Stainless Steel Strings

[Stevepage]

Anybody use Stainless Steel's? I'm pretty curious about them and wonder how the differ from my usual nickle plated D'addario's and what the pros and cons are.

Anyone?

[dave_mc]

i used them for a while... they're quite bright-sounding, i think, i went back to nickel plated eventually. also, i think they might be harder than nickel, i could be wrong, but if you don't have stainless steel frets you could end up needing a refret/crown more frequently... certainly the only guitar i've ever worn frets down on, i was using stainless, but it's also possible that i was just playing it more as it was my only/main guitar for quite a while... :lol:

[Philly Q]

^

Yeah, I tried a couple of sets a long time ago, I think they were a bit brighter.  And I also heard they wear the frets quicker, which frightened me off.

[Stevepage]

I have stainless steel frets on my Carvin so it won't be much of a problem. They're quite hard to come by in shops, I went to every guitar shop in Denmark Street and Oxford Circus to find them, none of them had them in stock and a couple of the shops didn't even know what I was talking about.

[dave_mc]

^ ^  yeah, i only heard that long after i'd stopped using them. :lol: but then it kind of clicked that i'd needed a refret, so i thought there might be something to it. i mean, stainless steel frets are meant to be harder, so the strings should be too? that was my logic, anyway, and it's likely it's way off the mark... :lol:

^ oh, ok. only thing is, SS frets are meant to be brighter too? might be very bright if you aren't careful. and i'm guessing they still wear SS frets quicker than nickel-plated strings (but not as quick as nickel silver frets, i guess). up to you, really. might be worth a shot. why do you want to try them?

[the_bleeding]

brighter, and they chew up your frets. =/

i dont like waiting the week for recrowns, so i just stick to nickel strings.

[bobthemerciful]

I've been using Dean Markley Blue Steels for 19-odd years on the same guitar, which still doesn't need a refret after nearly 25 years. I love the brightness of em myself, never noticed increased fret wear.
I did train myself quite early on to never press harder than necessary tho which has probably helped. I have met people in the past that have needed a refret after 3 months!! Think he thought he was a gorilla or summat. Always had tuning problems cos he'd just push em out of tune  :?.
I would say, so long as your not using 11's or thicker and you don't hold on like grim death you probably won't notice more wear. Whether you like the sound or not is entirely up to your own ears, tho.

PS My Aria doesn't have stainless frets in case you wondered.  :D

[Roobubba]

I would say, so long as your not using 11's or thicker and you don't hold on like grim death you probably won't notice more wear.

I'll definitely not be trying them, then! :D

[maverickf1jockey]

I don't really like anything less than an .011 set...