Fret Size?

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rolls1392rolls1392 Frets: 229

Is bigger better?

Ignoring vintage issues, does fret size make a difference regarding the type of music you want to play ie: blues, rock, metal etc.

Is it strictly big for rock/metal and little for country twanging?

Enlighten me please

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  • rolls1392;1069" said:
    Is it strictly big for rock/metal and little for country twanging?
    The received wisdom is that high and wide frets make for an easier playing experience, assuming all other variables (such as string gauge and scale length) remain the same, specifically when bending. The reasoning behind this is mainly that a taller fret keeps your fingers off the fingerboard, hence there is less friction when bending.

    That said personal preference plays a part. I personally find very tall frets uncomfortable; others swear by them. PRS use smaller than 'jumbo', yet bigger than vintage Fender wire, that for me is the perfect compromise. But rather like action and string gauge, this is one of those things where there is no right or wrong.....
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  • OilCityPickupsOilCityPickups Frets: 9986
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    Really as RH says a personal thing. I love mega 'railway track' frets myself ... as I have quite a light touch with my left hand and to me this feels almost like a scalloped fingerboard. I have a brutal picking hand though ... and if I was as powerful with my fretting hand I'd probably have intonation problems. A 'problem' with mega wide frets is that on shorter scale lengths they can make the frets up the dusty end seem very close together. This is not good if you are of the sausage fingered persuasion! I tend to reserve really mahoosive frets on my own guitars for Fender rather than Gibbo scale lengths.
    Professional pickup winder, horse-testpilot and recovering Chocolate Hobnob addict.
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  • Dave_McDave_Mc Frets: 2328
    it makes some difference, but as rh and TGW have said, personal preference plays a part, too. It's also worth bearing in mind that you can also have tall and narrow frets or low and wide- there are two ways frets can be big or small (or medium).
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  • stickyfiddlestickyfiddle Frets: 26753
    Nice and tall for me. Don't mind if they're fat jumbos or skinny 6105s as long as they're tall. Makes bends really easy as long as you have a light enough touch to avoid intonation problems.
    The Assumptions - UAE party band for all your rock & soul desires
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  • monquixotemonquixote Frets: 17485
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    I like big ass frets. 

    I've got a hankering to get my Gretsch refretted with bigger wire but i'm not sure if it would be considered heresy. 
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  • EvilmagsEvilmags Frets: 5158
    I'm a fan of big frets on solidbodies where I use light strings and bend more. On my more restrained guitars medium is fine.
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  • mike_lmike_l Frets: 5700
    I prefer big fret, but I'm equally inept with either.

    Ringleader of the Cambridge cartel, pedal champ and king of the dirt boxes (down to 21) 

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  • hywelghywelg Frets: 4302
    Tall but narrow frets make for a very 'sticky' feel to me. Tall and broad is better. Tall and broad in SS with an ebony board is heaven.
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  • rolls1392rolls1392 Frets: 229

    I prefer the frets on my Ibby 470, so I guess big is best for me too.

    Just wondering about the differences.

    Cheers guys.

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  • Tall for a light left hand touch, thin for intonation. The thing I hate about thin frets is, while they are lovely for me, they wear down quick.

    Next build I do, I'm using stainless or gold coloured frets from warmoth, they're supposed to be a lot harder. Till then, tall and wide will do.
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  • ThePrettyDamned;14530" said:
    Tall for a light left hand touch, thin for intonation. The thing I hate about thin frets is, while they are lovely for me, they wear down quick.
    I'm not sure this is true. My 20 year old Martin has thin (and fairly low) frets which show little wear. I use 13s on it and it is nowhere near needing a fret-dress. Similarly I have owned several Fenders with vintage spec frets and I have never had any of those dressed either.
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  • SkippedSkipped Frets: 2371
    In the mid 90's I bought an '86 Pre-Historic Les Paul which looked like it had never been played. This was not really a surprise as the frets were too small and were absolutely killing the guitar. Spending a lot of money based on a hunch sounds a bit risky I know but I was absolutely certain about the guitar's potential.  I had it booked in for a refret ("the biggest wire you've got") before I had even arrived home with the guitar. Playability went from 4 out of 10 to......10.
    I couple of years ago I had an R8 Historic and wondered several times what it would be like with slightly taller frets.

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  • OilCityPickupsOilCityPickups Frets: 9986
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    ThePrettyDamned;14530" said:
    Tall for a light left hand touch, thin for intonation. The thing I hate about thin frets is, while they are lovely for me, they wear down quick.
    I'm not sure this is true. My 20 year old Martin has thin (and fairly low) frets which show little wear. I use 13s on it and it is nowhere near needing a fret-dress. Similarly I have owned several Fenders with vintage spec frets and I have never had any of those dressed either.
    Not all fretwire is created equal, some is considerably harder than others. Some modern Chinese made guitars seem to have frets made out of silvery cheese (a slightly different form than the white cheese their nuts are made of) that wears at a frightening rate.
    Professional pickup winder, horse-testpilot and recovering Chocolate Hobnob addict.
    Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups  ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message  

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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71960
    Smallish to medium for me. Vintage Fender wire is OK, modern Fender or PRS is better, anything much larger feels like playing a ladder :).

    But profile is very important too - I don't like 'square' frets where you can feel the edges too easily even if they aren't too big, eg modern Gibson. Equally I don't like very smooth low ones either, too slippery. Somewhere in the middle is good but they do need to be properly crowned and not flat on top. And *polished* - I find it baffling how many companies and repair techs seem to think it's OK to leave visible file marks - let alone ones you can feel.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

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  • nickpnickp Frets: 183
    I believe that perceived wisdom is lower smaller frets for kings of rhythm and bigger frets for widdlesome soloing types.

    However, maybe it is to do with what you grew up with.  

    I learned to play on a classical when I was a kiddie.  then did feck all until 2 years ago when all my hair fell out, my belly grew big and I was desperate to be attractive to the opposite sex (so just like a teenager again) and I started playing again.

    coz i had fat frets before I gravitated to chunky necks and gibson sized frets.  I also love the PRS frets (but don't own one) - they seem more rounded than the gibson types.  I have a mex strat which I also had refretted with gibson wire and it feels great to me.
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  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Frets: 136
    edited August 2013
    ICBM said:
    Smallish to medium for me. Vintage Fender wire is OK, modern Fender or PRS is better, anything much larger feels like playing a ladder :).

    But profile is very important too - I don't like 'square' frets where you can feel the edges too easily even if they aren't too big, eg modern Gibson. Equally I don't like very smooth low ones either, too slippery. Somewhere in the middle is good but they do need to be properly crowned and not flat on top. And *polished* - I find it baffling how many companies and repair techs seem to think it's OK to leave visible file marks - let alone ones you can feel.

    And overly 'square'/tall ends! I had a Suhr with 'Heavy' frets. It had a stunningly comfortable neck profile, but due to their height and lack of bevelling at the ends, the frets felt too wide for the fingerboard-as though they were sticking out at the edges (which they weren't).
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  • FelineGuitarsFelineGuitars Frets: 11497
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    I love Dunlop 6000 frets which are big buggers but the secret to making it an enjoyable experience to play is to carefully round and bevel the ends in a way that means that the player doesn't feel them as they go up and down the neck.

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  • John_PJohn_P Frets: 2744
    Big frets for me..    Something about the feel of skinny frets that I don't like.    It's the one thing I would change about my PRS and when they eventually need a refret I'll go for something slightly bigger.
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  • grungebobgrungebob Frets: 3300
    Not too fussed on size, just properly seated and crowned with a good polish will do me
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  • fretfinderfretfinder Frets: 4978
    John_P said:
    Big frets for me..    Something about the feel of skinny frets that I don't like.    It's the one thing I would change about my PRS and when they eventually need a refret I'll go for something slightly bigger.

    I don't know what PRS you have but I've owned six over the years (only one left now) and they all had jumbo frets.
    250+ positive trading feedbacks: http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/57830/
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