Fret sizes - ESP

[gwEm]

I went to a guitar shop and tried a few ESPs. I was pretty excited, with their good reputation and so on.

However, I hated them without exception which was disappointing.

The ones I tried it seems all had what they are calling XJ (eXtra Jumbo I guess) fret wire and I believe it was the feeling they gave that made them so unpleasant  to me.

I'm used to vintage size Fender and Gibson fret sizes, and I like the feel of both. I also quite like the slightly different frets modern Fenders use.

But these ESP frets were something else, something like Dunlop 6100 I assume? But that would be weird, because I tried some guitars with 6100 fret wire at Feline Guitars and they felt quite ok, not like these. Maybe something with the dressing..

What do people think about these frets?

[Toe-Knee]

I went to a guitar shop and tried a few ESPs. I was pretty excited, with their good reputation and so on.

However, I hated them without exception which was disappointing.

The ones I tried it seems all had what they are calling XJ (eXtra Jumbo I guess) fret wire and I believe it was the feeling they gave that made them so unpleasant  to me.

I'm used to vintage size Fender and Gibson fret sizes, and I like the feel of both. I also quite like the slightly different frets modern Fenders use.

But these ESP frets were something else, something like Dunlop 6100 I assume? But that would be weird, because I tried some guitars with 6100 fret wire at Feline Guitars and they felt quite ok, not like these. Maybe something with the dressing..

What do people think about these frets?

I find that ESPs generally don't have as much curvature or height to their frets in comparison to other guitars with the same size frets such as Ibanez. Its never caused me any issues though and has always led to being able to get a lower action and straighter neck straight out of the box.

[gwEm]

I find that ESPs generally don't have as much curvature or height to their frets in comparison to other guitars with the same size frets such as Ibanez. Its never caused me any issues though and has always led to being able to get a lower action and straighter neck straight out of the box.

Interesting. I also tried an Ibanez Sabre in the same session. I didn't like the thin neck, but the frets presented me no problems. Ibanez calls these frets 'Jumbo' which suggests a smaller size.

[Toe-Knee]

I find that ESPs generally don't have as much curvature or height to their frets in comparison to other guitars with the same size frets such as Ibanez. Its never caused me any issues though and has always led to being able to get a lower action and straighter neck straight out of the box.

Interesting. I also tried an Ibanez Sabre in the same session. I didn't like the thin neck, but the frets presented me no problems. Ibanez calls these frets 'Jumbo' which suggests a smaller size.

Ibanez use different sized frets across the range. The dress of the frets can also make them look/feel larger or smaller than they are. My Ibanez Premium and RG331 both have jumbo frets but the Premiums frets look and feel significantly smaller due to the way they've been dressed.

[gwEm]

I believe you 100% Toe-Knee.

Yesterday I went to some guitar shops and spent a long time looking at the frets. This issue really bothered me so much - in fact the assistants probably thought I was crazy.

As you say, most of the difference is in the height and dressing of the frets. Some of those metal-ish ESP LTDs have very high frets which are dressed in a sort of unusual pointed way. I noticed the vintage strat-like models have more like traditional Gibson style height and dressing, though I though the actual width seems to be the same for all models.

I also looked at the Ibanez frets, in general they seem to be more or less the same width as ESP, but are less high and more conventionally dressed. As you also said, theres quite a bit of variation in fret types on Ibanez.

Jackson and Charvel had larger frets than Gibson, but not overly. I have one Jackson and hadn't noticed a difference until I carried out this little study.

I also looked on other forums and some other people feel the same as me about the ESP frets, so I'm glad I'm not imagining things.

Anyway, I vaguely fancied an LTD H or MH model, so I am disappointed.

[Toe-Knee]

I believe you 100% Toe-Knee.

Yesterday I went to some guitar shops and spent a long time looking at the frets. This issue really bothered me so much - in fact the assistants probably thought I was crazy.

As you say, most of the difference is in the height and dressing of the frets. Some of those metal-ish ESP LTDs have very high frets which are dressed in a sort of unusual pointed way. I noticed the vintage strat-like models have more like traditional Gibson style height and dressing, though I though the actual width seems to be the same for all models.

I also looked at the Ibanez frets, in general they seem to be more or less the same width as ESP, but are less high and more conventionally dressed. As you also said, theres quite a bit of variation in fret types on Ibanez.

Jackson and Charvel had larger frets than Gibson, but not overly. I have one Jackson and hadn't noticed a difference until I carried out this little study.

I also looked on other forums and some other people feel the same as me about the ESP frets, so I'm glad I'm not imagining things.

Anyway, I vaguely fancied an LTD H or MH model, so I am disappointed.

I have been wanting a MH400 for years but everytime I see one I come to the conclusion that I already have way too many guitars.

[FELINEGUITARS]

gWem - I have this beast up for grabs that you could try
It's very nice and has Bare Knuckle Warpigs in it already and I've done my usual fret fettling
We also swapped out the elecs to BKP pots and a jensen cap

[gwEm]

thanks for thinking of me Jonathan.

I went with a Jackson in the end. Though I have some routing in mind for it, so I expect I'll be over to your place any way ;)