guitar2005 Posted January 7, 2009 Report Posted January 7, 2009 (edited) I'd like to try stainless steel frets on my next build. I hear that they can be very hard to level and dress. Is it just a matter of having a litle more patience should I do to do a slight fret levelling/crowning on my neck? It seems that with the amount of playing I do and my playing style, I wear out the frets a lot. If I could reduce the number of times I have to re-dress the frets or re-fret, that would be great. Actually, my '97 Strat is in need of a re-fret in the next 12 months for sure. Edited January 7, 2009 by guitar2005 Quote
Ilikes2shred Posted January 7, 2009 Report Posted January 7, 2009 I've used Stainless once, and it's really not that bad. It's probably best to use a sharp file though. I'd highly recommend using ss. Quote
SwedishLuthier Posted January 8, 2009 Report Posted January 8, 2009 I have not tried SS frets on an actual neck. But I got a sample from a Japanese supplier with all their available sized pressed into something similar to a one piece maple neck. So out of curiosity I tried to level the frets with my usual tools. It was no problem at all. Just a tad more time to get them there but I didn't notice any significant wear on my fret files either so I don't think that it sound be to hard. But hopefully someone with more experience in this field will chip. Quote
Bmth Builder Posted January 8, 2009 Report Posted January 8, 2009 I heard it was best to use diamond files to work with stainless steel frets? Quote
SwedishLuthier Posted January 8, 2009 Report Posted January 8, 2009 To clarify: I use a straight aluminum beam whit 400 grit stick-ti type sandpaper to level the frets. It worked fine on the SS frets, but took slightly longer time to level with this. For crowning I use diamond crowning files Quote
Ilikes2shred Posted January 8, 2009 Report Posted January 8, 2009 I didn't use diamond files, and I had no problems, but they may work better... I wouldn't know. I just leveled the same way as SwedishLuthier and used a fine (as opposed to coarse) 3 corner file for crowning and dressing. I used a coarse bastard file to get them flush (on a bound board). Quote
doug Posted January 8, 2009 Report Posted January 8, 2009 I use all the same tools too without issues. Bend them properly though because they are not very forgiving... Yeah, it takes a while longer to work them too. Quote
guitar2005 Posted January 9, 2009 Author Report Posted January 9, 2009 I use all the same tools too without issues. Bend them properly though because they are not very forgiving... Yeah, it takes a while longer to work them too. Great! I think that I'll be trying this on my next build then. Does the Stew Mac fret nibbler (for bound fretboards) work well on SS frets? Quote
guitar2005 Posted January 9, 2009 Author Report Posted January 9, 2009 (edited) Another question - Where is a good place to get SS wire? Allied Lutherie has some and I was going to order some truss rods from them. Anyone else use their wire? Comments? Edited January 9, 2009 by guitar2005 Quote
Rick500 Posted January 9, 2009 Report Posted January 9, 2009 Jescar has stainless steel fret wire. One pound minimum order. Quote
guitar_player Posted January 10, 2009 Report Posted January 10, 2009 I have ss frets on 2 builds before, it's not too bad. It kind of ruined my fret cutters and it's harder to file flush but with a good file it's not a problem with a good file. Dressing and leveling is the same just takes a little longer. I bought mine from warmoth but it's $25 but you can get 2 guitars out of the amount they give you for one. I'd say go for it it would be worth the little extra work you put into it. Quote
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