Why no jumbo frets on acoustics?

[Landru]

I agree with Bob and also the earlier made point about fingertips not dragging on the fingerboard. This will go down for Christmas.

[timallums]

My 1965 Gibson J-50 has Jumbo frets and it's all original. The frets on my J-50are the largest of all my 10 guitars, even larger than the "medium jumbo" frets on my Strat.

[Robzilla]

One of my guitars is a Martin Keb Mo Signature with jumbo frets and it does seem to make fretting easier but as has been alluded to elsewhere in the thread high pressure fretting will pull it out of tune which is especially problematic if you use a capo a lot. Your low E will invariable end up sharp of your high E (for instance) and require retuning.

[lclyman]

I requested medium jumbo frets on my Brondel A3...

http://www.acousticguitarforum.com/f...d.php?t=214300

I always loved the feel of the necks on the older Gibson archtops so I wanted to recreate that feel on my acoustic guitar..

And as far as intonation is concerned, only very exaggerated left hand fretting pressure can cause note sharpness of any kind and only on the low "e" string..

Methinks that issue is more the skill of the builder and their neck build and setup integrity than the fret type, as I have experienced much more noticeable problems of this sort on many other guitars with a variety of fret sizes..

LC

[CandyApple]

Originally Posted by dberkowitz

...What's interesting to note is that the higher frets, if one were able to control one's pressure are actually better for your hand as there isn't the tendency to actually press the string all the way down to the fingerboard but instead use the fret itself to stop the string...

Originally Posted by Bob Womack

Higher frets require less pressure to fret for the same reason that Dave mentioned. As a result, they are more comfortable for those with arthritis or with other inflammitory issues...Bob

But a good one! With carpal tunnel issues, I've been looking for threads with valuable information/opinions on fret sizes...and still am! If anyone seeing this comes across another Jumbo Frets thread, please PM it to me. THANKS!

[Rob W]

Give me jumbos every time. Just got my VA back from SCGC, where they just did a re fret. Jumbos were extra $ but well worth it! I once had a Martin 00018NB. They come stock with jumbo frets.

[frenchie]

Gibson & Epiphone (Kalamazoo made) acoustics from the late 50s to the 70s had large jumbo frets as standard. My old 62 Texan was an absolute joy to play.

Steve.

[blindboyjimi]

Originally Posted by Rob W

Give me jumbos every time. Just got my VA back from SCGC, where they just did a re fret. Jumbos were extra $ but well worth it! I once had a Martin 00018NB. They come stock with jumbo frets.

I have the Dunlop 6155's (frets on the 18 NB) on all my guitars. My fingers never touch the fretboard and I barely have callouses. I just prefer it that way. I've yet to change out my 18A as it plays perfect with low Martin frets, so it's not a huge thing, but worth it to me.

[Transylvania]

I had a SC with jumbo frets--ordered by original owner. At first I wasn't real keen on them, but after playing it a while realized I was actually quite neutral on the subject.

[RRuskin]

The frets on most of my instruments are one size up from standard Martin standard frets. They have just enough more "meat" on them to facilitate bending and don't mess with intonation in any way.

[celticlofts]

Jumbo frets are standard on Avalon guitars.

[JohnCambo]

My Blueridge 140A had big frets, too big. That's why I sold it.

[Yamaha Man]

Back in the 70's, a friend of mine had a "Fretless Wonder" Black Beauty Les Paul, he hated the small frets and took it in to best luthier in the area to get great big fat frets installed. He loved it. It took a week or two and cost a good buck, but he felt it was worth it.

Personally I don't want fat frets because I'd press down too hard and that would make the string go out of tune.

[valleyguy]

My electric has these "jumbo" frets. These higher frets mean when I press down I always make that note sharp, I hate it, I'm so used to pressing hard, it's hard to adjust. This advantage can easily become a disadvantage.

[Martyntb]

Originally Posted by Landru

I'm a medium-jumbo man in a new Martin dinky-fret world. I've been advised by experienced folk that small frets are good, but a day doesn't go by where I don't almost reach for the phone and schedule a re-fret. Worst case is I undo it with another re-fret, but I've been using big frets on everything since '75 and they are a good thing.

I'll keep the forum posted when I do jump, and thank you for posting this thread - feels a little less lonely out here.

P.S. I've never had intonation problems with large frets, either.

I agree, with the really tiny frets on a Martin it’s almost like a fret less guitar. Strings sound muted when I do barre chords, especially when acoustics have big strings also. Intonation if pressing down too hard is not an issue for a good player at all. I’m going to rip those tiny frets out. I am also contemplating changing the radius on my Martin from 16” to 12” like a Gibson. I believe it will be so much easier to play like Australian Matons are because of this reason, they have a 12” radius and bigger frets