Do jumbo frets help with lower action?

[3reach]

Okay...


I currently have a Epiphone Les Paul Zakk Wylde Custom. When I play with medium action, bends are great, but too high for fast playing.

When I set the action low, fast playing is much easier, but bends really suck. It feels like, i dunno, like the string tension magically increased, like there is less room for my fingers to push down on frets/no room.

Do jumbo frets help with this? I would like easy fast playing, along with those great bends.

[Rich#6]

Yes jumbo frets do help but it sounds like you are lowering the action too low.

[Newc]

You need the compound radius of a Jackson.

Or learn to shred it like Rhoads and Zakk.

[Twitch]

I vote too low action as well, and Zakk has sledge hammers for fingers, so I doubt he uses a super low action. Listen to the acoustic piece on 1919 Eternal, he fuckin shreds on an acoustic and every note is clear as day, sledge hammer fingers.

[PowerTube]

Yes. Jumbo frets provide a similar benefit to a scalloped fretboard; they allow low action where you can still "dig in" and have great control. I've always said that if Yngwie had started on a guitar with jumbo frets, he may have never scalloped a neck.

[TKEblue]

I don't understand this. But maybe cos I've never played with super low action. What actually causes the bends to "suck"?

The only real difference I find in the different sized frets is when I play legato riffs. Huge difference there.

[Rich#6]

TKEblue

I don't understand this. But maybe cos I've never played with super low action. What actually causes the bends to "suck"?

The only real difference I find in the different sized frets is when I play legato riffs. Huge difference there.

A note that sounds fine with super low action can fretout on a bend if the action is too low. It feels like your grinding into the fret. Should happen less on a Jackson because of the compound radius. a flatter radius helps.
Here's a link I found
http://www.philtone.com/radius.html

[Rich#6]

FYI the guitar you have has a 12" radius, so if you want that super lower action and you want to bend too you will need a Jackson/Charvel that has the 12-16 or like an ibanez that has a straight 16" radius. If you would have that done to your guitar it would cost at least $300.

[MakeAJazzNoiseHere]

Jumbo frets help keep your fingertips off the fretboard when you bend/allow you to catch the string easier when you have the action low.

If the notes are fretting out when you bend then the action is too low. You can get the action plenty low on a straight 12" radius if the frets are leveled nicely and there's a little fall-away in the upper frets, maybe not as low as you can get on a compound radius but IMO if .2 mm makes the difference between shredding or stumbling around you need to practice more.

[Chief_CrazyTalk]

Action is action, I think, no matter the height or width of your frets...or the radius of the fretboard. I've got an old tele with a 7.5" radius and tiny vintage frets and that thing has a pretty low action. Surprisingly the notes don't choke out either when bending. Once you get used to it, it's a very nice-playing guitar.

That said, I love the feel of big frets and flat, wide fretboards. You may want to get a good setup and possibly some fretwork done by a good tech.

[ginsambo]

You can get the action plenty low on a straight 12" radius

x2 you can get the action very low on Les Pauls, its the Fender radius which usually cause the choking on bends.

Very Jumbo frets can be out of tune, especially on the nut end of the guiitar, depending on how hard you press the strings, but they do feel kind of bubbly.

Higher action feels more wholesome and is more versatile IMO. You just have to refine your technique so you can play long runs clearly without noise.

I can't believe you can get Jackson action on an old Tele without fretting out past the 12th fret though.

[3reach]

Thanks guys. I am looking forward to the RR1 jumbo frets. Maybe I can try 8 gauge strings?


Off topic:

My Epi's neck is too thick for my taste's. I was under the impression that the RR1 had a thin neck but this pic of an RR1 looks just as big as my epi's neck!

[longafterdark]

It is thin. picture is deceiving, nothing to compare it to.

[xenophobe]

Um... many Rhoads have thick LP type necks. KV's speed neck profile is thinner.

[TKEblue]

Just sand it down, I did that to my studio, but the studio is a lot thicker 50s neck. there's a more precise way to do it and I think sully documented himself doing it once.