Innovation Week: For most of the electric guitar’s history, frets were something players simply accepted would wear out. Bend enough strings, play enough gigs and sooner or later those shiny crowns develop flat spots and divots. Then came stainless steel: harder, smoother and so durable that, for many players, they’ll never have to worry about another fret job.
Traditional fretwire is generally a copper/nickel alloy. It’s easy for a repair tech to cut, seat, level and crown but it eventually wears down. Stainless steel is considerably harder, which is great once it’s on the guitar but much tougher for a tech to work with.
This is not a new invention. The Parker Fly helped put stainless frets on the radar in the early ’90s, and boutique builders have offered them for years. What has changed is availability. The feature has steadily migrated from custom order spec sheets to regular production guitars, including Fender’s American Ultra Luxe models, ESP’s LTD Deluxe 1000 Series and, more recently, Epiphone’s $899 Futura range.
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So what do they actually feel like? When stainless frets are properly installed and polished, bends can feel exceptionally smooth, with less of the gritty drag that develops on softer, worn wire. Philip Sayce summed it up perfectly when I spoke with him: “It’s like putting on your skates and going out on a fresh sheet of ice. You can take these big, long strides.”
For a player whose vocabulary is built around huge bends and wide vibrato, that slippery feel is not a minor detail. Sayce said one of his older Strats once needed fretwork roughly every 18 months but with stainless steel frets, that interval stretched closer to five years. “Less wear and tear,” he said, “and I think they feel great.”
The shred crowd has reached a similar conclusion. Periphery’s Misha Mansoor highlighted the jumbo stainless steel frets on his signature Jackson So-Cal, describing its neck as “very easy to shred on.” The general consensus among many players is that bends feel “super-slippery” compared to the sometimes gritty feel of standard nickel frets.
There is, however, an important qualifier: material alone cannot rescue bad fretwork. Height, width, crown shape, fretboard radius and the quality of the level and polish all have a major effect on feel. A beautifully dressed set of nickel frets can play better than a mediocre stainless steel job. Stainless steel simply holds that polished surface much longer.
Then there’s the tone debate. Some players hear a slightly brighter, harder or more immediate attack while others hear no meaningful difference at all. Most players feel that the difference is subtle compared with swapping pickups, strings, picks or speakers. If you like the sound of your guitar now, stainless steel frets aren’t going to turn it into a different instrument.
The real drawback is the work involved. Stainless steel fret wire is tougher on cutters and files, takes longer to dress and can make a refret more expensive. It also demands an experienced hand, particularly on a bound fingerboard. But manufacturers know players are willing to pay for the result.
When ESP adopted stainless steel on their LTD Deluxe 1000 Series guitars, president and CEO Matt Masciandaro explained that it had become their customers’ number one request for a design update. Even budget brands like EART now come standard with stainless steel frets on all their guitars.
I can vouch for the appeal firsthand. A few years ago, I had my Les Paul refretted with jumbo stainless steel fret wire. The bends became noticeably smoother, almost effortless and the wear since then has been virtually nonexistent.
It didn’t change the guitar’s voice; it simply made it feel freshly dressed every time I picked it up. Theres little doubt that this guitar will need another fret job…at least in my lifetime.
That may be the real selling point here. Guitars are built to be played hard and for most of the guitar’s history it meant accepting that frets would eventually wear and need replacing every few years. Stainless steel doesn’t much change how a guitar sounds as it changes how long a guitar keeps feeling new. Smooth bends with nothing getting in the way between your hands and the note.
