Something to Fret About

[rugerpc]

Do they make a difference to you?

I've owned guitars with different kinds of frets. Tall, short, wide, skinny and combinations of those. I've also played, but didn't buy, guitars with scalloped finger boards. And, I have an early fretless PRS bass.

When I was new to guitars, one fret seemed much like another. But I have since developed preferences.

I tend to be a little inconsistent in finger pressure when fretting strings. Some of it is varying degrees of hand strength depending on how much or little my hands are hurting from the beginnings of arthritis. Some of it is I just don't practice enough. I think my freeing pressure would even out a bit if I practiced more.

I notice it most when I first start playing. A little too much pressure - and a little too far behind the fret. The result is overly sharp fretted notes. It also happens when I'm working on learning something new. Concentrating too hard on where to fret makes me press too hard. Due to my infrequent practice, this happens a lot as I relearn things I used to know.

So my preference has been for shorter frets. Not so short that I bottom out on the fretboard if I am playing well, but short enough to hit bottom if I'm gorilla gripping or fretting too far behind the fret.

I also tend to like wider frets. When I am fretting in the right spot, feeling the beefiness under my fingers is a good positive feedback. Conversely, narrow, more pointy frets feel less comfortable for notes that are held a beat or two.

I haven't worn any frets out yet, but I like the idea of harder frets than softer ones. I'd rather sacrifice string life over fret life.

So, what are your preferences?

 

[veinbuster]

I don't have such strong preferences that I would walk away from a good guitar because of the frets, but all things being equal, I like bigger frets a bit more. I blame this on the DGT which is such a treat to play. Until then I thought I liked smaller frets so the finger pressure was less of an issue, but for me that turned out to be a theoretical problem rather than a practical one - I have a fairly light touch and stop pressing as soon as I make contact.

 

[Bluesboy998]

Well I feel for you my arthiritis is terrible but I find I get along with any size frets the trick I have found is the biggest necks I can find prs wide fat etc.The palm of my hand is not floating around it's pretty much against the back of the neck.And I practice 2/3 hours a day and that relieves the pain.

 

[László]

It takes me a shortish period of time to feel comfortable on any new instrument, so while I do notice that the frets are different on all of my guitars, I haven't had a problem getting used to any of them. Certainly no worse than just getting used to the instrument as a whole.

As to fret wear, my frets will outlive me by many years before needing work. This is one of the advantages of being old! Less worry about parts wearing out. I still have a 50 year old SG Special with original frets that don't need replacement.

Hell, I have strings that will outlive me. I probably even have picks that will outlive me.

 

[Huggy Love]

Good topic:top: Sounds like you prefer the broken-in Les Paul feel, it's a very comfortable setup.
This is a subject that seems rather insignificant on the surface but it's a big issue with a lot of variables when it comes to re-fret jobs, you get a lot of choices and the effects are felt over the long run. When I took my HB to get the frets redone I had the choice of having it Plekd or refretted. The difference would be feeling like brand new with the fret replacement or the feel of a broken in Les Paul if put on the Plek machine. I like average fret width and have come to appreciate high(new) frets and the precision feel.

I was also given the choice of going stainless steel on the frets or old skool nickel and went with the latter because I hadn't heard anything significant feedback-wise on stainless and didn't want to take a chance on it changing my tone. (I also had heard steel frets made tones brighter and that's not what I want)

PS-I feel your pain on the hand stuff, (I've got pinched nerve) but my 408 has pretty high frets and I took a week doing a killer setup on action & intonation, so I feel it is easier to play than lower frets. I just play a little differently.

 

[CVS]

I have refretted 2 guitars in the last year. At least for me, if you do a lot of whole step string bends, wider/taller frets seem to make this easier. The downside is that some chords are a bit harder to finger. Given how expensive fret jobs are in my area, I go for the hardest grade of metal I can get, so it will take longer to wear them out. Happy to change strings more often if necessary (although I just admitted in another thread recently that I don't change strings too often - something about procrastination)

 

[andy474x]

I dig the monster frets on my Akesson SE. I can't say exactly why, other than they just play easier and their more substantial size makes me feel like I don't have to mash my fingers into the board so hard. I think any time one of my PRSi need a regret from now on, they'll be headed to PTC for some jumbo or DGT frets.

 

[swede71]

I like all kinds of different fretwire.Jumbo in my DGT feels great,small vintage on my Clapton strat(partocaster) and medium jumbo on my american standard strat(partocaster) and my Gibson Flying V.All fret sizes have a different feel and I have no preference over others.One myth is that with small fretwire the string hits the fingerboard and with jumbo it doesn't .It never does,go check for yourself.But the feel is different.

 

[jfb]

I like a variety of frets. I tend to associate fret size to a particular brand or model. Most of the stuff I order is near the PRS standard.

 

[helmi]

yes. I haaaaaaaaaaaaate jumbo frets! I have gotten rid of 2 prs's because of the jumbo frets. to me, it feels like my fingers are moving across railroad tracks!

 

[jcha008]

Up until recently, I was jumbo fret guy. But I've noticed over the years that my left hand pressure can be a bit strong and I've actually started to prefer more of a medium sized fret.