darren wilson Posted May 26, 2004 Report Share Posted May 26, 2004 some parkers have stainless steel frets (most do) some have nickel frets at least ive seen them The only Parkers that have regular nickel-silver frets are the imported P series, which i don't really consider to be "true" Parkers. All of the Fly guitars and basses have stainless frets. I think the "black jumbo fretwire" is probably a typo. The original media release doesn't mention anything about black frets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LGM Guitars Posted May 26, 2004 Report Share Posted May 26, 2004 To start with: No, you can't annodize nickel or any steel for that matter. Only aluminum can be anodized. Black anodizing is actually a hardening process in aluminum but it wouldn't be hard enough for fretwire. Alodining is a hardening process for certain types of steel, but it produces a gold color, I haven't seen any other colors. Despite what many think, titanium is no harder to work with than stainless steel in it's annealed form. The difference is titanium will work harden very fast (although most stainless steels will work harden very fast as well) Titanium is a very strong material, but it's quality of strength comes in it's strength to weight ratio. This just simply means a much smaller piece can be used to do the same job as a piece of regular alloy steel. The properities of titanium are quite different than steel but as I say, in it's annealed form, it is no more difficult to work with. I have worked with titanium in the past, and found it actually easier to work with than some stainless steels as it doesn't feel gummy like many SS's do. Inconel is another incredibly strong material like titanium. Another positive quality for materials like titanium, inconel, astroloy etc, is that they are VERY corrosion resistant in highly acidic area's, this makes them very suitable for sour gas wells and other oil field applications. The high strength to low weight ration of titanium makes it perfect for aircraft and race cars. There is no reason titanium frets could not be made. There are only 2 reasons I can think of that they haven't ever been made. 1. Cost, titanium is an expensive product 2. Why bother? Nickle frets last a long time and now with the stainless steel frets how much harder do you really want fret wire? I think stainless feel and sound awful, it's the one thing I don't like about my parker, but to each their own. As for black frets, about the only thing I could think of that might work, but I really don't know how long it would last, (probably last pretty good) would be a properly auto claved high density graphite fret (carbon fiber) It is very wear resistant, and it can be molded, but I really don't know how it would work for frets, it's awesome for a nut, but I think frets might wear down to fast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devon Headen Posted May 26, 2004 Report Share Posted May 26, 2004 Is it possible to temper stainless steel? I've never worked with any alloys, just carbon steel, but if you can tempr stainless like carbon steel, You could get a light blue color, or straw. Nothing too stand outish, but it'd be cool to quench it at different temps all the way up so the color kinda fades into different colors. I doubt if stainless works that way though. Maybe you could get a manufacturer to make some really high carbon steel, and temper it hard (I don't think it'd break, except maybe during the fretting). Maybe even just harden it though that'd probably be too brittle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapbarstrat Posted May 26, 2004 Report Share Posted May 26, 2004 This fall when I buy some more fret-wire, I think they'll sell me the same gold wire that Warmoth sells, but I don't even know if I want the gold wire. Maybe you want the black frets on an ebony board ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devon Headen Posted May 26, 2004 Report Share Posted May 26, 2004 Gold being brass? I know you can still get those several places, but they just don't last. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reaper Posted May 26, 2004 Report Share Posted May 26, 2004 Gold being brass? I know you can still get those several places, but they just don't last. Here's the info from warmoth: "New Gold colored fret wire is a tough copper alloy without Nickel and the color is similar to 12k Gold in appearance. This is not the same brass color as the Warwick wire. This is not just a "plating". It is solid throughout. " Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asm Posted May 26, 2004 Author Report Share Posted May 26, 2004 Maybe you want the black frets on an ebony board ? yep. im ultra minimalist. i knew anodizing wouldnt work cause its so thin and only works on alum. i thought there might be some other dyeing methods i didnt know about. ill keep a lookout though. thx for all the input. t Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darren wilson Posted May 26, 2004 Report Share Posted May 26, 2004 Heh. You can't "dye" metal. You either coat it (via powder coating, anodizing, painting or oxidizing), or you make an alloy that has specific colour properties. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted May 26, 2004 Report Share Posted May 26, 2004 i was able to find this info page on black steel, although i'm still not sure if this is write.... but if it is... L and MR might be suitable to the guitar http://www.steel-n.com/esales/general/us/c...plate/type.html on side note, typing black metal into google just doesn't work no derek...that is just an industry term...down here we call it black iron...it just means raw,unpainted structural steel,as opposed to "red iron" which is just painted with red primer nothing really to do with the color,except that the thin oil they put on it to inhibit rust makes it look dark that is what i do for a living... that does seem to be a slightly different type...but it has pictures and it is not actually black Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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