Stainless Steel Frets on a PRS
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Poffypoffa
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I don't own a PRS with SS frets, but I will say the frets on my 2012 PRS feel more like my one guitar with SS frets than any other guitar I own. I assume the alloy is harder than typical.
leeasam
New Member
I do not believe they make them or have with SS and here is a video of Paul on why.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzKT8WrZhhc
leeasam
New Member
well now I see it was not in this video but I saw somewhere that he did not like the tone with stainless.
Phenolic fretboards are actually not pure wood, of course, but they can be very good and stable (they're sandwiches of woods and phenolic resin). I had one on my Modulus Graphite Bass a few years back. The combination of the graphite neck and the phenolic board was very clear sounding on a bass, anyway, and of course it was impervious to humidity, etc.
I have no idea how they sound on a guitar, though.
I think PRSes are good with their more traditional materials. If I remember correctly, a few BaM people had refretted guitars (maybe PRSes) with stainless steel. So it'll be interesting to get peoples' takes on the topic.
I'll be quite dead before any of my guitars needs a refret, so stainless steel frets isn't something I'd be interested in.
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The latest fret material is very hard, much harder than in the past. In one of the Rules of Tone videos, Paul says he asks his supplier for the hardest fretwire they can make. To my hands, it doesn't feel a million miles away from stainless steel which I've had on other guitars.
kukumba
New Member
I think stainless steel frets do change the tone. I would expect a brighter tone. It's different, some people love it and some hate it. I love them because I hate dealing with worn frets. I have played the living hell out of my early production Parker Fly and it does not show even the slightest amount of fret wear. I also know that the frets are hard to level and chew up fret files in a hurry. Try a Parker fly and see what you think. Good luck!
yankeebulldog
I don't like to get that specific
I've owned a few with SS, and I don't own them any more. I'm convinced it does affect the tone by adding some brightness. On certain guitars it might not be that noticeable but if you have it on a guitar like a Strat or something with an ebony board, it might tip it over into the too bright category.
tdarian
Searching for the sound
I've had a few refretted with Jescar FW57110 Stainless, did not experiece added brightness.
I am in total agreement. They have a distinctive tone to them. More metallic sounding, less woody, less bottom end. I owned 2 guitars with them, now one, and it will get a refret asap. I also have a strat with 2 necks. One with regular frets, a warmoth with SS. The guitar sounds totally different with the SS frets, and not in a good way.
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I have 3 guitars with SS frets comparing my mahogany SS fret with PRS 513 the SS resonate louder but plugged on the amp the 513 is brighter so the overall pack is what define the tone. For me the difference is on the feeling of the neck. With SS frets the neck feels harder but last way longer and with nickel frets it's smoother resonate better on your hands. At the end both guitars sound amazing I mean $$$$ amazing truly 2 pieces of state of art - yeah I love my guitars all of 'em can't pick just one
Brad737
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I've owned 2 guitars with stainless frets. They sounded awesome. I LOVE the feel. As a matter of fact, I just ordered a Private Stock Modern Eagle with SS frets.
Stratblooz
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Now that's my kind of fretwire ! Huge and shining
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Brad737
This space for rent...
aduayer
Zomb!e One, DFZ
All my guitars have SS frets, PRS included. I think it's the ultimate fret material. It's just perfect. If it changes the sound? well, everything changes the sound, but to be honest no big deal. The kind of strings (gauge, material) and picks I use interfere on my tone much more then the frets, just my 2 cents.
I got into stainless steel frets when I was primarily playing Tom Andersons and for me I'm all in. All of my PRSs and all my other guitars have been set up and re-freted with 6150 stainless steel frets by Jim Crawford (Jim Crawford Guitars) and they play like butter… I've literally bought a PRS and walked out of the store and handed it to Jim to do a stainless steel re-fret before I even brought it home. He does amazing work.
As far as tone goes it's a non issue (see the post above^^^^).
As far as tone goes it's a non issue (see the post above^^^^).
guitarman001
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I have a Suhr Pro S4 with SS frets and unplugged it is more twangy, but I don't hear any big difference through an amp.
Had the Suhr and my two PRS (with nickel frets) for the same time and the PRS are already showing a very slight bit of fret-wear. TBH it annoys me and I wonder if I would get them re-fretted with SS frets in future as I play a lot. Would the PTC do this?
Had the Suhr and my two PRS (with nickel frets) for the same time and the PRS are already showing a very slight bit of fret-wear. TBH it annoys me and I wonder if I would get them re-fretted with SS frets in future as I play a lot. Would the PTC do this?
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