Awesome review, it's a much talked about subject now. Fret wire not being hard as it was in the 80s has created this concern amongst owners of high end guitars. Not all stainless is created equal. Chinese made low budget SS frets sounds as most SS will, but will not last. (HV-5) hardness rating is important to consider for longevity. Nickel now at 179-200 SS at 300-305 HV- 5 rating. Prs now uses nickel fret wire tempered at 260-279 HV-5. (Metal hardness is all in the tempering,) an extra step adding to the cost.
Wow thank for that type of info - wasn't aware of that - good to know!! Thank you for sharing Richard, and thanks a lot for your kind words :-) All the very best Soren
Thank you soooooo much - truly appreciated :-) Speed isn't necessarily a good thing ... it's a tool. It's nice convenient to have a fast car if you know where you are going and want to get there fast. But speed doesn't matter if you don't know where you're going :-)
Thank you for sharing your thoughts! Yes hear you - it's actually quite interesting, since I've heard that stainless steel frets will sound more bright and artificially than nickel - but it all depends on the guitar, woods and so. Here I also find the maple neck brighter, with less low end, since the rosewood is very full and round :-)
I just acquired my first roasted flame maple SS fret guitar ....I am in love. Just need proper set up ...So far though I have first changed the strings so I cannot give full description of personal differnce soundwise but I played and was very crisp. Again new strings and fool us but this is very crisp. I'll report back as I let them settle.
SS frets are indispensable for the practicing musician especially if you play for more than 5 hours a day ... I don't see any disadvantage of owning one...it just saves your precious nickel guitars from further damage and abuse...My Ernie Ball cutlass and Stingray are my main axes for practicing and playing, when Im done perfecting my tunes, I just switch over to my Les Paul or PRS for If I ever want to record with it. I can confidently estimate that my nickels will last for more than 10 or 15 years without refretting or levelling/ crowning with the help of my SS frets
I see no wear on my nickel silver frets on my PRS. And on my SS guitar I saw fret wear because it had multiple owners. And nickel silver sound sweeter.
2:30 good thing you have SS frets now 😂. I also have SS frets on my guitar. Still not sure if I like them as much. Next guitar I will try EVO gold frets, they’re right in the middle
For a periode I haven't been playing my PRS with the SS fret - but recently I've returned to it quite often - and I must say I looooove the feel. I will definitely go for SS-fret in the future!!
@@SorenReiff yes i looked in to it a bit more now, and it seems like the ibanez AZ series has them, and sonnemo's custom series and also chapman's pro series. and apparently some jackson has them but not sure which models. and none of these are very cheap, and refreting my own to get SS frets would cost 500 euro, which is not worth it for my cheap ass guitar. so i'll guess im just gonna buy another cheap one to have until i have saved up enough money for one of those expensive ones. because refreting or buying a new guitar every 2 years is just annoying.
Harley Benton fusion pro models, they have a very low price (the price of a refret) so you can try it. I bought a used one, it needed a little fretdressing after that it's been fine ;-) SS frets must be perfectly leveled and polished to work, if they are rough they stay rough and bending won't work, if they are polished to a high shine bending will be heaven. FWIW
Haven't been noticing a big difference - but one time, when I haven't changed strings for some weeks, since I havn't used that one a lot, I broke a string ... normally I havn't broken any string for many many years - so I guess there is a difference - but not important if you change regularly :-)
I put s.s. on my bass, and s.s. strings at the same time. It was horrible. I got flange - chorus efect so intense and even more string effect then you usually get with new strings that the actual tone was around 50‰ of overall sound. When I put on nickel strings it was a little better. I'm taking off s.s. frets for shure as soon as I can.
There's no difference in feel. Polished nickel silver is as smooth as polished SS with regards to bending. Plus nickel silver sound rounder, fuller and overall sweeter. And nickel frets don't wear out on me because I have a light touch.
@@SorenReiff I have 2 guitars with S/S frets and many others which do not, the S/S frets 6105 feel slinky to me on my David Thomas McNaught compared to another that has Nickel frets but 6100, sound wise cannot put my finger on it but they sound articulate another guitar a Driskill Diablo very similar, I like the fact that they do not wear really but may take a toll on the strings, and the other problem not all luthiers will use them due to wearing out their tools.
Blues, nickle, metal stainless steel, an honest comparison thank you for that btw, you know your playing style is right in between, love it. 9:55
Thank you ... I love the blues, that's why I startede playing guitar, and are fascinated by all the HM techniques :-)
Awesome review, it's a much talked about subject now. Fret wire not being hard as it was in the 80s has created this concern amongst owners of high end guitars. Not all stainless is created equal. Chinese made low budget SS frets sounds as most SS will, but will not last. (HV-5) hardness rating is important to consider for longevity. Nickel now at 179-200 SS at 300-305 HV- 5 rating. Prs now uses nickel fret wire tempered at 260-279 HV-5. (Metal hardness is all in the tempering,) an extra step adding to the cost.
Wow thank for that type of info - wasn't aware of that - good to know!! Thank you for sharing Richard, and thanks a lot for your kind words :-) All the very best Soren
Every single time I see a player like you, I want to sit and play to get faster. Thanks for being an inspiration!
Thank you soooooo much - truly appreciated :-) Speed isn't necessarily a good thing ... it's a tool. It's nice convenient to have a fast car if you know where you are going and want to get there fast. But speed doesn't matter if you don't know where you're going :-)
@@SorenReiffdk Sage advice
@@spartan8390 Thank you :-)
@juna wood Totally agree with you ... and BTW sorry for my slow respons to your comment :-)
@juna wood Totally agree with you ... and BTW sorry for my slow respons to your comment :-)
The stainless guitar sounds warmer in comparison to the maple necked guitar. Thanks for posting.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts! Yes hear you - it's actually quite interesting, since I've heard that stainless steel frets will sound more bright and artificially than nickel - but it all depends on the guitar, woods and so. Here I also find the maple neck brighter, with less low end, since the rosewood is very full and round :-)
I just acquired my first roasted flame maple SS fret guitar ....I am in love. Just need proper set up ...So far though I have first changed the strings so I cannot give full description of personal differnce soundwise but I played and was very crisp. Again new strings and fool us but this is very crisp. I'll report back as I let them settle.
Interesting to hear about your experience with maple and ss-frets :-)
I prefer stainless steel frets (Suhr, Tom Anderson, Ibanez AZ, Ruokangas, Charvel custom shop...)
I understand why :-)
SS frets are indispensable for the practicing musician especially if you play for more than 5 hours a day ... I don't see any disadvantage of owning one...it just saves your precious nickel guitars from further damage and abuse...My Ernie Ball cutlass and Stingray are my main axes for practicing and playing, when Im done perfecting my tunes, I just switch over to my Les Paul or PRS for If I ever want to record with it. I can confidently estimate that my nickels will last for more than 10 or 15 years without refretting or levelling/ crowning with the help of my SS frets
I agree with you :-)
I see no wear on my nickel silver frets on my PRS. And on my SS guitar I saw fret wear because it had multiple owners. And nickel silver sound sweeter.
Unless you’re like me and accidentally tilt em over. I had damaged an ss fret within months of buying my guitar 🤦♂️
2:30 good thing you have SS frets now 😂. I also have SS frets on my guitar. Still not sure if I like them as much. Next guitar I will try EVO gold frets, they’re right in the middle
For a periode I haven't been playing my PRS with the SS fret - but recently I've returned to it quite often - and I must say I looooove the feel. I will definitely go for SS-fret in the future!!
bloody sick still with all of these rod wood or maple , or whatever wood it may be!. planet Krypton perhaps!.
Ha ha ... yes the world is full of choices - hard to say what way to go :-)
hey.. what’s the different of jescar 57110 and 58118? As I know the 57110 is extra jumbo frets like ESP guitar used right? Tell me please :)
I'm so sorry - but I have no idea - I just asked for some frets that were close to the PRSs specs :-)
Stainless steel fret with stainless string or nickel string? Which one will last longer, I live in a very humid environment.
I use nickel wound strings ... but change strings often!!
@@SorenReiff would you advise stainless fret with stainless string?
@@TheMae1St0rm I'm sorry I don't have the experience to answer that :-)
I onced lived in a high humid environment and I had no choice but to use ELIXIRS even though I hated them.
Are there any mass produced electric guitar with SS frets straight out of the box?
I'm not sure - but I guess some of the newer Ibanez have - I guess Tom Quayle signature has for instance :-)
@@SorenReiff yes i looked in to it a bit more now, and it seems like the ibanez AZ series has them, and sonnemo's custom series and also chapman's pro series. and apparently some jackson has them but not sure which models. and none of these are very cheap, and refreting my own to get SS frets would cost 500 euro, which is not worth it for my cheap ass guitar. so i'll guess im just gonna buy another cheap one to have until i have saved up enough money for one of those expensive ones. because refreting or buying a new guitar every 2 years is just annoying.
Kiesel
Harley Benton fusion pro models, they have a very low price (the price of a refret) so you can try it. I bought a used one, it needed a little fretdressing after that it's been fine ;-) SS frets must be perfectly leveled and polished to work, if they are rough they stay rough and bending won't work, if they are polished to a high shine bending will be heaven. FWIW
what about using SS fret then cut the midrange on EQ to get vintage sound?
Do the stainless frets kill your strings faster?
Thank you!
p.s: killer playing 👏
Haven't been noticing a big difference - but one time, when I haven't changed strings for some weeks, since I havn't used that one a lot, I broke a string ... normally I havn't broken any string for many many years - so I guess there is a difference - but not important if you change regularly :-)
No
Guitar action??
I have a pretty low action, but at the same time now extraordinary low, since I like to pick rather hard sometimes.
@@SorenReiff do you know in mm or inches??
I put s.s. on my bass, and s.s. strings at the same time. It was horrible. I got flange - chorus efect so intense and even more string effect then you usually get with new strings that the actual tone was around 50‰ of overall sound. When I put on nickel strings it was a little better. I'm taking off s.s. frets for shure as soon as I can.
Wow what a story ... sounds like a nightmare - Thanks for sharing :-)
@@SorenReiff welcome
Also comparing frets with two different wood types is pointless. Other tests with identical guitars barely yield a difference in sound.
There's no difference in feel. Polished nickel silver is as smooth as polished SS with regards to bending. Plus nickel silver sound rounder, fuller and overall sweeter. And nickel frets don't wear out on me because I have a light touch.
Not a valid compassion, One maple fretboard / neck versus rosewood neck / fretboard !
Colin Humphrey Right Colin, just as I mention in this video ... it’s not fair, but hopefully you get some kind of idea of what SF’s do :-)
@@SorenReiff I have 2 guitars with S/S frets and many others which do not, the S/S frets 6105 feel slinky to me on my David Thomas McNaught compared to another that has Nickel frets but 6100, sound wise cannot put my finger on it but they sound articulate another guitar a Driskill Diablo very similar, I like the fact that they do not wear really but may take a toll on the strings, and the other problem not all luthiers will use them due to wearing out their tools.
@@colinhumphrey7833 Yes, and I know that luthiers have more challenges with the SS - and just like you I'm glad they should last longer :-)
@@SorenReiff Nice playing by the way !
@@colinhumphrey7833 Thanks a lot Colin!!