Stainless Steel vs Nickel Frets

Tone comparison between Nickel/Silver and Stainless Steel frets. **To skip straight to the sound clips, jump to 2:49.**
Both necks have identical specs *and* were cut from the exact same piece of Maple. The neck specs are: Maple shaft and fretboard, Vintage/Modern construction, Standard Thin back profile, 1-11/16" nut width, 22 frets. For the test, they are both bolted to same body, and recorded on subsequent days.

[jamesgretsch]

I hear a slight difference but not much. Both sound fine. I wouldn't really think the difference is enough to fret over.

[skyroads-obgn]

Here's a partial list of timestaps to make comparing more convenient.

Neck #1 (clean, neck pickup) - 2:53
Neck #2 (clean, neck pickup) - 3:12

Neck #1 (clean, neck & middle pickup) - 3:31
Neck #2 (clean, neck & middle pickup) - 3:47

Neck #1 (clean, bridge pickup) - 4:04
Neck #2 (clean, bridge pickup) - 4:30

Neck #1 (clean, middle pickup) - 4:57
Neck #2 (clean, middle pickup) - 5:12

Neck #1 (distortion, neck pickup) - 5:28
Neck #2 (distortion, neck pickup) - 5:43

[dickdastardly]

The most amazing thing about this comparison is he actually played the exact same thing on each neck!! I really love it when someone does a demo or a comparison video and they play two completely different pieces and turn around and say " you can really hear the difference between the two".

[PNWGuitar]

Stainless steel will last longer so I feel like that's better. The difference in tone is so minimal I dont have a preference

[stylestep]

Cut from the same piece of maple and bolted to the same guitar body. This was a thorough test, thanks for putting this together!

[MrSteney]

My dog can hear the difference. The little bastard wouldn't tell me which one was which tough.

[GSF]

Wow! Thanks a million for this info. I was very shocked when my ears heard the SS as warmer of the two (ever so slightly). This removed my inner struggle as I am about to refret my custom build with SS.

[JetpackSamurai]

I hear an audible difference in *some* passages but none in others.
Kudos, btw, on fully committing to the best possible A/B test conditions and the best possible video editing. Great idea, well done, well executed.

[Techoftomorrow]

I have bought over 50 builds from Spike, , , , You guys rock!!!

[stevebadachmusic]

i am surprised there was as much of a difference as i heard. not a lot, but i was expecting none.

[chocolatecookie]

I stopped at 7:22 before Aaron reveals which is which. I think neck 2 is the stainless steel frets. The sounds are more precise, more in a sharp triangle if you want to visualise it/more to the point and is more treble-ish. That's one of the reasons why I don't like stainless steel frets.
In some samples I hear more of a difference than in others.
In the beginning Aaron says he doesn't know which neck is which but how can he then distuingish it for himself while editing the video?
I now continue the video to see if I was right.
And yes! I was right! I am very happy 😀
And now I also know how they were able to distinguish the necks because they shot the videos in two different days using one neck a day.

[Alexander-iqyq]

We guitar players have a tendency to be scared of change. I do think there is a difference in tone, but I can guarantee you that if Fender used stainless steel in the beginning, and they tried to change to nickel, people would be up in arms claiming how inferior nickel is.

[jeffreybuckingham]

To my ear, neck 2 seemed to have a smidge more harmonic content when distorted. I did notice a bit more clarity in single notes as well. Great comparison!

[OSHomestead]

I have a guitar with stainless frets and a guitar with nickel frets. I will never have another guitar, custom built, without stainless frets. One other quick point...I have never broken a string on the guitar with stainless frets. Dan Owens from Grapeview, WA. Thank you for the demo.

[floridaguy]

I ordered a superwide neck with SS frets, less than two weeks ago. I am happy to hear that my preconceptions about the sound difference are confirmed. The stainless frets have a beautiful transparent clarity in every one of your comparisons. I think I will enjoy them and love the superwide.

[eskemeldgaardkrogh]

Another great and informative video! Ever since I got my first Warmoth neck with stainless steel frets, there was no way back for me: much smoother playing and after five years of HEAVY playing, the frets are still as good as new.
To me, the tonal difference is noticable unplugged, but pretty insignificant once plugged in - mind you, I obviously never did a test like yours. Thanks for helping hacks like me decide what to spend our money on... Stainless it is!

[peelarat-hijuelos]

To me nickel sounds better bottom end much fuller ...happy you did that test . Fret dressing easier on nickel.. good luck on fret dressing pulling out those stainless steel.

[Barry]

I've only owned one guitar with stainless frets, and I absolutely loved it. You can feel how much harder stainless frets are, especially when bending strings - much less friction and strings seem to last a bit longer since they're not shaving the frets down and creating sharp edges on them. As far as the difference in sound, geez man - who is really going to notice?

[guitarslinger]

GREAT video. I bought SS frets on a Warmoth once. I thought it was a waste since I don't wear frets down very much, plus it didn't feel any different to me. However, this vid is making me wonder. That SS neck sounded KILLER.

[billwarner]

Wow, it's AMAZING how much neck #2 jumps out!! MUCH more sparkle and sheen!! These videos are amazing, thanks for the great info!!