I know of a few people (inc Pete Thorn) who has SS frets and 'refretted' some guitars with SS - only to say it affected the sound and regretted it. Even changing the size/shape of frets can have a noticeable difference on tone - watch Dan (of That Pedal Show) talk about 'Red' (his Telecaster) which was refretted recently for at least the second time. The first time, Dan opted for a different fret and that changed the tone - something he regretted and this time opted for the size of fret he had originally. To him, that was massive - he got 'his' guitar back after 'years' of pitting up with the 'mistake' of changing fret size.
I am not saying that this will be your experience too with your PRS. It can't be easy to find someone who will use the same 'hardness' or composition of Nickel frets that PRS use. Unless you can, then chances are you will end up with 'Standard' Nickel and incur the same 'wear'.
Stainless Steel though isn't exempt from wear though - something people seem to think. If you use Stainless Steel Strings, strings that are equally as hard, these will cause wear on SS frets too. Using SS strings on Nickel frets cause the frets to wear faster because the strings are harder than the frets, using Nickel strings on a SS fret guitar will wear the strings faster - not usually too much of problem for some as they are forever changing strings after a show or two. However if you are someone who doesn't change strings that often, and use a Nickel string (often the wound strings are wound with Nickel around a SS core), the SS will wear the strings more.
This article is where I got my information from regarding wear:
http://www.wiredguitarist.com/2016/07/21/nickel-vs-stainless-steel-frets/
To quote some Paragraphs from this Article that are quite useful;
It’s important to note that not all nickel frets are the exact same and that there’s no actual silver in nickel-silver alloy frets. Due to high content of zinc added in the alloy, Jescar NS formula frets are, in my opinion, some of the best nickel frets on the market. Another example of this would be that PRS uses extremely hard nickel frets on their instruments (such as the beautiful Custom 24), which are on par with a lot of stainless steel frets out there.
Stainless steel frets are well known for their corrosion resistance and extra long-lasting alloy. It’s an assumption that they almost never wear, which is somewhat true. When paired with nickel strings, the stainless steel frets take very little damage and wear from the friction due to the alloy being much stronger than the string alloy. On the other hand, when paired with stainless steel strings, the frets will wear just as quickly as nickel frets paired with nickel strings.
One of the nicest things about SS frets is how smooth they feel. Bending your strings over them feels like absolute butter. I will mention however, that a really high quality fret job with nickel frets can yield similar results.
There are some cons to SS frets though. Being such a dense and heavy metal, they tend to be destructive!!
If you take your guitar to someone to get a refret, or any fretwork, chances are you are going to get majorly upcharged for SS frets. They have a tendency to destroy tools, such as fret cutters, quite quickly. Although paying a bunch for a fret job sucks when using stainless steel, paying for multiple fret jobs on nickel frets might be even worse…
Some claim that SS frets tend to wear down their strings faster than their nickel counterparts. This is probably due to the softer metal on the strings being rubbed off by SS frets. I tend to change all of my strings every 2 weeks so this isn’t a big concern for me, but it may be for someone who doesn’t want to be inconvenienced by constantly changing strings.
SS frets can and do wear but whether they wear enough in your lifetime of ownership may depend on whether or not the guitar remains 'number 1' for years and how you play it After all it does depend on playing style too, whether you use a capo a lot etc. If you are bending a lot and pressing string down hard against the fret (as a Capo does) then Fret and/or string wear will be much greater.
All of this though is dependant on the player and the guitar. I know Pete Thorn would never refret a Les Paul with SS Frets because of the sound but also loves SS in his Suhr. There are players who are so much more aware of the little differences, the different nuances in the audio. You can see that by Players that can pick up Les Pauls in a Shop and, after playing, know which one sounded the best whilst others can play them all and say they all sound the same, sound like a Les Paul. If you have watched Anderton's, the Blind Challenges, Chappers has an amazing ear to hear such minute differences that others just can't or don't hear.
You may well be more like the Captain and not hear the difference the SS frets make but may notice how it feels - not that PRS frets feel much different to me - the bigger difference was the neck shape to me much more than the way a string felt when bending. You maybe more like Chappers who notice the tone has changed - for the better or worse will depend on your opinion so I will just say its 'different'.
Its not my choice and not my guitar so you have to decide. It seems to me that SS frets may well be the better option for you as they may well last a lot longer than another 'standard' Nickel which is not as hard as the fret wire PRS use, and certainly not as hard as SS. If you do have a change in tone, there is nothing to say that you won't prefer it or even notice it. If you can hear and not overly keen on the tone, you may be able to EQ it differently to get back to the 'tone' you prefer.
There is no right/wrong answer here. Even if someone has had it done, has found its brightened up the tone a bit, doesn't mean to say you will notice or even not prefer it - not just a bit brighter tone but also the feel. For Pete Thorn, putting SS frets in some guitars is an absolute NO but he also wouldn't want 'Nickel' on some of his guitars too. For Dan (TPS), fret shape had a big impact - not a positive one - for his Tele. We are all different and prefer different things as well as notice things differently too. We could all say No as we don't like the change(s) that may affect the guitar but for you its a perfect thing to do - better wear, better feel and better tonal balance or we could all say do it because everything is 'better' but for you, the change is not to your liking.
I would say that if you can get some really hard Nickel frets, like the ones PRS use, that may well be the best option as its unlikely to affect anything you are used to from a PRS. Whether you can do that or stuck between regular, softer nickel or SS frets, then perhaps SS is the closest to a regular PRS. It would be interesting to hear what choice you made and, if you do opt for SS, what you think of them - from a feel and from a tonal perspective.
