# stainless steel frets



## TonyD (Jan 11, 2010)

I had a customer ask about refretting a strat with stainless steel. After doing some research it seems that this is not a task for the faint of heart. Just wondering if anyone has had experience working with SS frets and your impressions compared to nickel?


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## Lab123 (May 27, 2007)

Tony..I haven't used them yet but have done some reading on stainless steel...Some builders love em others hate em....Like everything else I guess...One thing I do know is stainless is very hard on tools..end cutters especially...I am going to try them someday...Let us know how you make out with them...Larry


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## ajcoholic (Feb 5, 2006)

I havnt used ss fret wire yet... however I have worked a lot with stainless steel on my lathe and in sheet form.

The stuff isnt so much "hard" but tough, if that makes sense. In terms of filing, cutting and polishing it is certainly much "harder" to do, and takes more time for sure.

Its something I would like to try in the future...

AJC


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## Hamstrung (Sep 21, 2007)

You might also look into a new alloy for fret wire called "Evo". It falls somewhere between nickel and SS in hardness and is gold in colour which could be a good or a bad thing depending on taste.

Here's some pricing from LMI. Not much more expensive than nickel/silver

http://www.lmii.com/carttwo/thirdproducts.asp?NameProdHeader=+Fretwire


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## TonyD (Jan 11, 2010)

thanks guys. I think I will experiment on one of my own guitars before attempting an install for anyone else. The fellow with the strat was saying his regular tech refused the job! It seems it requires more time, wear on the tools and is prone to springback. I guess there's only one way to find out! I might get around to a test in the summer but I'll post an update when I do. The Evo frets sound interesting. I don't know if gold fretwire will work on most guitars but definately with gold hardware it would be a great choice.


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## House Guitars (Jan 4, 2010)

I have not had any personal experience with stainless but have used the gold EVO wire a lot. If you are using any wire harder than standard nickle/silver I would highly recommend using diamond tools for leveling and crowning. I use diamond tools from StewMac and have found that they stand up to the Evo really good. If you are going to use regular files on stainless then plan on going through a set of new files every job or two. I've heard that is about all they can handle. Just make sure you factor in additional cost for time and files if you are going to end up having to get new ones after.

Josh


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## gtract (Jan 18, 2008)

Hi Tony. Don't know if this is stilli relevant, but I've been using stainless for about 2 years. It's stiffer, obviously, and has a lot more springback. If you normally over radius your frets to get  thet extra "bite", do it far less or not at all. It's best to use a fret bender rather than pliers, as kinks are pretty difficult to remove. I use levellling bars faced with 180- 220 grit machinist's abrasive rather than files, so chatter isn't a problem. Lasts one dress(!). Bevelling the ends is like rowing a boat across the Atlantic, but the files survive, and it builds character. For crowning, I use diamond files, which do a real nice job, no chatter. Polishing is normal, it won't come to the super high gloss of nickel silver. It is harder to work with, seems to have a very slight effect on the tone, and is a joy to play on. Bends are like butter. Allparts has a nice selection. Have fun.
Dave


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## Hypno Toad (Aug 1, 2009)

Does anyone know where I could buy brass fretwire?


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## TonyD (Jan 11, 2010)

gtract said:


> Hi Tony. Don't know if this is stilli relevant, but I've been using stainless for about 2 years. It's stiffer, obviously, and has a lot more springback. If you normally over radius your frets to get thet extra "bite", do it far less or not at all. It's best to use a fret bender rather than pliers, as kinks are pretty difficult to remove. I use levellling bars faced with 180- 220 grit machinist's abrasive rather than files, so chatter isn't a problem. Lasts one dress(!). Bevelling the ends is like rowing a boat across the Atlantic, but the files survive, and it builds character. For crowning, I use diamond files, which do a real nice job, no chatter. Polishing is normal, it won't come to the super high gloss of nickel silver. It is harder to work with, seems to have a very slight effect on the tone, and is a joy to play on. Bends are like butter. Allparts has a nice selection. Have fun.
> Dave


thanks Dave. that's some good advice. I guess it's important to get the fretwire as close to the neck radius as possible for a good seat.
Thanks!
T


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## House Guitars (Jan 4, 2010)

Hypno Toad said:


> Does anyone know where I could buy brass fretwire?


I'm not sure where to get plain brass wire, but it is going to be pretty soft for use on a guitar. The gold EVO wire from lmii.com is a brass allow and is between standard nickel/silver and stainless for hardness.

Josh


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## gtract (Jan 18, 2008)

Glad I could help. Yes, the radius match is important. It gets interesting on older necks that have a sort of falloff at the edges of the board, so that you're dealing with one radius on most of the board, and a tighter one at the edges. To keep the ends down on those, I over bend the ends a tiny bit, peen the back of the tang with a modified Warrington hammer and glue the ends. How's the repair scene out there? I was thinking of moving there a couple of years ago, but there didn't seem to be much work. Take care.
Dave.


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