Not a fan of small frets. I have a very aggressive, heavy-handed style that works best with big frets. I owned several Laklands before I realized what I didn't like about them, the tiny frets.
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Tiny frets; easier or harder to play on?my n
- Thread starter Fender_Bender
- Start date
I much prefer the smaller, vintage frets. I think it's one of the reasons I ended up favoring my RI Jazz over my Precision Elite (jumbo frets) so many years ago.
Pbassmanca
In the pocket n' thumpy. So woody, so greasy...
I love small vintage size frets. Only one of my basses, a Squier VM Tele Bass has them, and I wish all of my basses did. One of the things I really noticed about them is they seem to lend a more thumpy, woody characteristic to the tone than basses that do not have them, at least that's what I noticed. Obviously they're not as practical as larger Frets in terms of fret wear, but I definitely like the feel of them under my fingers as well.
Hmm. Good info. I’ve never had a refret yet, so I’m definitely no expert on how long frets can last. Had a couple of level ‘n crowns, but so far there’s always been enough left to work with
So, why did manufacturers (in general not every one on every model, of course) move to medium jumbo?
I actually do think I notice the woodier tone on my RW jazz. My VM jazz is sparklier and more immediate in tone, but I usually switch back to the RW after 10-15 minutes.
The smaller the better. I love feeling the fretboard as I play, it seems softer and warmer. Really a left hand feel thing for me.
fquestion: what 'fret style' is likely to be preferred by beginners?
For an absolute beginner I think that bigger frets might be easier. I’m thinking there’ll be less chance of them being ham handed and pressing the strings down far enough to actually contact the board. Just my guess.
Fender_Bender , thanks for the response! sounds logical to me. i was thinking the same thing but wasn't sure.
I like as low an action as I can get away with, and as low a string height, so tiny frets would be my preference if I got to choose between tiny and jumbo.
You may be on to something there. As I mentioned, I seem to have to pay more attention to avoid having some clams in there. The wider neck (incredibly stiff too) with wider string spacing are probably throwing off my automatic pilot more though. I’ll get the hang of her eventually.
Big frets became popular on guitar as they make it easier to bend notes. Foe some reason as more and more guitars were made with big frets so too more basses came with big frets even though very few bass players bend notes much at all.
See above!
There could be a perceived quality issue, ie I paid $3000 and they gave me toy frets.
Again, that's just your opinion. I'll rephrase my previous reply for beginners...One beginner may prefer small frets, while another beginner may prefer larger frets.
I am a big fan of tiny frets as well. Silky smooth glissandos and a nicer feel for the left hand, IMO. I bought a neck for my last build and when I realized it didn't have those vintage sized beauties on it, I sold it and wound up buying a Road Worn neck for the project. IMO, it's tiny frets or nothing. As far as a difference in sound? Minimal to none as far as I can hear.
I was wondering about that. As Fender and especially Gibson are primarily guitar makers*, I can imagine them somewhat just mindlessly following the advancement to medium jumbo on guitar with their bass models. Or another way to put it is that the discovery that "Medium jumbos are better for bending" became simplified down to just "medium jumbos are better", and eventually after medium jumbos got well established, also "narrow frets are old fashioned".
Probably customers are just as responsible too — I know I used to avoid narrow frets such as I’d see on CIJ instruments because they looked different and weird and I was unsure about what I’d be getting into, whereas medium jumbos were a known. Also, in the 90’s and early 2000s I was more into "vintage style with modern improvements" rather than anything "pure vintage". Just the idea of "vintage frets", without knowing anything factual about them other than the name, would have been a turnoff. I liked things that were vintage style, but at the time equated unadulterated "vintage" with "difficult and/or problematic, clunky, etc." Now if I see the word "vintage", I’m immediately at least intruiged.
*(I realize I might get some disagreement on whether Fender is primarily a guitar maker. I don’t know that for a fact, but just where I live I see more Fender guitars for sale than basses. Still see lots and lots of basses, don’t get me wrong — just less of them (a smaller selection) in general music stores)
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I had a productive practice this evening and think I’ve turned the corner on getting acclimated to the bass and frets. Like post 78 said, glissando’s seem to go really well. The frets are not high and I’ve dialed in a low action with zero buzz so it’s playing very close to the board. I’m really appreciating how responsive and immediate the single coil is with the magnets directly under the strings. Stock pup is pretty decent all round but I’ll probably eventually replace it.