Expanding upon the design upgrade that was announced for their new guitar and bass models for 2021, ESP Guitars has announced that all of their LTD Deluxe “1000 Series” guitars and basses will now feature stainless steel frets. The improved fret material is also being offered as standard on all of the company’s LTD Black Metal and Arctic Metal series instruments. Stainless steel frets had already been standard equipment on the company’s acclaimed higher-end ESP USA Series guitars.
“ESP has always been a company that leads the way with innovations that can positively affect the performance of a musician, or improve the quality and reliability of their instruments,” says Matt Masciandaro, President and CEO of the ESP Guitar Company. “When talking to our customers in the past few years, stainless steel frets was their number-one request for a design update. We’re happy to now provide that on all of our popular LTD Deluxe instruments.”
ESP makes over 100 guitar and bass models in the LTD Deluxe “1000 Series” that will now feature stainless steel frets. These include models that span most of the company’s guitar offerings, including their Arrow Series, EC Series, H Series, M Series, MH Series, Phoenix Series, SN Series, TE Series, Viper Series, and Xtone Series, in addition to the aforementioned Black Metal and Arctic Metal series. LTD basses that will now include stainless steel frets include “1000 Series” models from the Phoenix Series, B Series, F Series, and Stream Series.
Stainless steel frets are said to offer several advantages over traditional alloy-based fret wire. One is a smoothness in playing feel that allows for string bends with less friction resistance, which also makes string vibrato easier to accomplish. Stainless steel frets are also said to be less susceptible to long-term wear and corrosion. Musicians can compare all of the company’s LTD Deluxe models that feature stainless steel frets on the ESP Guitars web site at espguitars.com.
