Stainless Steal frets MORE Presence ?

  • Thread starter Thread starter the4thlast1
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Oops, I take that back. Actually, 3 of my guitars have EVO gold frets which I highly recommend. They're nearly as hard as SS, but warm as nickel/silver. They have the best feel of any fret wire in my opinion. They're also less work to level, crown, and polish than SS. They're probably $25-$30 more. I don't always opt for them because when I'm using silver hardware, I want the frets to shine across the neck. It gives it a cool aesthetic. When I use gold hardware, I use EVO gold frets just because they match the hardware. When you have dark fretboard woods like Rosewood or Ebony, the aesthetic the frets add makes a bit of a difference in the overall look of the build.
 
To me, SS frets are "slipperier" to me and slightly "brighter" sounding
 
Getting a custom guitar built this year (in process). My luthier friend who is building it for me told me that he found that SS frets have more mids and sound brighter that other frets. He uses Jescar. He really insisted that I have them on my guitar. Not that there was any change in price or I had to pay him more. Also he is no businessman, known him personally for a long time.
 
SS all the way. Love 'em. Slippery and durable.

Have no basis for comparison sound-wise, but I get the feeling they produce a crisper sound.
 
Hardvalve":1h0678b9 said:
Stainless feels and plays better to me. I want to try a stainless frets ed Les Paul, which I never have. I still have some nickel fret guitars, but they feel like they are dragging after playing the SS.
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Dragging, slower feel... you have to fight the instrument.
Exactly!! :thumbsup:
 
If there is a perceived difference it is minute, the benefits of almost never needing another fret job and enhanced vibrato and bending more than makes up for it for me. At this point I would probably only consider instruments with SS frets unless the instrument were from select manufacturers that just don't offer it (PRS comes to mind).
 
SQUAREHEAD":3q2lrc9n said:
Dragging, slower feel... you have to fight the instrument.
Exactly!! :thumbsup:
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Yeah, "normal" frets feel like they've got an oxidised coating on 'em by comparison, even when they're freshly-polished... to me at least.

"Drag" does sum it up quite-nicely, IMHO.

EDIT: It's just like driving with tyres at 32lbs pressure vs 26. With the higher pressure, you feel like it's effortless to turn and the car just rolls easy.
 
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