Too Much STAINLESS STEEL? - Frets, Strings, and even the Guitar Pick!
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 30 ก.ย. 2024
- Stainless steel frets are all the rage... like on my beautiful Vola Japanese made guitar! But some people say stainless steel frets have a particular sound... and it's a sound that not everyone likes... what does it sound like if we add stainless steel strings.... and even a stainless steel guitar pick? Too much? Or does it just get better? Today on the Guitar MAX channel, we're going to find out!
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Rubric: -5 points for Danzig references. -5 points for not reading the description. -5 points for not watching far enough into the video to answer your own question. -5 points for misquoting me in your comment. 20 points possible. Everyone starts with an A!
I didn’t notice any difference with the strings, but the stainless steel pick was noticeable.
even high noticable. that's why i love steel picks. can be thin, but hard and have that particular sound. one con on them in last few years? they do sth propably to metal mix. after few minutes of playing i have black hand from metal dust... -.- downgrading product to remain the price -.-
One thing to mention is people with a nickle allergy can play guitar now with stainless options..
The pick makes the biggest difference. In general harder and stiffer picks = brighter sound and sharper more clicky attack. Thick picks with heavily rounded edges add a flanger-esque warble Due to how the string rolls off the rounded edge. You get this with stone picks (like agate picks). In general i prefer harder picks, like ultem or polycarbonate for warmer guitars, and Nylon picks for brighter (particularly single coil) guitars.
It takes balls of steel to make a video like this.
Now you need stainless saddles, nut and tuners just to be safe.
I have actually used stainless strings quite a bit. In the 90s, I was using Dean Markley Blue Steels almost exclusively for a couple of years. They sounded great but were hell on the fretwire. It only took one refret to teach me a lesson. That said, I quite prefer stainless fret wire over nickel. I doubt I would consider buying another guitar without stainless frets.
killer drinking game take a shot every time Max say "stainless steel"
I couldn't hear a difference with the strings. I could hear a difference with the pick, though.
I've only heard a difference with the pick...stainless steel picks are definitely not for shredders and clean tone
depends how you use your cleans. i loved metal pick on my clean back in the day.
I think it was best in the ss frets only. Didn't sound as good with each addition. The pick was a major difference. The strings was minor, and not sure I would notice in a mix. I could see all the sounds being usable.
ZZ TOP. BILLY plays with a coin
And as light as 7's
Brian May uses a British pence
I like the fact that despite all of his money, Paul McCartney likes to lay coins on a railroad track to flatten coins so he can use them as picks.
Mexican Peso
@@ryanevans8368 A sixpence.
So Much Steel !!
LOL
🤘😎🤘🌴☀️🔥🎸🔥🎸
"MAX STEEL " !!
Best guitar channel on TH-cam... been watching for years (and subscribed)... you da man Max!!
Thank you!
Have you ever heard of Hysteria guitars? The body is made out of....stainless steel.
Brad Gillis plays with a metal pick.
what , no stainless steel nut?
Lol.. great question!
Only steel balls
Without an identical guitar with regular nickel steel frets and strings to start with as a control, I think it’s flawed in that respect.
There were some percussive pings here and there but that could easily be from the new strings not being properly stretched and broke in.
The stainless steel pick was a definite noticeable difference
@@GAdamBarrett I am not someone who feels any need for SS frets but on a new guitar like the Vola it would be a welcome feature. Feels like any real variation in tone would not be anything someone could not dial in out of the mix pretty easily.
@@I.am_Groot agreed. I play on both. Never really gave it much thought. Each instrument has its own vibe. Its own soul, if you will. Any variation I’ve experienced is usually negligible as the thrill of playing over shadows the other subtle nuances.
Can't have too much STEEL, BROTHER "! MANOWAR HELL YEAH! BROTHER!"
Back in the 80s Warren Demartini and Robbin Crosby of Ratt used stainless picks. And was a big part of their sound. I also remember hearing that the producer of the band Warrant liked the ratt sound so much that he made the guys from warrant use them on the album they where working on. I personally like the sound of Dunlop nylon picks but each to their own.
When I started playing guitar in the late 80's, I used the typical shape guitar picks, much like most probably do. After playing for a couple of years, I discovered and tried Dunlop (jazz style) picks. I distinctly remember an immediate sense of the shape of the jazz pic, somehow making playing and/or learning to play, feel way more "fluid," and all around easier to play more accurately. After all these years, I still prefer them. Dunlop has a newer version of them. They're 1.00 mm thick and the edge of the pick is tapered to a sharp edge around the entirety of the pic. They're even better, imo. The edge does get kinda chewed up relatively quickly, but a quick swipe of the edge with some 600 grit sandpaper will extend the life of the pick for a very long time if you use it each time you start to notice rough edges.
EVH used copper picks and got cancer from it. Not his heavy smoking and alcohol abuse.... no the copper pick did it...!!
So did King Edward
Great post, GM. I'm a hobbyist guitarist. No 4 hour practice days for me anymore. I did that with violin! The only thing I wear out, brother is this old body of mine.
As to tone differences, the nickel has a cleaner sawtooth, less spike in the attack and much richer freq.res. on the high gain. But in the clean, the steel is sweet on the ear while the nickel was not pleasant. Fatigue set in quick, man! The steel pick is good if you need to cut through the mix a little more.
I've tried those picks they have a great crunch but they must eat through strings
I like brass &/or aluminum nuts & cupronickel clad pure copper picks w/ George Washington’s image.
I know those picks. They cost 25 cents each.
I'm with you, sir, on all counts. Only the pick was chirpy. I'll just say strings are much more affordable the a fret job. lol Peace..
Good point!
Strings did not make an appreciable sonic difference to me, but, the pick sure did (and didn't like it, especially dry). I use hard picks, from Jazz III Carbon, to agate, to titanium (which sounds like your SS). My current go to pick is Dunlop Flow 2mm, has a bit of rounded edge and doesn't wear out. Not sure wtf its made outa but it's gonna last forever. It has all the anti-friction properties of a metal w/o the scratch and 'ting'.
I tried getting along with the steel-wrapped strings 40 years ago, and simply couldn't. Stainless steel frets is whole other deal. Love 'em.
The Riddle of Steel.
The true strength of steel is in the hand that wields it ...🎸
The stainless steel big chief
The stainless steel frets with stainless strings sounded a little brighter, but that could also be due to the usage of the strings. Add the pick and you can hear an extra scratch on the pick attack. Would have been interesting to use the stainless steel pick with the regular strings.
Ive played a few strings and i can give some insight to the stainless ones.
Stainless steel strings do have an increased volume, highs, mids, and very pronounced lows. The problem is that after the break in period they quite literally drop all of that increase and become dull faster than standard nickel strings.
I noticed a drop within 3 days to a week of constant playing.
A pack that has the best tone and stays strong for a long time are the cobalt slinkys. They dont completely lose their tone after that period. You will lose the shimmer that all new strings have within three days to a week but the tonal decrease is not a lot. These strings are resistant to breaking and can be bent very hard and still remain in tune and strong.
I am NOT good at guitar. That being said, I do love trying to play guitar. I have heard sooo many “right ways” and “wrong ways” that it’s crazy. What’s good, what sucks, how playing with certain gear means you suck or even that you must be good, and I swear that almost NONE of it has much to do with playing guitar. When you’re sitting in a chair practicing, even if it’s with an amp and speaker, you are bound to hear sounds that do not come across from the speakers. So I can see why they might think they hear a “tink” sound, but it doesn’t really come across from the speakers which really is all that matters. However, I have days where I think my playing is God-like (imagine cutting off four fingers from each of your hands, sometimes I get ALMOST to that point), while other days I’m left wondering how I still suck so bad. On those good days, idk, it’s like I feel the music differently and I can lose hours just trying to pluck out some lick I heard. So I suppose that even if I only BELIEVED I heard an annoying tink that it might be distracting which could keep me from really feeling it, and at this point I really need a few of those “God-like” days in order to counteract the disappointment of the others. It sounds crazy, but I can’t help but think if going with nickel takes away a distraction, even if it’s imaginary, and it helps make the guitarist feel better about the sound, then it’s worth it for them. If they want them in order to appease some guitar snob that thinks everyone needs to be trying to duplicate their sound, then it’s foolish. I do know though, as soon as someone sees my guitars it becomes a moment of raw judgment. “Wait, your FAVORITE guitar you own is a MiM strat? Dude, if you don’t have the custom shop hot rails then your sound is going to be totally inconsistent!” Holding that guitar or my Squier Affinity that’s decades old, that’s my happy place. When they see I have “nicer” guitars but rarely use them compared, they don’t get it. I don’t worry about accidentally bumping my Squier and I’m not expecting to sound like Eddie Van Halen while playing it. I think whatever allows you to feel like you can play freely is probably what’s best for you currently. If you’re a guitar snob though and the only way someone can sound good is if they’re playing through $15k worth of equipment, then you’d probably think you can “buy” talent. There are TONS of those people out there too 🤷♂️
I have the orange version of this Vola. Great guitar for the price. Made in Japan but ships from Hong Kong. Maybe they use Chinese parts and assemble them in Japan to reduce the cost like ESP Edwards models.
Max. I’m glad you started with 9 nickel
D ‘Addario’s My string of choice for years, I tried their NY excel’s brighter, sound was not objectionable, but the tension definitely was, I’m old, bending …
heavier tension or gauge, longer scale length is a no for me.
I’m only listening on my iPhone, but the guitar sounded Scrill on its own, much brighter when you changed strings, (more sustain too!). insanely bright with the pick, but now I really get Brian May’s sound with Queen, he of the 6 pence and the Red special. Got to love a guy who only plays the same axe….for 50 years 😳. Good idea, dude now we know, I have the Schecter “Lamborghini” you reviewed years ago, beautiful guitar, SS Frets, love the compound radius
but I never play it. Mostly because my pick hand muting technique down tunes the lo E fine tuner on the Floyd, I like the idea of a trem, but I’ve very long arms I’ve got a Carvin with the Wilkinson, a strat copy with the Sophia, and the Floyd on the Schecter, all are 25.5, I just can’t play them well 🫤
The strat copy is an Ibanez was their cheapest line, $64 dollars at a yard sale I changed every metal part, 3 new PU’s but it still has original narrow frets, it’s a monster axe, but next year I hope to put jumbo frets on it, but they will be Dunlop nickel. I can never get back what I spent, but the wood the neck are great, I’ve customized all my guitars, it’s been fun to use what I learned from 30 years of guitar mags when I was too broke to buy guitars or gear. Love your channel!👍
Great video Max! I agree that there's not much difference in the strings but i wouldn't want to use them on my guitars without stainless frets. Fortunately I have both. I really don't like the sound with the stainless pick as good but I've used them before and the will quickly wear out nickel strings. 👍
Just to let your Firefly fans know, Guitars Garden has up now both a strat and MN EVH style guitars as well as LPs with fantasy design backs all on sale now ! All the best.
Tonally, I’m not sure there’s enough difference to make a difference (RIP Paul).
I can tell you from experience - back in the late 80’s I discovered stainless picks, and found that the one thing they did do was actually cut my nickel strings where I commonly picked (above the middle pickup on my Ibanez EX360). I would have chalked it up to coincidence, but it happened several times to me and several friends. After that, I switched to Dunlop Beryllium Copper picks. Same attack, no more broken strings.
"Too Much STAINLESS STEEL?" C'mon; Max,
How can there be too much high-grade metal used on a Metal Shred Guitar?
It's not possible.
That's like saying, Is my amp too loud? LOL.
Def did notice a difference with the steel pick. Big time. Had ear pods in so that might’ve helped. No difference between the 2 strings.
The Vola is the real star here. I am content with my Pacifica, but I might allow myself an upgrade at the modern-Strat position, and the Vola would be on the short list. Interesting video, though!
I have a few brass picks. They sound amazing... but chew up strings in no time flat! I have an old Tele with brass Tune-O-Matic bridges and brass nut. With a brass slide, it sounds like the Angels singing down from Heaven!
I have guitars with stainless steel frets, and I have tried the stainless steel strings and did not hear any substantial difference at all compared to nickel frets or regular slinky strings, however the S/S strings seemed stiffer when bending. I also tried pure nickel strings and they did sound a bit dull or more subtle than other strings. The S/S pick was definitely a noticeable difference though.
What....no stainless steel nut? Dude, you gotta re do this one. It wasn't the max(ha) amount of stainless steel. Also, what if you got Peter Steele to pla....wait. Too soon?
Do you ever do any guitar giveaways? Id like to start playing but i cant afford to get myself an electric guitar.
Stainless because I live in a monsoon hot wet summer... Or a cave...
But stainless for a tempered climate are for people that have stainfull brain😅
I've been a D'Addario guy for decades. I never tried their stainless-steel strings, but I have been using NYXLs for many years now. They last forever, never break, and stay new and "zingy" sounding for a long time. I have a stainless steel pick I made back around 1980 or so. Ita about .065" thick. I used it for a long time, but I found it rough on the strings and body and pickguard. More importantly, I was worried about becoming too dependent on it and not being able to replace it. I liked the weight and stiffness, but ended up just using regular picks I could always buy replacements for. For the past 6 years my go-to is Chicken Picks. They also last forever, even under extreme string scraping abuse. I would be curious to know here your stainless steel picks came from.
Going the extra mile for tone with the stainless steel wristwatch. RESPECT.
I didn't hear a difference between the strings - maybe if you had A/B'd them it would have been easier to compare. But for sure I heard the "squeaking" on the strings that came from using the steel pick
IMO I thought the D'Addario strings sounded warmer I also think the SS pick made a little difference. I have tried SS and other metal picks I am not a fan myself but I play with a very thin Dunlop pick. I really like their shark fin picks the most, I use D'Addario 9s XL nickle strings. Over the 50+ years I have been playing I have tried most big name brands and IMO the D'Addarios for me are the best. I could easily change to SS frets when one of my guitars needs new frets they are not crazy expensive but for now it will be nickle silver because I have about a pound of them I got from a guy who used to fix and build guitars who just stopped.
I played with a stainless-steel pick for a while, was great to play but I was tearing through strings so much faster, especially the wound ones. But as Max noted, it def provides a particular type of attack that can be a whole lot of fun.
Nice guitar, SS or otherwise! My 2 cents - I also can't hear this supposed annoying characteristic of stainless steel frets over standard ones, and do think that a restring is much preferable to a refret. Just imagine being apart from your #1 axe for a lengthy operation as it is undergoing surgery at the hands of a luthier, without any guarantee of a successful outcome. Some of these well-known guitar companies even argue against SS frets as though it's better to continue using the softer (cheaper?) stuff.
I don't hear a difference in the strings. I've never tried them because I am concerned about excessive fret wear with nickel frets.
Because I watch videos like yours, I have a hughes & kettner 15 dfx plugged to my computer, (on the clean channel ofcourse). For movies that's not great ,but it works for guitar
videos. I heard every difference clearly. Allthough the stainless steel strings sounded much better with the stainles steel pick, I think the regular strings had a warmer and
more natural tone to them. But I can imagine that some hard rock players might prefer the more crispy sound of the stainless steel strings. Well, we have the choice,
and that's a good thing! Thanks for the video, I didn't even know these strings existed.
They sound good, but sharp and unforgiving. If you are a sloppy shredder, it's gonna really show
I gave my stainless steel pick to George Lynch when we were in line to get into the Badlands gig at Hollywood Palace in 1989
The only thing I hear is when you're playing clean leads I can hear the metal pick scraping off the strings.
Metal picks effect the sound. I use to flatten Copper Cents and Nickle Nickles on a train track then make picks w a vice , a Fender pick , and a file. They sounded different, w the nickle sounding better. I want to try a silver dime, but the train is gone.
din't notice much change till the pick, to my ears none of it sounded good until you added the stainless pick then it went on . . that's the trick then, a stainless pick, what gauge? the rhythm sounded real good with the stainless pick too . . .
Maybe that's what I was herring. I forgot you said you were using a metal pick
I HAVE THE NEW FIREFLY PEGASUS & I BET YOU DO TOO!!! IT IS SO AWESOME!!!!
Wow, the stainless strings mellowed out some of the stainless frets draw backs. I'll have to try em. Stainless steel frets do sound sharper. Too sharp for me in some cases. I had a Warmouth Roast Maple one piece neck on a Baja Tele w stainless. Way too much pick and fret click clack, tho great sustain and tone after the noisey attack. I moved the neck to a Nashville Tele Pine body w a great sound, but w enough Pineiness to have slightly muddy highs that matched the stainless really well. My newest neck is w normal frets. For me Stainless need to be matched to the guitar sound, to liven up a duller sounding guitar. For a good sustaining, good sounding guitar , its way too much fret sound overwhelming the guitar sound
I heard a small difference between string sets, but only that the stainless strings were noisier, about the same difference as the 2 picks. Nit objectionable.
Do you have any guitars with flat wound strings? Love to hear your take in those
Well, I listened very carefully and there is no difference in the sound of the strings. But the stainless steel pick makes a big difference that I don't like, it doesn't matter if it is stainless, it is because it is a metal pick. I ground down a half dollar one time and it did the same thing. It was great on pick scrapes, sparks would fly. lol... Not really.
The steel strings were a bit more chimey on the clean for sure. It was way too much with the steel pick and it seemed to create a sort of feedback occasionally right on the pickup. Did not like it.
If you want a more percussive sound metal on metal is the way to go. It's almost like the clapper in a bell. There is no warm sound going this way. As far as wear, whichever is harder wins that battle. Most of the stainless steel used for guitar frets is made from a grade of stainless that is 300 on the Vickers scale or 30B on the Rockwell scale. Strings however are typically made from a grade of stainless steel that is roughly 2 1/2 times harder than the stainless-steel frets. This is done to maintain a relatively consistent tensile strength between stainless and ferrous steel strings.
Also, stainless is not magnetic so that adds another factor into the sound as they are not affected by the magnets in the pick-ups.
The only difference between regular grade steel and stainless is that stainless has higher chromium content.
As to the sound difference that Max is discussing, to me, in over 48 years of playing so many different guitars, so many different strings, stainless steel frets do indeed have that "tink tink" sound, and it's annoying to me. There is no balance of tone from bass to treble, for one thing.
Most importantly, while stainless frets can take a beating and last longer, most guitarists are not going to put in years of gigging and recording to warrant changing over to them, even if they are pros who have been at the game for a long time. And when it comes right down to it, most guitarists are not pros, they play for personal enjoyment, and doing some "weekend warrior" every so often. Those are the people who support the musical instrument industry, not pros.
The only way you can actually reap the sonic benefits of playing stainless steel strings on stainless steel frets with a stainless steel pick is if you get really good at pulling off the Blue Steel look, but beware, cuz Mugatu is always lurking nearby.
The stainless are much more Doom, the interference doubles ang have some kind of - scratch and + attack, so stainless is not bad a all.^^
The stainless steel puck was very jarring on the clean tone.
Have you ever tried aluminum strings?
I listened on my phone but I couldn't hear a difference except for when you used the metal pick.
I would say the stainless steel strings added a tiny bit of brightness in a good way. I don't think the stainless pick didn't seem to change anything at high gain, but clean, I really didn't like the way it sounded. It was just too bright and thin sounding to my taste. I do have a couple guitars that I might try the stainless strings on though. That is to say they already have stainless frets I feel like stainless strings won't just eat the frets down to nubs.
Slightly off topic but that Vola would be so much nicer without the black headstock
I'd like to know if the stainless strings keep there chimey sound longer or do they get dead sounding about the same time as the regular strings.
Haha I couldn't tell any difference with the strings either. Cool video!
The late great king Edward Van Halen played with the steel pick anybody wants to say thats cool can eat it
Stainless steel strings significantly improved the tone of my Fender Squire. And I never thought to use stainless steel strings, except that was a tone tip in the original 1980's Metal Method lesson, by Doug Marks. Can't argue with that!
I think the stainless steel pick just won't have the flexibility I want in a pick, and it would likely chew through my strings quite quickly. As an at home player, no need for stainless steel frets or strings, really.
Thats why i dont like Ibanez because their guitar seems to have a metallic sound l
The strings sounded slighty brighter to me. I use titanium strings myself with alot of titanium parts with some very hot pickups.
Are they high grade stainless steel. 100% are not attracted to magnets.
The stainless version of "these go to 11" but you also need a metal cone speaker. .
Very interesting topic but I agree I did not notice a difference with the strings or the pick.
Hard to get behind the clear guard when putting that many screw holes in such a nice top.
Sunday afternoon viewing sorted thanks Max 💪👍
Stainless steel strings, frets and pick you are going to get ting ting ting ting ting ting.
But can you play with stainless steel fingers, oh, man of steel?
Yea they do sound more tingy and stiff . Much brighter too.
After owning several with SS frets, I'm not a fan lol.
Max, you hair looks better like this instead of the hair Dryer thingy
Of course we were playing Stainless Steel Panther riffs in the demo, right?
The stainless pick had the most noticeable difference.
Is that the same metal pick EVH never used that he says caused his cancer?
Too much metal. That's why you wear that Ozzy t-shirt, ha, ha, ha.
Steve Albini of Big Black makes his picks from copper
BECAUSE THEY WERE SQUIRRELS!!!
yet steel panther does not use stainless steel strings or stainless steel picks because they prefer the stains.
@@atheistconservative6211 R.I.P Steve!
"...but what about the nut? What if we- oh... well, it's a bone nut." 🤷
The SS strings sound a bit thinner on the upper unwound strings.
If ONLY ONCE
Play a Stainless Steel Slide TOO
that guitar is one of the brightest guitars i have heard. looks great though.
I had a stainless steel refrigerator that got stained shit don't even makes sense
I like the stainless picks, they give better control
"Stained Steel"
Sounds like a nice name for a band.
Strings no difference. pick a tiny bit.
MEGA!! STAIN ON STAIN!!!!
No on steel pick