Official Luthiers Forum!

hey guys just wanted to know whats the difference between the spring steel slats and the stainless steel slats
is the spring steel more flexible ?

It is by far indeed. Also requires special treatment in use to prevent rusting and or staining the wood. Todd Stock gives an explanation about this in his awesome side bending video tute.

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Bill Hodge


One does not simply, own enough guitars!

There are advantages and disadvantages to both materials. I bend over 100 sets a year. I prefer stainless because of the staining and rust factor of the Spring steel. There are more than 1 kind of stainless. The alloys most used are in the 300 class. I use 302 . This is a tempered stainless. This will resist memory bend better than the softer alloys.
Flexibilty , well actually stainless is better. Spring steel is tempered and is harder than the stainless. With spring steel you have rusting ,and staining issued to contend with. Spring steel is sold in a blued form. This is a finish applied to the metal to help with rusting but trust me , it still rusts. The blue also can stain the heck out of lighter woods. Even if you remove the bluing , the higher iron ion content will migrate so you do need to use a barrier.
The only advantage I would see with the spring steel is for repeated cutaways. I use stainless for a number of reasons and have not had an issue with it. CF Martin also uses a tempered stainless. Both will work , you just have to decide what is in your best interest. They are the same price. I have yet to wear out a set of stainless and I have about 1000 bends on the one set.

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John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it