erikbojerik Posted August 1, 2004 Report Share Posted August 1, 2004 This is my first neck with jumbo frets, 16" radius; everything is set up and intonated well. I levelled and dressed the frets without taking much off the top, and I love the feel of them up high when soloing, etc etc. The problem is, at frets 1-9 I find that all my notes and chords are sharp, because I really like to "grab" the neck when playing down there and the finger pressure to the fretboard makes everything sharp. If I finger the chords lightly, they are fine, but that doesn't come naturally at all. So, do you see any problems with just knocking down the height of frets 1-9 (gradually) and adjusting the nut slots? Or is it more complicated than that? Thanks for any help you can give. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapbarstrat Posted August 1, 2004 Report Share Posted August 1, 2004 You really should lighten your touch. Pressing that hard is going to wear your frets out quick. Sounds like time for heavier strings. Knocking down 1-9 then leveling them all is possible, but yes, tricky. Main concern is not to knock fret 1 too low. I think I know what you mean, but I've never done that. I wouldn't want to. The re-crowning work involved with that would drive me nuts. If you are against heavier strings, maybe you could put low frets on the neck and scallop the board higher up ( Jeez, I hate to see nice fret-boards get scalloped, tho) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tdog Posted August 1, 2004 Report Share Posted August 1, 2004 Big frets call for big strings....try a set of .011s.....or if you're up to it ..,.012s! I don't think you will be sharp any time soon with some hefty wire! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted August 2, 2004 Report Share Posted August 2, 2004 If you knock 1-9 down you might experiance a buzz on 10 depending on your action of course Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gorecki Posted August 2, 2004 Report Share Posted August 2, 2004 I've had this issue for years using jumbos with a 9-42. I also swap out the 16 for a 14 making it even worse, but I use a soft touch. Once in a while though, I'll get excited and grip a chord too hard and it's so obvious so quickly I let up on the grip really fast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myka Guitars Posted August 2, 2004 Report Share Posted August 2, 2004 You can also try to intonate the guitar again. If you hold down the 12th fret to set the intonation and use as much pressure as you do while playing you should come close that way. Also changing to heavier strings will need you to re-intonate your guitar since the larger strings are more massive and tend to stretch more thus increasing the pitch more. Look at any guitar and notice that the heavier strings are compensated more than the smaller strings. Without an intonation adjustment just using heavier strings will actually make things worse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
metallisomething Posted August 2, 2004 Report Share Posted August 2, 2004 ive thought about that with jumbo wire. they say with jumbo wire that eventually you will play without even touching the fretboard. thats a technique im going to master.....gulp when you hammer in the wire, does the wire dent easily? it seems youd have to hit it pretty hard. plus, i dont want to buy all that crowning file stuff i just want to install the frets and be gone with it. does anyone secure the frets with glue, or epoxy? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
www Posted August 2, 2004 Report Share Posted August 2, 2004 i dont want to buy all that crowning file stuff i just want to install the frets and be gone with it. I believe your guitar would be unplayable. The frets need crowning to have level frets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
metallisomething Posted August 2, 2004 Report Share Posted August 2, 2004 if its all the same wire, why would they need anymore crowning? a two foot length of fretwire should have a (fairly) constant crown, should it not? if not, what should i buy on a limited budget (ie. im not buying that $150 fancy stewmac diamond thing) The fretwire is already crowned!!!!!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myka Guitars Posted August 2, 2004 Report Share Posted August 2, 2004 Check out this thread where inexpensive fret dressing is being discussed: fret dressing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erikbojerik Posted August 2, 2004 Author Report Share Posted August 2, 2004 Thanks for all the great replies! I have a bit to think about, heavier strings are a great idea (thanks for the intonation tip Myka), I'm using 9-46 gauge now. But I'm not sure a "soft touch" is the answer for me (I should have been a bass player.... ). Indeed, in the upper frets above #9 the fretted strings do not come close to touching the board. To clarify, I have not (yet) milled any "fall-away" into the upper frets, everything is dead flat with the guitar strung up and tuned to pitch. If i knock down frets 1-9 on-plane, adjust the nut slots, and tweek the saddles up a bit, then maybe I'll have some built-in fall-away...does that sound sensible, or crazy? Do you need as much fall-away with heavy-gauge strings at higher tension? thanks again boyz! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LGM Guitars Posted August 2, 2004 Report Share Posted August 2, 2004 The ONLY way it will work is you will have to set fret #1 to your maximum lowest amount that YOU want, then you will have to have each fret get progressivly taller as you move up the board. You don't want to go progressivly just until 9 because your action will have to follow the tops of those frets, once you reach 22 or 24, the action will be massivly high. The entire board will need to be progressive if you want to maintain any type of reasonable action. Here is a quick paint drawing of it, it's of course grossly exaggerated, but it gives you the idea of what I mean. If it's such an issue I just wouldn't use jumbo frets next time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapbarstrat Posted August 2, 2004 Report Share Posted August 2, 2004 believe it or not, there's guys who do fret-jobs that are like your drawing, except backwards : 1st fret is highest and they keep going down, so that fret 22 or whatever it ends at, is quite a bit lower. They claim you get the lowest action that way. I don't buy it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LGM Guitars Posted August 3, 2004 Report Share Posted August 3, 2004 Soapbar, I know it, and the bottom line is, you can't get LOWER action from it. String action is relative to the tops of the frets period. Your string is ALWAYS a dead straight line. Even with fallaway, the ONLY thing you are doing is changing the angle of your frets playing surface, in effect increasing the action. Some fallaway in the very upper frets is nice due the decreased clearance in string angle over the frets, but this is also why string action is progressively higher down the neck, and not the same over all the frets, as the frets get closer together you have to increase the action over the next highest fret. This can be acheived by lowering each fret progressively with fallaway (very labor intensive) or by raising the strings at the bridge. Either way, it doesn't give you any lower action. The ONLY thing that can give you the lowest action possible is a dead level fretjob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erikbojerik Posted August 4, 2004 Author Report Share Posted August 4, 2004 The ONLY way it will work is you will have to set fret #1 to your maximum lowest amount that YOU want, then you will have to have each fret get progressivly taller as you move up the board. You don't want to go progressivly just until 9 because your action will have to follow the tops of those frets, once you reach 22 or 24, the action will be massivly high. The entire board will need to be progressive if you want to maintain any type of reasonable action. Here is a quick paint drawing of it, it's of course grossly exaggerated, but it gives you the idea of what I mean. If it's such an issue I just wouldn't use jumbo frets next time. Thanks Jeremy, your drawing was exactly what I was thinking, with the exception of some fall-away at the higher frets. It will be a bit tricky, but I've got lots of height to play with so I'll give it a go. I'm really liking the jumbos up high, its just at the lower frets where they're a bit of a pain. Depending on how this goes, I may not use 'em again (and save the rest of the wire for a bass). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LGM Guitars Posted August 4, 2004 Report Share Posted August 4, 2004 If you like the upper clearance, I would suggest maybe using medium frets to avoid your problems down low, and scallop the upper 12 frets or so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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