Stainless or EVO

[Ethan Setiawan]

Hey Cafe people, do you prefer stainless steel or EVO fretwire? I'm going through my normal fretwire like no one's business. I've heard that they can change tone as well as affect string life negatively. Does anyone have experience comparing the two?

[Nashville]

http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/sh...s-worn-already

http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/sh...highlight=gold

[mandobassman]

A friend of mine refretted his JBovier F5 Special with stainless and claims it improved the sound dramatically. I haven't been able to verify that myself but he's a veteran player that knows what he's talking about. One thing about stainless is, although I understand it's a pain to install, it will most likely be the last fret job you'll need. I've also heard very good things about EVO, but don't personally know anyone that has used it. I do know it much easier to install and still lasts a good long time.

[Ron McMillan]

I have EVO Gold 37080 on my no-name F5, and it is wonderful. I was meant to have the same on my custom A4, but the luthier doing the job let me down, and I have a smaller gauge of EVO on that mandolin, which is not nearly so sweet on the fingers. But yes, they last forever. Highly recommended.

[Steve Sorensen]

Stainless frets are amazing but destroy tools as you work 'em.

EVO frets are the best of all possible worlds - easy to work, beautiful looking, AND long-lasting. Just a fantastic innovation all-around.

Steve

[Andy Miller]

Don't worry about string life being affected by your fret material. Change your strings regularly so they sound good and play in tune. . .

Either stainless or EVO is harder than regular fret wire, which may mean a little less damping of sound, which may mean a little harder/brighter attack is available to the player. It's probably going to be a very subtle difference to most players, though.

I also believe a lot of reports of stainless/EVO refrets sounding different comes from other things that happen during a refret. For example if you have an instrument where the frets aren't sealed with glue, and you refret it and seal it as is very commonly done, that will probably affect the sound as much or more than choice of wire.

I've now done enough stainless and EVO refrets that it comes down to color for me. I charge more for stainless because it takes me more time, but on my own instruments I've just been going with whichever one matches the other hardware.

[bart mcneil]

Stainless steel will improve tone over old dead strings, but so will any other quality new string. My understanding is that the installation will run abour $100 more than standard wire. If money is not an object then go for it. Or you can take the $100 and buy another well used but nice sounding mando with it.

[Folkmusician.com]

There is a lot of mention of the wear and tear on tools. This is real and when you start ruining specialty files and clippers (some of which you may have hand made), the cost can add up quick!

Up next is the labor. It is much more difficult to file fret ends and do the final dressing.

Now the not so obvious difficulty, is installing the frets. The stainless frets do not contour to the fingerboard the way standard nickel silver frets do. Nickel tends to hold the shape and radius of the board. If you haven't fretted an instrument, frets need a heavier radius than the fingerboard. As the fret is driven in, this brings the tangs in at an angle and helps hold the fret down. It also keeps the ends from popping up later. With softer fret material, I give it an exaggerated radius and I also like to overbend the ends just a bit. This will allow the fret to snug down nicely and stay put. Stainless is springy and needs to match the contour of the fingerboard more closely and potentially will not stay in as well. Stainless is also more likely to twist in the fret slot when driven in, causing it to chip the slot. All of these things can be dealt with, but this is why stainless is a much bigger ordeal than it appears on the surface.

Not only is it more difficult and time consuming to install, there is also more potential for a poorly done refret if adjustments are not made accordingly.

My last thought on the matter is that many refrets are a result of needing to fix a neck issue and not just worn frets, in fact this is the case with most of the refrets I do. There are usually a few worn frets, but also a hump at the neck joint, or a slight twist. In these cases, the frets need to be removed to level the fingerboard. Stainless will not help with this.

I believe there are some cases that stainless makes sense, just not all.

[Dale Ludewig]

Another vote here for EVO. Once I started using it, it's become pretty much the standard unless someone really wants something else. Both on mandolins and guitars. And the FW74 size just feels great. As far as affecting the sound, I think what Andy said is spot on.

[multidon]

I understand the tool wear with stainless, but still waiting for a pro to justify the same with EVO.

[terzinator]

I've refretted my Collings MT twice.

The first refret was with the standard nickel-silver fare (or whatever it is), and a year later I was back at my luthier with the same symptoms.

So I insisted on EVO for the second one (this is two years ago now) and I see no visible wear in the frets.

Totally sold on the stuff.

[rfloyd]

There is a lot of mention of the wear and tear on tools. This is real and when you start ruining specialty files and clippers (some of which you may have hand made), the cost can add up quick!

Not only is it more difficult and time consuming to install, there is also more potential for a poorly done refret if adjustments are not made accordingly.

I believe there are some cases that stainless makes sense, just not all.

Robert, thanks for the thorough reply re Stainless. Are there also difficulties with EVO, or is it just a matter of the higher price of the fret wire?

[terzinator]

re: price...

if you look here:

https://www.jescar.com/product-categ.../25-piece-set/

for a 25-piece set (enough to do a guitar or mandolin),

Nickel/Silver is $10
Stainless is $15
EVO is $20

Negligible difference. EVO is well worth it, IMO.

See Steve Sorensen's post above about working with EVO. No downside, from what I can see.

[Rolfe]

I use EVO exclusively and have for several years.