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I just re-fretted one of my guitars (Tele style) with some stainless steel frets I got. First time using them. They are awesome! I have read a lot of conflicting reports about how easy/hard they are to work with and how they do or don't tear up your tools faster. I just thought I would give you all my thoughts on it.

They are a little harder to work with, I made sure my fret board was perfectly flat, pressed them in and they were almost level without any leveling. It took noticeably more force to snip the frets, but other than that, they worked almost the same. Probably took a little longer to level them. They were almost there from the start, so I didn't have to do much, but if you had to do a lot of leveling I could see how it would take a while. Filing/beveling the ends didn't really seem to take any more time. Crowning was a cinch as well with diamond crowning file. I normally start polishing after crowning with steel wool, but the steel wool didn't even do anything to the frets. I went straight to the dremel polishing wheel and they came up to a mirror finish and are super smooth.
Overall, not bad to work with and definitely worth the results. It might end up ruining the nippers sooner, but I plan to charge quite a bit more for SS so it shouldn't be a problem. They might not be ideal to use if you are new to fretting, but once you get good at fretting they aren't bad.

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John Thiessen
http://www.iszacguitars.com

Thanks for that info.
I took a look at your guitars on your web.
Nice!
A.

I've used them for 2 years now and love them. The only thing I do differently is to use a Dremel cutoff wheel as opposed to the nippers. Clients who have been using them have raved and can't believe that they show absolutely no wear after 1 year+.

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JJ
Napa, CA
http://www.DonohueGuitars.com

Thanks,


Dremel cutoff wheel, that is a great idea. I will try that next time. Another idea a friend had was to go buy some craftsman nippers and just take them back if they get ruined. It does get hard on the hands though cutting 22 frets, on both sides of the neck. I am really kicking myself for not trying these sooner.

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John Thiessen
http://www.iszacguitars.com