Frets--Jumbo and Otherwise

[Bongo Boy]

What are the claimed advantages of jumbo frets, why do some folks like them, and generally are they shorter than more traditional frets? What do we think are the disadvantages?

Has anyone here had their frets modified (not replaced but dressed more than simply to smooth out wear), and if so-- can you say a little something about the experience (why, who did it, what was the result)?

[EricV]

AAAAAAAAARGH I HATE computers... mine just crashed when I was just about done with my long-winded reply to this... well, I guess I gotta type it again...

Anyway, Jumbo frets are featured in quite a few guitars these days, especially in those "superstrats" and "shred-guitars", modern style guitars.
I think Jumbos became quite popular in the 80´s, when some of the rather fast playing techniques such as tapping and legato became popular.

And here are the advantages of high frets: they make tapping and hammer on´s a bit easier, at least it feels that way. Can´t exactly tell you WHY that is, but most people agree on that and I do to.
Same with bending strings... when you got jumbo frets, you hardly touch the wood of the fretboard anymore when you fret a note. That way, you ccan bend the string easily.
Scalloped fretboards have the same effect, after all scalloping is like having extra-high frets.

The disadvantage: it takes a while to get used to them, especially for beginners. Cause you gotta adjust to them, adjust the pressure of the left hand when fretting notes. If you press too hard, you actually bend the string, like until you actually reach the wood.
This sounds really bad if you play a chord and apply too much pressure to one or two of the notes. They´ll be off, and the chord won´t sound good.
A lot of beginners who try jumbo frets blame those bad-sounding chords on bad adjustement of the guitar ( intonation ), but when they bring the guitar to the store to be fixed, they are surprised to hear that the guitar actually is set up fine and that it´s about the frets.
A student of mine recently switched from a Strat with medium frets to a different guitar with high ones. He likes the feel of them, and the easier bending, but he claimed that it took him a few days to get used to this ( the "applying pressure" thing )

Look at Yngwie Malmsteen. A few years ago I read that he uses a set of 008-038 strings on a guitar with a fretboard with all the frets scalloped. You really need a light touch for that, cause 008s bend very easy...

I had many of my main guitars modified, had a luthier install jumbos ( usually Dunlop 6105s ), which really work well for many of the playing techniques I use.

About modifying frets. Well, usually, after a while and frequent playing, frets will start to wear out, they´ll get scratches, nicks and dings, which will cause buzzing and make it hard to correctly intonate and fret a note.... the usual wear and tear.
I have a luthier who files them down then, thereby smoothing them out ( that process often is referred to as a "fretjob" ). You can only have that done a few times, because after a while, the frets will be mediums. If a neck is at that point, I have the luthier replace the frets.

Hope this answers your questions
Eric

[Bongo Boy]

Whoa!! For whatever reason, I had the impression jumbos were primarily wider frets, NOT taller ones--that's why I asked if they were shorter than standard frets--because I felt that a fret that's a lot wider would be flatter, and would need to be lower.

So 'jumbo' means they stand off the fretboard more but still have a similar shape to the cross section?

If so, then this would suggest a taller nut, too. Eh?

[EricV]

Hey Bongo...

There are bunches of different frets... high and wide, small and narrow...
This chart ( by Dunlop ) kinda says it all:

CLICK (http://www.jimdunlop.com/maintenence/fretchart.html)

Other than that, when I had jumbo frets installed on guitars, I never had to have the nut replaced. Fitted like that. It might be necessary to adjust the action ( height of strings above fretboard ) at the bridge.
If there is a buzz appearing after higher frets have been installed, it might be helpful to adjust the trussrod of the neck to kinda bend the neck... of to simply install a different nut or: take out the nut ( or have that done by a luthier ), put some shims below it and put it back in. I did that once when I set up a guitar for playing slide on it...
Hope this helps
Eric