Stainless steel frets and quarter sawn necks

[diddly]

Ive had a look round the forums here and theres not an awful lot of info.Im currently saving up for a legacy rmc and I am considering these 2 options.Mostly for longevity and extra tuning stability.I do a lot of session work and have been using a musicman that just will not stay in tune.I had a comanche that could not be put out of tune(not sure if it was 1/4 sawn though), so i know g&l's are a lot more stable in that department.Stainless steel frets are basically so I dont have to refret the guitar.I dont put too much trust in a refret being done to the same standard as it comes out of the factory(ive seen some botch jobs on nice axes over the years),plus its one less thing to worry about in the future.Pay now and not have to deal with it ever kind of thing.Just curious if there are any tonal differences with either of these options?Ive read SS frets make guitars brighter and 1/4 sawn necks too.Now this is just internet chitter chatter, so who knows.I just dont want to order a super bright axe and regret it.Really gonna go all in on this build and am looking for longevity and tuning stability over a quilted top at the min,but dont wanna make silly choices either as resale on this will be less than 50% of what i pay for it unfortunatley.If i get this right i wont be selling it ever hopefully.Thanks in advance

[Fumble fingers]

I have two from the factory with quartesawn and stainless steel frets , they are close in sound , maybe a slight more ring but tone doesn't change much ... bends sure are easier and they stay in tune better for sure , I say go for it and I wouldn't custom order another without them myself

[diddly]

Ya im hearing a lot of great things about both.Was just paranoid about making the guitar too bright cos I cant return a custom order and g&Ls really dont hold any value in ireland.So its definitely not brighter just rings out better you would say?

[Shuko]

I've had a few guitars with stainless steel frets and found them all to make the guitars in question sound way too metallic.. they all had a
an overly bright, hard, brittle cold tone that left me equally cold. I sold the guitar a week later. They are also murder if you have to have a
fret dress done as the hardness of the steel wrecked my guitar luthiers files quick time. He hated doing it..

[Nedmundo]

I have no experience with stainless steel frets, but I have two basses with quartersawn necks. I can feel the extra rigidity when playing hard, and they seem to add a little "focus" to the tone, and possibly some sustain. It's not a significant effect, and probably varies from neck to neck, but I like it. Regardless of any tonal effect, I think the extra rigidity is a nice benefit, especially on my five-string M-2500. If I order another G&L five, I'll specify quartersawn. It was much more stable than the neck on my old MIA Fender Jazz V.

But, apart from my experience with those five-string basses, the quartersawn necks don't seem to have any more tuning stability than some of my other basses and guitars, so I'm not sure it's worth it for that reason. And I live in Philadelphia, with its wide-ranging climate. My 2015 Comanche and 2003 Fender Jazz have phenomenal tuning stability, and both have flatsawn necks (though the Fender bass also has graphite reinforcement rods). Maybe quartersawn necks have better tuning stability on average, but I think wood quality, build quality, and hardware play significant roles too, and G&Ls are excellent in those respects.

[diddly]

Mmmmmm 2 differing opinions on the stainless steel frets.Not what i wanna hear haha.I guess there is no risk if i dont get them but ill have to get them dressed at some stage.Common enough situation to be in but one i would like to avoid.Always seems to be a personal thing.I really cant try b4 i buy though so could end up regretting it if the tone is too sharp and metallic.That one sound i really do not want.Shuko,are you sure it was the frets causing this issue and not something else?As for 1/4 sawn necks i think ill go ahead with that as I did have an eric johnson strat that was 1/4 sawn and it did ring out like a bell.A lot more than any other strat i tried that day.Ive never had tuning issues on the comanche i owned.That was rock solid.Plus the 1/4 sawn isnt too much of an expense,SS frets are.Maybe I could get a flamed finish then too ha.Now another question,would that add brightness to the tone?Im very weary of having on overly bright guitar as the musicman im playing at the minute is a bit sharp and piercing sounding which is grating on the ears after a while.Cheers

[Fumble fingers]

I have a 2012 Classic with rosewood , alder body and regular frets and a 2015 bluesboy maple neck with stainless steel and Empress body wood , I'll give a A-B test on the bridge to see how different they sound , not an exact or great apple to apples comparison .... my S500 I had SS frets installed a few ears ago and a slight ting at first on hammer ons but don't even notice it anymore or my technique adapted too it , it does still sound like my S500 which is much darker than my Legacy , so that didn't change ..... my Fallout is a 2014 (?) along with being my number 1 and it's ready for a fret dress now so pretty sure they will be gone in a couple more years then I'll have it refretted SS