Frets

[albertgen]

Higher frets make pull-offs easier and better sounding finger vibrato. Al

[captainvideo]

On the contrary, I've found too high of frets act as "speed bumps" and make slides more difficult. Also sometimes depending on the players touch, individual notes out of tune while fretting chords.

[Norm]

I think both are right to a degree...

I had my gent refretted. My guy said "I left them tall"

Now, high frets do indeed produce a better finger vibrato. Nato Lima had at least one guitar that had the fingerboard scooped between frets to expand on this effect. I think guitar builders call this 'scalloping' the fingerboard.

The Concert Zither (think Third Man Theme) has extremely high frets. They're more like blunt blades than frets and in good hands they produce an excellent vibrato for this very reason.

But I sent my guitar back to have the frets taken down a bit more. I found the fingerboard to be too 'bumpy' for my taste. And since I don't play classical and Loooove my Bigsby, the finger vibrato is not an issue to me.

Paul Yandell went to taller frets as did Chet but both of those men had high actions on their guitars and Paul had said more than once that "Chet had real strong hands" which enter into the equation too...

It's a personal matter...

[guitarchuck]

Here's what Chet said in the October 1979 Guitar Player Magazine interview:

GP: Are there any other modifications on your Country Gentleman?

Chet: I just recently had some high frets put on - I believe they're 105 thousandths of an inch high. The higher frets make the guitar sustain better, and pull-offs with the fingers sound more attractive and are easier to do.

[guitarchuck]

Just curious, has anyone measured the fret height on their Gretsch G6122-1959 Country Gentleman/Nashville Classic?

[Terry Tolley]

My 2004 Nashville Classic measures .045" using one of those digital calipers that I got from Harbor Freight.

[Brian Ingram]

About a year ago, I got an acoustic guitar with much bigger frets than I was accustomed to.

I did feel the "speed bump" effect at first. Then, I began to notice I could get a cleanly ringing note with less finger pressure. So fretting notes seemed to take less physical effort. As a result, the guitar with the big frets has 13's on it, yet plays as easily (perhaps more so) than my other acoustic with 12's and smaller frets.

I'm not going to run out and have my guitars refretted, but I became a believer.

For what it's worth, very tall frets also require you to use less finger pressure, because you can more easily bend the notes sharp due the extra distance between the string and fretboard.

If you can get used to the feel of not mashing your finger all the way to the fretboard, you can adjust quite easily to the change.

[craigdobbins]

Chuck, Paul told me that Chet's frets on the Gretsch CG weren't that high, that Chet mis-spoke or was mis-quoted. I forget what he said they did measure; maybe Norm has it down somewhere.

I have high frets on my Sand, and of course on my '59 CG. (Paul McGill put high frets on my DV, too.) They feel great on those guitars. My Tele has very low frets, and low action with .009-.42 strings, and it feels great. My McCullough Clawmaster also has very low frets. With me, it varies from guitar to guitar, how I want it to feel, and the sound I'm looking for.

That said, I agree with both Al and captainvideo- it just depends on the guitar.

Thanks,

Craig

[Norm]

Craig...

On my archive it doesn't say much about frets aand what he does is pretty consistant

"...When I started with Chet I was using .050 high frets on my guitars. Chet liked them and had some put on his Country Gentleman...." Paul Yandell cgp

Then, farther down he says this:

"...I don’t know if he ever had occasion to refret the ’59 except once after I started working with him. I was using larger frets and he liked them so he had Jerry Jones, I believe it was, refret it for him. They are still on the guitar..."
Paul Yandell cgp

and even farther:

"...The height of Chet's frets on his 59 Gretsch Country Gentleman is 050. or 1.29mm The prototype of mine when I got it had a height of 095. I couldn't play it in tune so I took them down to 060..." (by "mine" he meant his first Nashville Classic)
Paul Yandell cgp

[guitarchuck]

My 2004 Nashville Classic measures .045" using one of those digital calipers that I got from Harbor Freight

Thanks for measuring that Terry!

Chuck, Paul told me that Chet's frets on the Gretsch CG weren't that high, that Chet mis-spoke or was mis-quoted. I forget what he said they did measure; maybe Norm has it down somewhere.

Craig, now that you mention it, I remember that was brought up before.

I have high frets on my Sand, and of course on my '59 CG.

Craig, does your 59 CG have the stock frets? If so are they taller than other Gretsch frets?