Affordable Guitar Brands with Stainless Steel Frets
Somewhere early in my “I want the ultimate guitar” journey, I realised I preferred guitars with stainless steel frets.
This happened because I was looking into older, vintage guitars, and realised a) fret wear was common, and b) changing frets is a huge job, not one I feel like undertaking right now.
There are a few high-end guitars that have stainless steel frets. So I know you can get the Fender American Ultra Luxe models, Ibanez Prestige, or a Suhr guitar… sure. That’s the easy answer!
There are even some high-end models from mid-range brands with stainless steel frets, like some models from Charvel, Jackson, or Schecter.
But what affordable guitars are there with stainless steel frets? I mean sub-US$1K, and hopefully significantly under that number. Here’s what I’ve found so far.
Preface: Is Stainless Steel Critical? (No.)
Beginners in any field tend to get obsessed with specs. Getting a computer? Max out the CPU and RAM, just to browse the web. New phone? Of course, you want the latest one with a jillion cores so you can play games on the loo.
The same goes for stainless steel frets on guitars. If you hear that stainless steel lasts longer, and that refrets are expensive, it might make you think you must have stainless steel frets. But there are a few things worth mentioning for the beginner.
Firstly, frets take ages to wear. Many years. Think decades of general use. They’ll wear faster if you absolutely hammer your guitar but… you’re a beginner. Are you going to do that?
Secondly, frets wear, but they’re also damaged by poor form (gripping the guitar too hard out of stress) or just dropping it. Consider practising good form and a light touch. And a stand!
Thirdly, refret jobs cost quite a lot — more than many entry-level guitars! If you’re looking at affordable guitars in general, you’re much more likely to stop playing or upgrade far before you wear out the frets. If you do wear the frets out… buy another one. Guitars keep getting better and cheaper.
Fourthly, having stainless steel frets doesn’t mean having good frets. Frets should be level, polished, and smooth at the ends. They should also be the height and format that you like best for your playing style. Steel is harder (which is why it’s rarer on frets), so manufacturers have a tougher time doing a good fret job with stainless steel. So, given that beginner guitarists are likely to read this, pay attention to the fret quality on a guitar and return it if it doesn’t pass muster.
Fifthly (wow, I still have points), many other non-steel frets take ages to wear. Various brands of guitars pride themselves on hard-wearing frets, even though they’re not stainless steel.
And finally, not all steel is the same. There’s soft steel that corrodes and hard steel that doesn’t. You know there are steel grades from buying knives, for example. Guitar makers don’t specify the steel grade. That said, I haven’t heard of the steel frets on even cheap guitars being problematic, probably because of a few of the above reasons.
So don’t obsess over stainless steel frets. But if you must, here are some affordable brands that have guitars with stainless steel frets, just so you can be at ease.
Artist (Australia)
Artist is an Australian brand that makes high-end but very affordable (mostly sub-A$600, or US$400) guitars with consistent build quality, easy returns, and good (though not name-brand) components. Well-regarded in Australia and the UK.
A great general recommendation is the AS72, an HSS Stratocaster-style guitar, which comes in this fairly unique “paisley relic” finish that looks really interesting in person (I don’t like it for now, but I usually gravitate to things I think I don’t currently like). It costs a whopping A$598 (under 400 USD) brand new, delivered, with a 100-day no-questions-asked easy returns policy.
The AS72 comes with a bunch of other desirable stuff, like pickups that sound great, locking tuners, and a contoured heel for upper fret access (if a guitar doesn’t have that, it’s a non-starter for me).
But a few of their other high-end guitars (mostly under that same price), like the AT53, AT73, AP81, and Skyler, have stainless steel frets, too, and so you get quite an interesting range of colours, pickup styles, and shapes.
I personally have my eye on that first one pictured – the Skyler in red paisley. If I didn’t get a second-hand Revstar for even less, I’d have gotten one (I still might…)
Cort (Korea)
Cort is the house brand for Cor-Tek, a manufacturer that makes guitars for many well-known brands, including PRS’ well-regarded affordable SE brand, which people generally can’t tell apart from the full-fat brand with their eyes shut, Harley-Benton, and a bunch of others.
Cort has a number of high-end but still reasonably affordable models with stainless steel frets. The two I’ve come across are the G300 and the K700. The G300 is more of a “general purpose” guitar and the one I was more interested in.
For under $900 USD you get tons of stuff — not just the steel frets, but also Seymour-Duncan pickups (A SH2N neck and TB4 bridge — I tried all the positions and every one sounded great), a compound radius neck, locking tuners (of course), and a truss rod wheel in the heel. All premium components. The bridge and locking tuners are Cort-branded, but you’d be hard pressed to fault them.
Cort also makes the blingy Cort G300 Glam and earthy Cort G300 Raw. I’m looking for a used Raw, personally.
The Cort G300 looks frighteningly similar to the Jackson Pro Plus series, by the way… and those are pushing the boundaries of affordable (over $1000 US), so maybe just look at the Cort.
EART (China)
EART is a Chinese company (not just a company that manufactures in China) that ships all over the world.
I’ve never seen an EART guitar in person, but people do like them as another affordable option with high-quality components. I’m also a fan of companies that are manufacturers as well as brands (like Cor-Tek in this list, or FGN).
Quite a few of EART’s models have stainless steel frets as standard. In fact… I think most of them (if not all of them) seem to, though I haven’t poked through all of them. Many of their guitar come with loads of other high-spec features, like a compound radius fretboard (with an interesting gradient from 7.25-9.5″), truss rod adjustment wheels, and, of course, locking tuners.
Harley-Benton (Europe)
Harley Benton is another cheap brand, similar to Artist, but better serving Europe. Quite a lot of them are cheap, and quite a lot of the high-end ones (which are still inexpensive, around 400 Euro) have stainless steel frets!
They’re all made in Indonesia (by Cor-Tek, actually, which makes Cort guitars), and tend to come with other useful things like wide-radius fingerboards, locking tuners, and other stuff. They rarely have recognised brand pickups (like Seymour Duncan, etc.) though — but many say they’re great, or at least adequate.
The only problem with Harley Benton is that they ship from Thomann (Europe), which makes it more challenging to get one in other parts of the world, and the quality control is at times questionable, which means you might get a dud and have to ship it back. While their customer service is excellent, this puts the burden on you, the buyer, to know what to look for, and to send things back if they’re no good. Ain’t nobody got time for that, when there are other options, so I haven’t bitten the bullet… yet.
Shame, because some of their guitars are pretty easy on the eye (even though they’re copies of traditional styles). I’m pretty partial to one of the Strat-style guitars like the ST-Modern Plus, and probably will buy one when I’m next in Europe and can properly try it out or send it back.
Ibanez (Japan) — AZ22S1F
Yes, Ibanez has some “Prestige” (made in Japan) models that have SS frets. But one of their Premium models has it too, as of 2025, and is affordable — retailing for under $1K Aud or around $500-600 USD.
There’s a lot to like about the Ibanez AZ22S1F. It has that AZ contoured heel at the back, a super useful HSS configuration, locking tuners, a roasted maple neck, and classic good looks.
I suspect Ibanez will bring stainless steel frets to more affordable mid-range guitars in the future.
Sire Larry Carlton S7/T7/L7 New Gen (2025+)
Sire is a well-liked American brand of affordable, high-spec guitars. They’re harder to find in my neck of the woods, unfortunately!
The 7-series guitars have always been nice, but the 2025 New Generation models have stainless steel frets, on top of everything else (a compound radius fretboard, locking tuners, etc.)
They lack a contoured heel, normally one of my deal-breakers, though… but they sound really nice, and are well regarded. I should pick one up next time I’m in the US…
Yamaha (Japan)
Finally, only because it’s alphabetically last, Yamaha. I am a Yamaha nerd of late. I have three Yamaha guitars… wait, four! (But one is a gift for my brother…)
Yamaha is, of course, a Japanese company, but the mid-range affordable guitars that have stainless steel frets are made in Indonesia.
Yamaha guitars in general are quite affordable, considering just how much you get in their guitars. This is particularly true of the mid-tier. You don’t just get quality, you get consistency — people who buy Yamahas are often shocked to see they’re well set up straight out of the box, no adjustment needed.
On the Pacifica line, the PACS+12 (Standard Plus), made in Indonesia, has stainless steel frets, as well as tons of other features — the kitchen sink, really, just like the Cort G300, but with more name-brand and (subjectively) better designs. I can’t take my eyes off my Pacifica Plus. This is the first tier of Pacificas that has steel frets.
Similarly, Revstar models, starting with the mid-range Standard series (RSS20 and RSS02T) have stainless steel frets. They don’t come with as much brand-name stuff as the mid-range Pacificas, but they’re well-regarded guitars. I have two of them. I love the damn things. They sound great, are easy to play, look awesome, and feel great.
I am sure there are other higher-end Yamaha guitars that have stainless steel frets, but I haven’t dared go learn about them!
Wrap Up
What’s next for me? Well, I’m in Australia, for now, so I’m going to try to finaigle an Artist Skyler. It looks cool and… well, I don’t know. I do already have too many guitars. I have to sell at least two first.
Also, I’m always on the hunt for other awesome and affordable guitars. If I’ve missed any that have stainless steel frets, let me know! Remember, I’m looking for guitars that sell for below $1,000 new (street price, not MSRP) — just to maintain some kind of reasonably objective filter. Always happy to add more.
