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One of my guitars need a refret, so I'm thinking about using one of these instead of regular nickel frets. Anybody using these, pros and cons?
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10-07-2016 12:07 PM
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This is a question that I have been pondering for my next refret. I have talked to some luthiers and they all say that EVO is way easier for them to work with than Stainless. Some even say that Stainless affects tone (makes it brighter). But all have told me that while EVO will outlast NS frets by a wide margin, they will not last as long as Stainless. And the EVO frets are gold. I am not sure that will work for me on any guitar that has nickel hardware.
Originally Posted by aleksandar
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Pros: Last a lot longer, look shinier (if you like shiny) Originally Posted by aleksandar
Cons: More expensive, Harder on tools so they will charge you extra for leveling crowning etc., more expensive, look shinier (if you don't like shiny)
I can't think of anything else, the tone is supposed to be indistinguishable in blind tests.
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I have some guitars with SS frets and some with nickel silver frets. I can't tell the difference in sound or feel. The factors at play to me are:
1. Longevity of frets. Nickel silver will need refretting after a few years of normal playing conditions. EVO less so. SS will likely never need refretting under normal playing conditions.
2. The opposite for strings.
3. Sweat acid has a negative effect on both strings and frets. SS frets are more resistant to those negative effects.
4. SS strings suck.
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To be clear, golden in colour. No actual gold in the alloy. Gold Evo Fretwire Originally Posted by Stringswinger
I don't think the colouring is so strong that it clashes with nickel hardware, until you really get close and examine the frets, but your mileage may vary.
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My Parker Flys had SS. I really, really, REALLY liked them.
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I'm regretting not ordering SS frets on my G&L ASAT (T-style). At the time, the options were vintage or medium jumbo sized wire, made from SS or nickel-silver. I wanted SS/vintage but got nickel-silver/medium-jumbo because (1) the SS was more expensive and (2) given that I was getting nickel-silver frets, getting vintage sized implied I would need to refret sooner.
And now, I see G&L only offers SS frets in medium jumbo. Too bad. SS + vintage is a good match for jazz.Last edited by BigDaddyLoveHandles; 10-07-2016 at 03:34 PM.
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I have SS frets on few of my shred type guitars, and they are the best IMHO. Very slippery for bends and they seem to never wear at all. If I could I'd have them on everything, no question. EVO frets I don't know that I've ever played, but I've found what I think is perfect so I'm not really looking either.
Jumbo SS frets are a lot like playing on a fully scalloped fretboard to me; just throwing that out there LOL.
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A friend has a 50's ES-150 that had been refretted with SS 6150 frets (full jumbos). They were the best feeling frets that I have ever played... Originally Posted by jim777
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There is almost nothing in this world that compares to the feeling of a medium jumbo stainless steel fret, polished down to a glass like finish.
I was told by a top flight luthier that since the Jescar frets came out, they prefer NOT to work with Stainless anymore.
I've never played a guitar using the EVO frets. Can they possibly achieve the level of polish that Stainless can?
JD
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I agree, they feel fantastic Originally Posted by Stringswinger
But like playing a scalloped board, if you tend to press really hard occasionally you can pop a note a few cents sharp without bending it. I guess in that regard they reward a lighter touch and a good left hand (if you are a righty player).
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Do you have a a set up guy you always use? Check in to see that he/she will work on SS frets and if so, how much extra $$. They can't use the same files they use on nickel frets. Not a deal breaker but something to consider before jumping in.
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Three of my Carvin guitars had medium jumbo stainless frets, and three of my current guitars have Jescar Evo gold fretwire (.104 x .047). Both are superior to standard nickel frets in terms of smoothness of feel and durability, and I also prefer this size to narrower & lower frets. The Carvin pickups were a bit bright sounding to my ears, so it's hard to say if the SS frets were a contrubution. I sold all the Carvins eventually, because I never bonded with the pickups.
I think the gold hue of the Jescar fretwire looks great on a guitar which sports gold hardware. I would not hesitate to go with stainless as an alternative, if one had concerns about nickel hardware not working with gold hue Jescar frets.
Gold Jescar Evo
Carvin Medium Jumbo Stainless
Last edited by helios; 10-08-2016 at 04:04 AM.
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I have guitars with Jescar EVO fretwire (all my acoustic flat tops and my Comins Zelig) and guitars with stainless steel fretwire (Buscarino Cabaret and Kirn Tele) Both are fantastic if dressed by a pro.
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I play a Buscarino Artisan with SS frets, and they feel fine. They've never needed polishing and I'm told I'll probably never need a refret.
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That Carvin is really pretty Originally Posted by helios
Three of my Carvin guitars had medium jumbo stainless frets, and three of my current guitars have Jescar Evo gold fretwire (.104 x .047). Both are superior to standard nickel frets in terms of smoothness of feel and durability, and I also prefer this size to narrower & lower frets. The Carvin pickups were a bit bright sounding to my ears, so it's hard to say if the SS frets were a contrubution. I sold all the Carvins eventually, because I never bonded with the pickups.
I think the gold hue of the Jescar fretwire looks great on a guitar which sports gold hardware. I would not hesitate to go with stainless as an alternative, if one had concerns about nickel harware not working with gold hue Jescar frets.
Gold Jescar Evo
Carvin Medium Jumbo Stainless
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First I have to tell you about my experience with guitars. I work on them as a day job. Estimated 10,000 guitars have gone through my hands over the past 6 years. I level, crown and polish each one. I also design and build my own hand made guitars. I have worked with every fret there is. In my opinion the gold Evo frets are by far smoother, slicker and have a much better feel.
As far as installing them. The difference I feel is crowning them it's just like playing them. Super smooth. Tool wear, I barely had to touch them to crown them. Polishing is super fast as well.
By far my favorite fret. Wear? Haven't had them in long enough yet.
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The common thing to say is no one can hear the difference but there can easily be a difference in what Bass Luthiers refer to as fret slap ...but here you can hear it on an Acoustic Guitar;
He talks a bit ...but demos it later.
Online recently - a guy demonstrated two horribly bright Strats ( lol ) and the one with stainless frets was also horribly bright with a little upper spike on top of the horrible brightness ..lol.
Some Guitars though - the Stainless frets are not an audible difference.
I personally think a refret on a really warm sounding Guitar - EVO is safer - just in case ...but I have a bias against bright sounding electric guitars
I don't have much experience with EVO -played a Gibson Les Paul Elite ( I think the name ) and disliked the Guitar - had some issues ...but the frets were nice ...felt a lot like polished Nickel....
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I don't think anybody ever accused my Andersen laminate of being too bright after I had Steve replace the frets with SS in 2015. It remains a dark-ish guitar.
I also once had a Buscarino jazz tele with stock SS frets - sounded very good. Never seemed too bright that I can recall.
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I honestly think that the difference in TONE is minimal and it also depends on the type/construction/wood choice of the guitar in question. On an acoustic instrument the difference will be even lesser IMHO since the interplay between neck, fingerboard, top/back and bridge is so much more complex compared to an electric guitar, where the pure mass of the body will transfer much more energy and "information" back into the string and to the pickup(s).
However, the FEEL of a super smooth stainless fret is def. a step forward and a major comfort factor. I own a Suhr Strat with a one-piece maple neck and SS frets and my one year old Tele build (Warmoth body/Musikraft 1-piece maple neck) also has SS frets - both guitars play so smoothly, feels so comfortable and intonate so precise that it's an absolute joy. So if your luthier is willing, then go ahead and have him do it with the SS version !
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Well, I ended up doing a SS refret on a 175 and did not like it. My expensive TI strings wore out faster (one way or another you pay) and I did hear a slight "ping" on the unwound strings. I was so unhappy about my choice that I sold the guitar (the new owner is quite happy, so all is fine, plus I had four 175's and really wanted to sell one anyway).
I do not care for the color of the EVO frets. I will stick with the old fashioned NS frets. They have worked just fine for me during the 51 years that I have been playing guitar and will work just fine for the guitar playing years that I have left. YMMV
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Yeah- I believe both of you.
Stainless sometimes has that 'artifact' subtle ping - and sometimes it's fine even on a dark sounding( in the best way) Guitar like coolvinny has .
EVO is far less likely to be audible - just based on unofficial ' polling' .
I think some Guitars probably "over-react" to Stainless many don't- could be that if they ( the frets ) are glued in or not etc etc.
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Not the best photo, but I love the look of "gold" frets on a guitar with gold hardware:
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Yes...they do look cool and somebody polished the heck out of those frets.
Beautiful work .
I bet they feel so smooth you want to use vibrato like Kriesberg does on his 175 ...ha.
He's so cool - sometimes he just does a full Clapton Vibrato on his 175 ..but remaining in 'Jazz mode ' and it fits perfectly .
The advantage of getting or specifying EVOs for me is they should behave a lot like Nickel Silver- but wear more like Stainless - wear is more of an issue for Players who use vibrato-
I need the frets ( and the Guitar to resonate enough to enable this - regardless of type of Guitar) to enable a note to audibly sustain like a quiet violin - lol- from finger vibrato alone on clean tones at audible or half or 1/4 volume .
Enabling clean legato sustain without adding gain .
Good Nickel Silver ( Jescar ) does this ...have not owned a Guitar with Stainless or EVO but there was a little more friction in a good way for me on the EVO - I don't like the color but that is very very minor to me.
Green frets are even OK.
If you have no idea what I am talking about here ( lol) - think of playing Jazz but adding some whole or double whole notes sometimes like Santana or Carlton but without the wide bends or distortion .Last edited by Robertkoa; 12-14-2018 at 08:54 AM.
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