Stainless steel strings

[ShredHead]

I recently got a custom guitar with stainless steel frets, and i realized that now it is possible for me to use stainless steel strings, i know they make the tone of the guitar brighter, but i dont know if they will work well for my style of playing.

Will they bring out pinch harmonics as well as normal strings?

Do they have more tension for the same gauge of string?

Does their sound stay the same throughout their life, or do they deaden like normal strings?

Will they cause my stainless steel frets to wear down?

Thank you in advance for your input this will be very helpful for me.

 

[ShredHead]

come on guys, someone has to know something about this.

 

[GHWelles]

I recently got a custom guitar with stainless steel frets, and i realized that now it is possible for me to use stainless steel strings, i know they make the tone of the guitar brighter, but i dont know if they will work well for my style of playing.

Will they bring out pinch harmonics as well as normal strings?

Do they have more tension for the same gauge of string?

Does their sound stay the same throughout their life, or do they deaden like normal strings?

Will they cause my stainless steel frets to wear down?

Thank you in advance for your input this will be very helpful for me.

I will give it a shot:

Pinch harmonics? Same, maybe a little better because the strings are brighter.
Tension? Seems the same to me.
Sound? Seems to stay brighter and not deaden as much over the lifetime.
Wearing frets? If both strings and frets are stainless, your frets should hold up fine. I use stainless strings on regular frets without concern. 

Don't forget, it is only the bottom three wound strings that are different in stainless steel sets.

 

[Colin]

We have discussed stainless frets before, I think from memory I may have even asked a similar question. The general response was while the frets will last longer, the sound is very bright. Reminds me of when CDs where first introduced, nobody liked the sound, tell us your opinion when you get the guitar.

Colin

 

[ShredHead]

well you guys i tried a set out, and so far the results are AMAZING! The thing is i thought they would just be brighter, but really they do a lot more than just that. They have a ridiculously good piano tone when you play unplugged, and once you plug in and max out your overdrive they are stunning. The distorted sound has much more note definition and clarity which really helps during palm mutes, and the string retains part of the piano tone quality when you play open notes. also I think that stainless steel wound strings have less tension, because to me they feel a bit looser and slinkier, which helps on the Zakk Wylde esque pinch harmonics. I seriously think that i'm not gonna go back to nickel wound strings, simply because the sound of stainless steel is so much better, more sustain, better clarity, and less background noise when playing under heavy distortion. They probably will do more damage to nickel frets than regular nickel wound strings, but i have stainless steel frets, so no worries here.

Thanks for your input guys, stainless steel bullets by fender are the ****.

Cheers,
George