Members belovedmonster Posted August 6, 2012 Members Share Posted August 6, 2012 I've been playing guitar for well over 10 years now and in that time I've owned 6 different guitars and tried countless others, and in all that time I don't think once I've paid attention to the type of frets on the guitar or noticed any difference in frets going from one guitar to the other. To me, either the frets buzz or they are do not, and that is all I care about. It occurred to me today that every review of a guitar always makes mention of the type of frets, like this is a hugely important part of the feel and sound of the guitar and yet I have no idea what difference that makes to anything, and like I say, I have never once even noticed the difference in playing different guitars. Am I some complete idiot or are pretty much all frets created equal? Why should I care if a guitar has jumbo frets or not? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Tone Deaf Posted August 6, 2012 Members Share Posted August 6, 2012 Perhaps the guitars you've owned/played have all had very similar frets. If you had two guitars in front of you, one with vintage style frets, and another with jumbo frets, I suspect you'd notice the difference. That doesn't necessarily mean that the difference would cause you any problems. The guitars I own vary a fair amount with regard to fret size, and I don't really have any issue with transitioning from one to another. Your mileage may vary. On the other hand, if you're a disciple of the "all guitars are exactly the same, some are just more expensive" movement, then I doubt you'd be able to tell any difference at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fretmonster Posted August 6, 2012 Members Share Posted August 6, 2012 I'm actually kinda like you in that respect as well. Other that super jumbo and super flat radius, I can play anything. What's more important to me is string spacing at the nut and neck profile. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jrockbridge Posted August 6, 2012 Members Share Posted August 6, 2012 True jumbo frets would likely feel different to you. But, they aren't all that popular, so you've probably never played a guitar with true jumbo sized frets. Vintage (small) sized frets and medium jumbo are the most typical sizes. There are a lot of different variations of medium jumbo size depending on the brand of guitar but they are all generally close. Personally, I think the difference between vintage and medium jumbo is pretty noticeable. I bend notes and use vibrato quite a bit, so I prefer medium jumbos. With the smaller, vintage frets, I notice my fingers are more in contact with the fretboard causing more friction when I bend notes. Who knows, maybe you've played nothing but medium jumbo. They seem to have become the most common fret size. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members belovedmonster Posted August 6, 2012 Author Members Share Posted August 6, 2012 Perhaps you are right in saying I've only played the one type of fret. Out of interest, so far I've owned... an ESP Horizon, Epi LP, Fender Strat, Epi SG, Ibanez RG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ferdinandstrat Posted August 6, 2012 Members Share Posted August 6, 2012 Play a Gibson SG Custom and then an Ibanez Prestige RG, feel how different your fingers feel against the fretboard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jrockbridge Posted August 6, 2012 Members Share Posted August 6, 2012 Play a Gibson SG Custom and then an Ibanez Prestige RG, feel how different your fingers feel against the fretboard. Haven't seen you in quite some time, Ferdi. How's life treating you? By the way, you really should update that sig. The CSM Raffle was a long time ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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