Medium frets on 7.25 radius or...

lovestrat74

Vintage frets on a 9.5 radius?

Anyone done this?  Thinking of bending and playability without losing that vintage feel.

So have you flattened your radius but kept the vintage frets or added medium frets to your 7.25 board?

guitars4you

the Custom Shop Michael Landau Strat is 7.25 with MJ frets - no issues and proving a popular choice

I find you don't really notice any major difference between 7.25 and 9.5 so much once you have the larger frets fitted - 7.25 and small frets is a no no for me and harder to bend with less of a slick action - 

E Clapton is one of the few players I'm aware of who actually has vintage frets on a 9.5" and it doesn't stop his string bending and vibrato skills

Brize

I have a 7.25" radius Strat that's been re-fretted with jumbo (6100) frets and it's one of my best playing guitars.

I believe the Mark Knopfler Strat had a 7.25" radius with medium jumbo frets and, as Mark notes above, the Clapton Strat has a 9.5" radius with vintage frets.

guitars4you

I'm not saying 9.5/10/12" radius doesn't make any difference to the overall feel and a slick action, but MJ frets makes a big difference between 7.25"/vintage and 7.25"/MJ frets

lovestrat74

I'd heard about Clapton, but not Knopfler! So a trial of either signature strats would give a good idea of feel - although MK Strats are like rocking horse sh#t I believe

guitars4you

If you have a Strat with 7.25 and vintage frets then I'd have no issue with a good re-fret to some form of MJ frets be it 6105, 6100 or 6150, but I don't see the need to have the radius 'flattened' to 9.5"

lovestrat74

guitars4you said:

If you have a Strat with 7.25 and vintage frets then I'd have no issue with a good re-fret to some form of MJ frets be it 6105, 6100 or 6150, but I don't see the need to have the radius 'flattened' to 9.5"

Thanks for the knowledge @guitars4you ;

richardhomer

I think overall fret height is the most significant factor in perceived playability.

Very low frets on any radius board make bends and vibrato difficult as your fingertip compresses against the board, causing friction. Higher frets reduce this considerably.

The difference in string height required to avoid choking out on a vintage radius v 9.5” board may be an issue to some - but is far less significant than the impact of fret height in my experience.

Alterlifeson

guitars4you said:

I'm not saying 9.5/10/12" radius doesn't make any difference to the overall feel and a slick action, but MJ frets makes a big difference between 7.25"/vintage and 7.25"/MJ frets

This is my findings as well, 7.25 is perfectly playable with MJ/6105 frets. My MIM Roadworn has this setup and I have no issue with it. My Classic series is a different story with its smaller ones, thinking about moving it on and getting on of the new American Originals.

lovestrat74

Alterlifeson said:

guitars4you said:

I'm not saying 9.5/10/12" radius doesn't make any difference to the overall feel and a slick action, but MJ frets makes a big difference between 7.25"/vintage and 7.25"/MJ frets

This is my findings as well, 7.25 is perfectly playable with MJ/6105 frets. My MIM Roadworn has this setup and I have no issue with it. My Classic series is a different story with its smaller ones, thinking about moving it on and getting on of the new American Originals.

@Alterlifeson what's the details on your classic? Let me know if you are thinking of selling