named Crentist?

 

[László]

Agreed.

What I don’t understand however is why some people seem to take it so personally that PRS doesn’t want to use SS frets? I have opinions about things too, doesn’t mean I go out of my way to try to prove him wrong.

Yes!

Whatever Paul Smith's opinions on tone or fret materials may be, the guitars are proof of concept. He's done well. He's not gonna make everyone happy. I'd bet he's OK with that.

 

[Rider1260]

100 % make a guitar work for you , if SS frets take a guitar from 90 to 100% for the player then do it. no different from sanding the neck , replacing wiring , pickups , bridges.

 

[CrimesAgainstMusic]

Maybe You Tube must be the "great equalizer" in sound tests, due to the loss of fidelityfrom in not "being in the room" does to what we hear on the internet (?)

Anyway, I like what the Warmoth guy says about the difference. To him, its more a "feel" thing, as opposed to a "hear" thing . I don't know, because I'm pretty sure all the guitars I own (and have messed with) probably are nickel-silver). AND I'm not the level of player that could probably benefit from the "feel" of SS ...

If SS frets wee to add greatly to the cost of a guitar, I would pass on it, not because it isn't "better" its just that I don't think the cost of the feature would benefit me. ...

In the Warmoth vid, the only time I though I could hear a real difference was at the Bridge P/U Clean .... and I thought the SS was #1 ... Wrong !

 

[Huggy Love]

It's all a matter of personal taste, of course, and it's great that you like the SS frets!

One has to consider that tone controls also affect frequencies that may or may not be desirable to mess with in any given tone control. So yes, you can easily roll off unwanted high frequencies. The question is whether you're also rolling off some frequencies you wish to retain, and every EQ on every amp or processor sounds a little bit different owing to different turnover points, frequencies and Q affected, etc.

This is where guitar and pickup choice does matter quite a bit, and to a much smaller extent, fret material.

For most folks, I suspect that this is a much smaller issue than it is for others. For me, it matters. For you, less so.

But it's certainly not a myth - you can easily hear it.

I really don't have to do too much rolling off highs to do what I have to do, I just still feel the tone debate on this grossly overblown. I switch between SS & Nickel frets almost daily and I'm pretty aware of the difference, and although it may not be a myth, it's not easy to hear.

It's not like you can hear a guitar recording and tell it's SS. Only way is to do a side by side comparison on the same amp.

 

[Ovibos]

Another option is to use softer strings, right?

Steel strings might chew into nickel frets more than nickel strings.

 

[Alnus Rubra]

A Luthier named Luther...is that like a Dentist named Crentist?

I think you’ll find that’s the Dentist named Dentst!

 

[toothace]

He's a Luthor, not a Luther. Unless you mean the wrestler.

The wrestler was Lex Luger. C'mon man!

 

[Drew]

Some people here are talking of slight perceptions in the change of frequencies. Of those people, how many have bought a PRS that has a an ebony fretboard, cocobolo fretboard, rosewood neck, maple neck, ash back, or a private stock with some really weird combination of non-traditional woods? Each and every one of those alters the voice of an instrument in a greater way than going from standard to stainless frets do. But, people aren't speaking up against PRS with roasted flame maple necks and the extra snappiness. Speaking of Paul, he talks of using frets he believes sounds the best and that needs to be some static thing, yet releases guitars out of the factory with all the previous iterations I mentioned and more. Paul doesn't use stainless because he knows he can sell guitars to his fanbase just fine without having them on the guitars. Music Man uses stainless on everything now, because their particular players not only demand it, they expect it. It's that simple. You gauge your base and proceed accordingly. The tide, however, is definitely changing.

Forget everything else mentioned in this thread. Stainless steel frets are a peace of mind thing when you buy a heirloom quality instrument. It's peace of mind that you don't have to bring it to a tech in 10 to 20 years for a fret job and the possibility that person may damage the neck.

 

[Simon Says]

Some people here are talking of slight perceptions in the change of frequencies. Of those people, how many have bought a PRS that has a an ebony fretboard, cocobolo fretboard, rosewood neck, maple neck, ash back, or a private stock with some really weird combination of non-traditional woods? Each and every one of those alters the voice of an instrument in a greater way than going from standard to stainless frets do. But, people aren't speaking up against PRS with roasted flame maple necks and the extra snappiness. Speaking of Paul, he talks of using frets he believes sounds the best and that needs to be some static thing, yet releases guitars out of the factory with all the previous iterations I mentioned and more. Paul doesn't use stainless because he knows he can sell guitars to his fanbase just fine without having them on the guitars. Music Man uses stainless on everything now, because their particular players not only demand it, they expect it. It's that simple. You gauge your base and proceed accordingly. The tide, however, is definitely changing.

Forget everything else mentioned in this thread. Stainless steel frets are a peace of mind thing when you buy a heirloom quality instrument. It's peace of mind that you don't have to bring it to a tech in 10 to 20 years for a fret job and the possibility that person may damage the neck.

Just buy yourself a Music Man and leave us - a PRS sheep's alone

 

[Drew]

Just buy yourself a Music Man and leave us - a PRS sheep's alone

I just bought one actually, a Petrucci 20th anniversary. I love ALL guitars. I don't swear loyalty to one brand because I'd be cutting out 95% of my potential possibilities to play great instruments.

 

[jak3af3r]

I'm still waiting for Tungsten carbide frets.