10 BEST Guitars with Stainless Steel Frets (Buying Guide Included!)

When it comes to choosing the kind of fret for your guitar, you must be well informed about all the factors that account for the best guitar with proper functionalities.

If you are a pro and don’t want to compromise on the versatility and the quality of sound your guitar produces, then stainless steel fret will be the right one for you.

They are known across the world for their intensive durable nature and are used widely in most guitars today. 

Although stainless steel frets are more expensive than the silver nickel ones, they are still used in the majority of the guitars being manufactured today.

With stainless steel and its proper maintenance, your guitar might not need refretting ever again. If you are looking for some of the best working stainless steel fret guitars, here are our 10 top picks.

1. Schecter 6 String Sun Valley SS – FR Electric Guitar

The Schecter 6 String Sun Valley SS – FR Electric Guitar is a Strat-style modified shredder. With a mahogany body and stainless steel fret, the Schecter 6 String Sun Valley SS features a shiny finish in sea foam color.

Both the fretboard and the neck of the guitar are made of maple wood and contain 24 large-sized stainless steel frets. These frets are of incredible quality and will last a lifetime with considerable care and attention from the users.  

This guitar is equipped with two pickups from the EMG Retro Active Hot 70 Humbucker series.

With a ceramic-based bridge pickup and an El Nicole 5 neck pickup, this FR Electric Guitar truly is a marvel. For this reason, it comes to the top of the list in Schecter guitars with stainless steel frets. 

Some of the benefits of this stainless steel fretted Schecter guitar is that it is the best suitable material for metal, which gives a visually appealing look to the instrument.

This guitar has pickups of extraordinary quality and has a solid construction. In a nutshell, if you want a guitar that provides a reasonable blend between the retro and the modern era, this guitar is all about it. Use it in any way that you like, and its durable steel frets will not utter a word.

2. Ibanez AZ242 Premium Electric Guitar

When it comes to the Ibanez guitar with stainless steel frets, model AZ242 is one of the top-ranked. The Ibanez AZ242 Premium Electric Guitar is an electric guitar belonging to the Ibanez AZ series.

This electric guitar features a matte sea green finish with an American basswood body. It has a heat-treated nack constructed with a maple body. 

The heat treatment of the next area of the guitar gives it a very durable and resistant quality.

The neck area of this guitar is a little bit better than the standard Ibanez neck size, which gives the user more control over their handling.

There are 24 stainless steel jumbo-size frets in this guitar, and they are extremely durable because of the material of their frets.

The exclusive feature of the guitars in the AZ series is that they are equipped with the Seymour Duncan Hyperion pickups. The versatility in the sound of this guitar comes from the fact that it has a 5-way pickup selector. 

Let us now conclusively look at some of the pros and cons of this guitar. After all, that is what you are going to need when you need to make a purchase.

The comfortable and slightly larger neck profile allows the user to play with the guitar more conveniently. It is lightweight and has a durable construction.

Moreover, the versatile sound feature of this guitar is just another plus for the buyers. Looking at the cons of this guitar, you may find it a bit more expensive than other guitars with stainless steel frets, such as the Schecter guitars.

However, if you are really looking forward for an instrument that is good for heavy rock and roll kind of music, the Ibanez AZ series is going to be a good choice.

3. Cort X 700 DUALITY AVB X Series Electric Guitar

The Cort X 700 DUALITY AVB X Series Electric Guitar is very suitable and efficient. The first unique thing about this guitar is that it features a modern flamed top underneath, which lies a solid swamp ash body.

If we talk about the fretboard, it consists of 24 stainless steel frets, and the fretboard itself is made of ebony.

The use of ebony in this fretboard ensures hard protection in comparison with the usual rosewood fretboards, which are very weak and look wrecked in appearance. 

Moreover, the Cort X 700 DUALITY AVB X Series Electric guitar is equipped with the Seymour Duncan TB4 bridge Humbucker and the SH2N neck Humbucker.

The 5-way pickup enables you to run a wide range of tones, going from shallow and silent blues and jazz to hard bangs of rock music.

 Although this guitar’s price is quite low compared with other high-end guitars such as Ibanez Prestige, it literally gives them good competition with its usability and affordable price.

The custom layout and the beautiful construction of the fretwork featuring 24 solid frets is a bonus for all the owners, who can now play with a versatile range of sounds. 

The only con of this guitar is that the tuning requires adjustments every once in a while. Although it is not as time-consuming as it sounds, it still gives concern to its potential buyers.

4. EART SSS Single Coil Electric Guitar

The EART SSS Single Coil Electric Guitar is an ancient-style Strat electric guitar. With a mahogany body, it has a blue satin finish and contains a very prominent wood grainy texture, which gives the guitar body a very old-school-like look.

The fretboard is made of rosewood and features three single coil ceramic pickups. As it has already been discussed, the use of stainless steel frets in this guitar gives it a very neat look and contrasts very well with the grainy textured body of the guitar.

Compared to some of the other Strat-style guitars, such as the Schecter 6 String Sun Valley SS, this guitar produces a warmer and more attacking sound.

The balance between the tone and the chord volumes is good, and they have sufficient clarity in their tones. 

This guitar’s sufficient overall features make it very affordable to many new guitarists. The mahogany body contributes well enough to provide an appealing appearance, and the sound output is quite good for its price.

There is no buzzing sound at all, which is a major concern of buyers at times. While everything else is good in this guitar, and the price is really within everybody’s reach, you may witness a few finishing flaws in the guitar’s body.

This is something that has been reported by a few owners; however, it is, of course, not necessary that every user faces the same issue with this guitar. 

5. Suhr Standard Plus Electric Guitar

If you are talking about some unmatched craftsmanship in a guitar, then we have got a name that just fits your description. The Suhr Standard Plus Electric Guitar is made of a basswood body and a roasted maple neck.

With its C-shaped maple neck profile, the guitar offers an appealing look and offers a good sense of playability. Of course, the stainless steel frets in the fretboard add a lot of genuinity and durability to the instrument. 

This guitar is equipped with two V60 pickups, which offer sufficient gains in low frequencies and sound output. Moreover, the guitar features a 5-way pickup which further adds to the versatile usability of the guitar. 

Some of the main advantages of this guitar include an incredible quality of fretboard having stainless steel guitar frets that are never going to need refretting. You are going to enjoy a versatile sound output, with which you can play very comfortably. 

Having said all that, I must mention that it is far more expensive than many other Strat-style guitars you will find at an affordable rate in the market.

So, if you really want to make a good investment by buying this guitar, you may have to use a bit of your savings. Be assured that you are not going to regret it. 

6. Suhr Modern Plus Electric Guitar

Although there is no major difference between the Suhr Modern Plus Electric Guitar and the Suhr Standard Plus Guitar, it is still worth knowing so that you are informed of the minor discrepancies.

It can be said that the former one is just an upgraded version of the latter, with more features and, of course, a greater price. 

The Suhr Modern Plus Electric Guitar has a basswood body with a roasted maple neck. It offers a very shiny, slim, and comfortable neck profile.

In fact, this guitar’s sleek and convenient neck profile is what it is famous for in most guitar-related conversations.

While using this guitar, you are not going to feel as if your hand is aching just by holding the guitar’s neck, as the fretboard is made very carefully considering the uninterrupted use by the musicians.

The stainless steel frets are entrenched just perfectly in the fretboard and offer a very decent look to the guitar.

Talking about the harmonics, this guitar is really good at what it does. It is mid-focused and has clear mids, highs, and lows. It is equipped with the V60LP pickups, which are of good quality. 

The well-intonated structure of the pickups gives the guitar an edge when users are considering buying this guitar. With a good layout and a beautiful maple wood fretboard, this guitar may be the next addition to your home studio. 

7. Fender American Ultra Luxe Telecaster

When it comes to Fender, you should know that you are going to get a good quality guitar, as the company does not compromise on its quality.

The Fender American Ultra luxe Telecaster offers sufficient playability to its users and excellent attention to detail in its manufacturing process. 

Although the company uses nickel silver as its signature material for guitar frets, it still offers some models with stainless steel guitar frets, and this model is just one of the best you will get. 

If you are thinking of purchasing this guitar, you should know that although it has good pickups, it still lacks in terms of versatility.

You may not be able to run a lot of sounds, as the guitar’s capability is quite limited in that. Moreover, you are going to enjoy playing chords more on these guitars than the solos. 

The good part about this guitar is that it is good enough for use by most hand sizes. This is one of the most common problems people run into when they can’t enjoy playing the guitar because their hand is either too large or too small to handle the fretboard.

However, that issue is not going to be engendered here. The neck profile, scale size, fretboard radius, and nut width are just perfect for use by most adult hand sizes. 

8. The Schechter E-1 FR S Special Edition

If you are looking for a good quality guitar as a beginner at an affordable price, then the Schechter E-1 FR S Special Edition guitar is going to work well for you.

Although it prefers more chords than solos, you should not have much trouble with it as there is still a lot more to experiment and play with. 

For a complete beginner, this guitar is a good option because it combines the best features of nut width, fretboard, and bridge type for you to have to good experience on your way up in the musical world. 

9. Jackson USA Signature Jeff Loomis Kelly

Jackson USA Signature Jeff Loomis Kelly is yet another best guitar, especially for newbies who want a well-performing guitar at a reasonable rate.

The fretboard size is just good enough for you to experiment with the music conveniently, and the neck profile is amazing.

It is manufactured in the USA, which is a good indicator for you to evaluate the quality and credibility of this guitar.

10. The Solar E1.6 Priestess

The Solar E1.6 is an electric guitar manufactured in Indonesia. It is constructed keeping the affordability of users in mind, and therefore, it comes at the lowest price. If you are a lover of hard rock and roll music, then you are going to love using this guitar.

Do stainless steel frets affect tone?

If you compare stainless steel guitar frets with nickel silver guitar frets, there is not much difference between the kind of tones they offer. 

However, since the body of a guitar with a stainless steel fret is usually harder than the nickel silver fret guitar, you may notice a bit brighter tone in the former guitar. 

A minor frequency difference is also prevalent as the stainless steel frets provide extra definition in the higher frequency sounds.

Although these differences are not distinguishable by many, some guitar enthusiasts like to control every aspect of their guitars, including the material of their fretboards.

How long do stainless steel frets last?

The amount of time your stainless steel frets will last depend upon some factors, which include the quality of the frets, the effort put in during the installation process, and the overall finishing of the fretboard. 

For instance, if the finishing of your fretboard is not very good, it is more likely that the strings will move out of place and cause a buzzing sound in the fretboard. 

Moreover, extra care is required while installing the frets, especially if you want a refret of your guitar.

The effort needs to be incredible; otherwise, your experience with stainless steel fret guitars may not be as good as you would want them to be.

What guitars come with stainless steel frets?

A lot of guitars now come with stainless steel frets. If you are looking for a stainless steel fret guitar, you should be able to find it in almost every company. 

Some of the top-notch companies manufacturing high-end stainless steel fret guitars include Ibanez, Suhr, Schecter, Jackson guitars, Charvel, Conklin, and Kiesel.

If you are original EVH Wolfgang guitar with stainless steel frets, it should not be a problem as they are now available at almost every other musical instruments store. 

Some of the good quality guitars with stainless steel frets in an affordable range are:

1. Suhr Modern Plus
2. Suhr Standard Plus
3. Balaguer Hyperion Select Offset Guitar

Does Fender use stainless steel frets?

Although Fender is not a great fan of Stainless steel frets, you will only be able to get a few models with SS configuration, such as the Eric Johnson Model or some of the guitars in his own brand called the Van Halen. 

The reason Fender does not use stainless steel frets in most of his guitar is that the nickel silver frets is the main component of the sound that Fender is famous for.

It can be said that nickel silver serves as the signature material for guitars manufactured by the Fender Corporation. Therefore, the company has not drifted away from nickel silver to keep its fame and legacy alive.

Are stainless steel frets better?

The answer to this question is more or less subjective because it relies upon personal preferences; which frets would you like more than the other?

However, some of the benefits of stainless steel frets are that they are brighter and shinier than any other material you will ever find, and they produce a sharp attacking sound.

They have smoother bends and vibrato and last for a long time under proper care and maintenance. 

On the other hand, the main disadvantage of stainless steel frets is that any minor mistake during their installation can be a disaster for the optimal functioning of your guitar.

Therefore, proper care needs to be ensured while installing the SS frets in the guitar.

Do stainless steel frets sound different?

Undoubtedly, the stainless steel frets sound way different when compared with the nickel silver frets.

The main difference lies in the gain of the frequencies. While stainless steel has a better and a higher gain, nickel silver offers a more shrill sound. 

Stainless steel has smoother vibrato and sharp attacking sounds, which definitely enhances the user experience when mixing different kinds of sounds.

Although these differences may not be distinguishable to a newbie, they will be highly recognizable to a professional musician.

Conclusion

Conclusively, stainless steel frets are an incredible choice, especially if you are looking for a long-term solution for your frets. Stainless steel guitar frets do not ever require refretting if you take good care of your guitar.

For your convenience, we have listed down the best ten guitars with stainless steel guitar frets.

Frequently Asked Questions