How much does it cost to put stainless steel frets on a guitar?

Working on maple fingerboards cost more than rosewood; set necks more than removeable necks; bound necks more than unbound. Steel frets are very hard wearing, but are considerably more expensive to fit. Typically a guitar refret will cost between $200 and $400.

Does Fender use stainless steel frets?

Standard Nickel/Silver Fret Wire The materials are actually brass and nickel. The nomenclature is a carryover from the early 1900s, when fret makers actually used a nickel/silver alloy. Fender does not use stainless steel frets on any of it’s models.

Do stainless steel frets need to be polished?

Stainless Steel Pros: Impervious to oxidation and corrosion, stainless steel fret wire NEVER requires polishing! When you get a new guitar with stainless steels frets, the mirror shine and smooth-as-glass surface will remain for years, if not the life of the guitar. They are hard to bend, hard to file, hard to polish.

Why do people prefer nickel silver frets over stainless steel?

Stainless frets are hell on tools and generally eat them up at twice the rate of nickel silver. That, along with the generally conservative attitude of us backwards guitarists is the driving force behind nickel silver’s supremacy. Most established guitar builders don’t deal in refrets anyway.

Should I replace my frets with stainless steel wire?

The added installation and dressing cost of stainless could outweigh the savings in wear dressings in some cases. If you’re going through frets in 2 years though, I’m guessing it may be worth it to go stainless. Another option would be the EVO wire.

Does playing on nickel strings damage the frets on a guitar?

As those strings are nickel wound, they aren’t the strongest strings on the planet, and going up against the SS frets I expect they won’t last as long… purely due to the fact that nickel frets against nickel strings means that the ‘damage’ caused by playing will be pretty well evenly split between the frets and strings.

What are the pros and cons of SS frets?

If you have a guitar you love and you want a refret, just get them done with the SS frets… it’s almost like your finger strength has been increased! PROS: considerably longer fret life, bends are much smoother, vibrato is much easier, more responsive to your attack, they never get dull.