62 AVRI Stratocaster - Skinny Frets - AAaaaarggghhhh

maw4neu

I struggled for months with my 62 AVRI Stratocaster before I finally gave up and put it back in its case and slung it under the bed in the spare room . . . Id always wanted a 62 AVRI as I was born in 1962 and I love Fender Stratocasters but every time I played it I simply got frustrated in minutes . .  . . The skinny frets and the 7 1/4 " Radius on the neck meant that huge bends were out and it actually felt difficult and cumbersome to play . . . My fingers always felt like they had run a marathon after the shortest time. 

I left it under the bed for ages and wondered if it was worth keeping . . . The guitar sounds so good through my amp and it would be such a shame to let it go especially as Id been so fortunate getting it in the first place. . Eventually I called the Manchester Guitar Technician ( our very own Steve Robinson ) and asked his advice . . . Steve suggested a refret with a more sensible and modern fret wire plus a full setup so a couple of weeks back I dropped the guitar off with him and crossed my fingers. Steve did the work in two or three days and then gave me the call to pick it up. I was there the very same day with cash in hand to pay for Steve's labour of love.

What a massive difference ! ! ! My 62 Stratocaster is a completely different guitar, its so much easier to play and the setup is truly spot on . . I've always loved the way that it sounded and now I can noodle around with it for hours rather than minutes. The transformation is simply amazing. I probably don't have to tell anyone around my area ( Manchester ) how good Steve is but to anyone further a field all I can say is that he wouldn't disappoint but the inside story here is that you don't necessarily have to buy and sell guitar after guitar to find the right one.

A good setup or refret, or pickup change, or whatever may be all that's needed to unlock the full potential of your current squeeze.

Kind Regards Mark W 

Teetonetal

Why on earth would you buy a guitar that you didn't like playing? 

Anyway, glad it's sorted now - amazing what a bit of work can do!

maw4neu

Teetonetal said:

Why on earth would you buy a guitar that you didn't like playing? 

GAS . . .  enough said :-)

Teetonetal

Internet purchase?

maw4neu

Teetonetal said:

Internet purchase?

It pains me to admit the truth . . but yes ! !   Guilty as charged :-)

Evilmags

That is why I bought Custom shop fenders. Fatter and taller frets and flatter boards suit my laying a lot better, but I wanted vintage style looks and sounds. 

sweepy

62's have a 9 1/2  radius board and the skinny frets mean that you have to be a little more precise, as posted abouve you can get CS Strats with chunkier frets if you so desire

crunchman

I much prefer my 62 reissue to the Custom Shop Tele I had which had absolutely enormous frets. Having said that when I get it refretted I'll get some bigger frets than it originally had.

maw4neu

It took the refret to get the best from my AVRI Stratocaster but it was worth the investment . . .

jeztone2

I dont get why guitar companies don't just fit medium jumbo as standard, or even jumbo. The average person in their late 40's would have grown up on a electric guitar with big frets. So not sure why they think it's appealing. Other than cost. 

crunchman

jeztone2 said:

I dont get why guitar companies don't just fit medium jumbo as standard, or even jumbo. The average person in their late 40's would have grown up on a electric guitar with big frets. So not sure why they think it's appealing. Other than cost. 

Part of it is marketing - in two ways.  The first way is "this is a replica of our golden era vintage guitar".  The second way (at least with Fender) is to force you to the Custom Shop where they have bigger margins.  If they made an AVRI with a 9.5" radius and medium jumbos then they would lose a lot of Custom Shop sales.

You also have to remember that not everyone likes jumbo. I'm ok with medium jumbo but jumbo would definitely put me off.

Smaller frets also mean you are a lot less likely to pull notes sharp on open position chords. When I had a CS Tele with huge frets I found myself pulling these chords sharp.  Over time I adjusted my technique but it was always an issue for me.  I grew up playing acoustic and maybe I press harder on the strings than most but I'd never get something with absolutely monster frets again.

On the linked subject of fretboard radius, some people actually prefer a lower radius.  For playing chords lower down the neck a 7.25" radius is actually very comfortable.  If that's what you mainly do then it's going to be more comfortable than a flatter one.

Different people have different preferences, but if you offered me the choice of an Eric Johnson Strat with its 12" radius or and AVRI with 7.25" I'd go AVRI every time.

For me there is something very comfortable about the vintage neck and radius.  I was playing for something last year where we had a couple of long (4 hours plus) practices.  The first one I used my SG which has a neck that's very easy to play, bigger frets, shorter scale so less string tension, and I wound up with a sore wrist afterwards.  For the second one I used my AVRI Strat and I was absolutely fine.

Stevepage

Had the same thing with my Strat. I first had it re-fretted with bigger wire. Left it like that for years and then decided I still wasn't happy.

I had the fretboard levelled to 12" and had 6000 size wire. Much better, a real joy to play now.

streethawk

jeztone2 said:

I dont get why guitar companies don't just fit medium jumbo as standard, or even jumbo. The average person in their late 40's would have grown up on a electric guitar with big frets. So not sure why they think it's appealing. Other than cost. 

I don't think cost is an issue.

To be fair to Fender they do offer a good range of vintage correct and modified models, e.g. the Classic Series came with the vintage radius and Classic Player had more modern appointments. Both available around the same time and neither with a custom shop price tag.

I think the AVRI should be as vintage correct as possible, given the name, and lots of players prefer the 7.25 radius anyways.

All that being said, I think 9.5 and medium jumbos is a good compromise. 

AndyJP

My 64 AVRI tele has the skinny frets and radius.  I've just raised the action to make bends easier.  I love it  But glad you've got it sorted how you like it

ChrisCox1994

Whats the price difference between AVRI and Custom Shop? £500 ish or more? 

A good luthier will refret a guitar for ~£150 - £200... 

I know what I'd do...

crunchman

ChrisCox1994 said:

Whats the price difference between AVRI and Custom Shop? £500 ish or more? 

A good luthier will refret a guitar for ~£150 - £200... 

I know what I'd do...

AVRI is around £1500.  A NOS finish Custom Shop can be found for around £2200 if you shop around.  Given the difference in resale value I'd just get the Custom Shop if I was going to do that - especially living in London where a refret from someone good will cost more money.

ChrisCox1994

thats still a £400 difference after an "expensive" refret, worth it to me  - if its a guitar to keep..

crunchman

ChrisCox1994 said:

thats still a £400 difference after an "expensive" refret, worth it to me  - if its a guitar to keep..

The problem is that your tastes may change.  I've got a couple of guitars I thought I'd never sell that I'm contemplating selling now.

maw4neu

I didn't pay for the guitar, it was kind of a gift so I genuinely didn't mind paying for the refret. . . It was money well spent . . . 

Neil

jeztone2 said:

I dont get why guitar companies don't just fit medium jumbo as standard, or even jumbo. The average person in their late 40's would have grown up on a electric guitar with big frets. So not sure why they think it's appealing. Other than cost. 

It's appealing because on a Classic Fender you expect 7.25" radius and vintage style frets.
 
What's the point of stifling choice by making everybody have thick frets?

Choice is good.

jeztone2

I agree choice is good. But then your stifling choice by not offering an option of bigger frets. I guess it's marketing. But it annoys me.

I'd love a Clapton Strat, but not with those tiny frets. The only guitars Fender make that are non CS with a vintage neck & beefy frets are the Kotzen's. I'm suprised fretwire size isn't more of a purchase critical issue.