Brass Frets and Aluminium Fretboards.

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dayl
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Brass Frets and Aluminium Fretboards.

Post by dayl »

I dont mean used together, but has anyone had any experience with either of these?

It looks like brass wears a little faster than nickel but not much faster, so it is still a viable option... reasonably anyway.

Aluminium at a softer grade (so it can be flexed by truss rod) has been used also but with graphite necks ? or full aluminium..something like that... mainly a problem with how aluminium vs wood reacts to temperature change being so different that the fretboard separates...

Something like that.

Has anyone here had any experience with either?

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Re: Brass Frets and Aluminium Fretboards.

Post by Kris »

pretty sure godgrinder has a few ali neck gats? EGC?

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Re: Brass Frets and Aluminium Fretboards.

Post by Kris »

brass would look cool,but i dont buy into these micro-micro "tone" differences.

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Re: Brass Frets and Aluminium Fretboards.

Post by Conway »

Stainless Steel FTW!
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Re: Brass Frets and Aluminium Fretboards.

Post by H671 »

This cheapo has brass frets & a brass bridge strip - looks the same as the frets.
The guitar is made in India and I would guess that brass was used because of being cheaper & not for any perceived
sonic advantage.
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Re: Brass Frets and Aluminium Fretboards.

Post by dayl »

Yeah, I like the feel of stainless over nickel.

Im not really sipping on the sonic advantages kool aid. I def feel the differences and find stainless a little more 'spanky?' for lack of a better description. Just wondering where brass would be. Does it feel ok?

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Re: Brass Frets and Aluminium Fretboards.

Post by sirvill »

Brass nuts and bridge saddles are more zingy, but dunno about the frets (guess so as they effectively become the nut when fretted don't they)

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Re: Brass Frets and Aluminium Fretboards.

Post by H671 »

My el cheapo has a zero fret, but I can't tell the difference between this & my other guitars. It might make a difference if you bend strings, which I don't.
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Re: Brass Frets and Aluminium Fretboards.

Post by calling card »

Poor tone in stainless, you to ought to hear the horror of it as a large vessel gets the sledge hammer or zings to the grinder.
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Re: Brass Frets and Aluminium Fretboards.

Post by willow13 »

calling card wrote:Poor tone in stainless,
EVH would disagree :mrgreen:
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Re: Brass Frets and Aluminium Fretboards.

Post by Single coil »

I'd like to go stainless frets, if only for longevity.
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Re: Brass Frets and Aluminium Fretboards.

Post by k1w1 »

I have 5 guitars with either brass frets or a brass saddle. All pre 1950 acoustics. On a '40s archtop I replaced the brass frets with nickel, they were well worn.

With the 1930s and '40s parlour acoustics I have replaced brass saddles with brass replacements and brass frets on a couple with brass. Just seemed right to restore to original. They give the smaller guitars a brighter presence.

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Re: Brass Frets and Aluminium Fretboards.

Post by Slowy »

H671 wrote:My el cheapo has a zero fret, but I can't tell the difference between this & my other guitars. It might make a difference if you bend strings, which I don't.
If I'm fingerpicking an electric and using a combination of open and fretted strings, a zero fret suddenly becomes a thing of wonder. For anything else, don't notice it.
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