Fret-height-and-width Preferences - What're Yours and Why?

    High frets require very soft and accurate preassure otherwise you may sound out of tune and some chords may be a pain in the ass for that matter. A light touch is great for speed for sure. But there are some styles, the blues in particular, in which an aggressive attack with both hands may sound better. SRV hands required. My hands are not up to it, but I vary the soft or aggressive mode though not as proficiently as I'd like. :wacko:

    Never too old for rock'n'roll

    Like 1

    @MonkeyMan


    Man..sad to hear about your long term injury..


    Sorry for the question:Have you ever been to a specialist;I mean there are some specialists arm-hand-finger medics/surgeons out there.You should have no problem to find even one which is a specialist for musicians.
    Sure you have been already but I just want to be sure.If not..these guys can help!


    As for the frets..sure high frets/scalloped will help but I believe strongly that you need to "build up strenght" again with your hands.

    This has turned out to be a very interesting discussion. I have a light touch and the heavy frets benefit me well, but I am clumsy on the jumbos. I guess that is why I could never get along with a scalloped neck lol.


    @MonkeyMan, hope your hand improves, I hurt mine years ago and it just about stopped me from playing completely, I was very lucky.

    I would not fear high or lower fret height and give it TOO much weight.


    Cause I am an "office worker" and had big problems with my hands in the past I take lot of care.


    At work I use the mouse with left hand and at home with right hand (without changing buttons). That helps lot to recover.


    Reducing string gauge from .010 to .009 on 25.5 scale guitars and from .011 to .010 on Gibson scale guitars did wonders. I even play these gauges with half step down. Full step requires .011 set for me.


    I have 23 guitars with all frets possible (different necks and string spacing....)- the human brain seems to adapt VERY easy and fast. Only completely new guitar need some more time. Only thing I don't like are extreme v-form necks - that hurts after some time.


    Because I do fretwork myself, naturally frets getting lower and lower each time. No problems (with maple necks) at all.


    But what is much more aggavating is fretboard radius (and radius of the frets after levelling). Flat is easier for bendings...


    Just my experience, but everyone has to find out what fits him best and protects health.

    I prefer a lower action and generally use .011s. Fret width has never really been a concern unless playing open chords in the first 3 frets. Then I can hear some notes playing sharp, but a Buzz Feiten nut could fix that. I may be a beginner here on the forum but started playing in 67 and do my own guitar setups and amp repairs (well except for the Kemper).

    I play with 9's with low action due to the hand issues. And I will say this, I never thought too much about the benefit of a Feiten system till I bought my Anderson, now I really like it and I can kinda tell the difference between others now.

    Dean_R I certainly agree. Factory setups just don't work for the players. The sharp notes I was referring to was in reference to retail guitars still on the rack. I should have clarified that, and typically wouldn't play (in particular perform) with a guitar unless it has been properly setup.


    An improperly setup nut can also grab a string during bending and hold it sharp. Abrasive chord, correct nut files and a little graphite in petroleum jelly really help with this issue. fwiw, I don't use the Buzz nuts on any of my guitars.

    Quote from Nikos

    Man..sad to hear about your long term injury..


    Sorry for the question:Have you ever been to a specialist;I mean there are some specialists arm-hand-finger medics/surgeons out there.You should have no problem to find even one which is a specialist for musicians.
    Sure you have been already but I just want to be sure.If not..these guys can help!


    As for the frets..sure high frets/scalloped will help but I believe strongly that you need to "build up strenght" again with your hands.

    Best specialist in the country said I'd never play any musical instrument ever again. Long story, but I couldn't squeeze / grip anything with either hand for 3 years. Just glad to be able to play for a few minutes at a time, which is how it's been for 31 years now.


    Thanks for your concern, Nikos. Believe me, I know every trick in the book (and not in the book), but in this case it's related to an overall body condition of nerve damage, hormonal mal / non-functionality, autoimmune, heavy-metal poisoning, huge amounts of stress for decades and pushing the body to ridiculous lengths. All my fault; I was just too-keen on life. X/


    Keep it coming, guys; this has been fascinating reading and I'm learning so much. Thank you so very, very much! <3

    Agreed, Nikos; the forum has been so helpful, as always.


    In fact, @'sambrox''s post and comments about Guthrie's preferences might just have tipped the scales for me in favour of going for one of his guitars. What I'd planned to do was swap out the frets in a Luke II for the "high" SS ones like those we've been discussing, but Guthrie's guitar comes with them as standard.


    Also, I was going to have the cavity routed to accommodate the vintage trem's being pulled back further on the Luke, something Guthrie, at least on the prototype Sam's video featured, had already had done.


    My preference has always been for H-S-H configurations on my guitars, something the Luke II unfortunately doesn't offer, but I was prepared to "overlook" this seeing as I've wanted one of those puppies for so long. The Guthrie has it 'though.


    The locking tuners are there too, as they are on the Luke.


    These are my four "big" preferences anyway - locking tuners, high SS frets, body cavity that allows "full" freedom of movement for the trem and an H-S-H configuration. The Guthrie takes care of all of these so I theoretically won't have to touch the thing other than to (I expect, as always) lower the action to my light-playing requirements.


    Only catch with the Guthrie is the long wait; I'll know more on Monday, but the importer guessed 6 months.


    This will be my last guitar purchase for many, many years, so I feel going for the Guthrie is a safer bet in that I shouldn't have to radically alter it as was going to be the case with the Luke. My heart's always going to be with getting a Luke someday 'though, just 'cause I'm such a tragic Steve Lukather fan, but that'll have to wait 'til I've literally got money to "play" with. Practicality and utility has to win out in the end right now, I'm afraid; fun can come later along with Ferraris and pretty women. =O8o:D

    If it's any "consolation" (though that word probably isn't appropriate when talking about such excellent guitars, haha), I play my GG sig way more than my Luke, Nicky. It came with an absolutely stellar set up, better than when I send my guitars to the local star luthier here (who is expensive and always booked for weeks in advance). I'm not sure, but I believe they are PLEKed before being QC'ed by humans before leaving the factory. The action is as comfortable, fast and buttery as I've ever encountered, though they ship with .009s, which I found surprising as Guthrie uses .010s. No biggie, though now I have 2 guitars that I put .009s on; didn't want to risk messing up that outstanding set up! If you're wondering, the other guitar with .009s is my Ibanez JS1000.

    Hmm... my guy at the importer / shop told me he only got to try a (Fender CS, not the old Suhr) GG once a little while back, and he used the same term as you, Sam - said it played like butter.


    I logically asked him if it was PLEK'd and he said he didn't think it was. I know there's a very-limited number of machines world-wide; he didn't think Fender had one. Either way, it matters not; it's the result that counts, and his observation was the same as yours. Said it felt like putting on an old pair of jeans.


    The Luke II comes with 9s too, and I've been thinking of switching to them for decades; I don't know why I punished myself all this time other than the fact that I believed that if I persisted I'd get used to 10s. Not so, unfortunately - all I achieved was a heckuva-lot of pain.


    Anyway, thank you for the feedback, Sammy. Seems a no-brainer at this point. Just have to decide which model to go for. Thinking right now of the maple-topped one, the logic being that its partner in crime, with whom all electric-guitar duties will have to be taken care of, is an all-mahogany affair (Suhr Satin - the cheapest, but IMHO one of, if not the best-sounding models), so I figure the brighter GG will allow for a greater range of tones between the two guitars.


    Thank you once again, bud.

    I wouldn't call the GG bright, though, at least not the humbuckers. Positions 2, 3 and 4 are very single coil trebly, understandably, but the neck and bridge pickups remind a lot of Gibson's humbucker guitars in tone. On the whole, it's a very midrangey guitar, if that makes sense.

    Oh, it does, Sammy. Thanks man.


    You're definitely talking about the maple-topped one, yeah?


    If it's not-too-bright, that'd actually be a good thing for me 'cause, forgetting the theory I mentioned earlier of trying to cover a huge tonal range between the two guitars, I've never been a fan of overly-bright ones.


    It should still, in-theory, contrast nicely with the fully-mahogany Suhr, no?


    EDIT:
    A note to anyone who might be wondering how the heck a pauper such as I could possibly afford the GG:
    Guitar-swap combined with some-years-old store credit. In "real" life I don't have 2 cents to rub together.

    Well, mine probably sounds similar, but because it doesn't have a maple top and is all-mahogany, it's likely a tad darker than yours, Digby.


    Makes sense that the GG, with its (basswood, ash or alder, I think) body and maple neck plus maple top should sound a whole-lot different and probably-brighter too, no?


    The Suhr is the Modern Satin, which is very-cheap for a Suhr and isn't finished in any fancy sort of way. The lack of a rigid coating further avoids any harshness or britghtening of the sound.