getting the frets filed on my RG! LOW ACTION!

FireAndSpirit · #1 05-18-2006, 07:42 PM

yay! The Jumbo frets are way too big! They are .053" off the fretboard. So I'm getting them filed to .043" which is a tad lower than my JEM.

So that means I can actually play fast now! too bad I'll have to wait a couple weeks.

brothersnowgone · #2 05-18-2006, 08:16 PM

Having bigger or smaller frets has nothing to do with how low you can get your action...

Eggy · #3 05-18-2006, 08:18 PM

Uhm....?
Personaly the bigger the frets, the faster I can play. I once owned a cream Gibson SG custom (3 pickups with gold hardware and trem tailpiece). That thing felt like the frets were painted on. I loved it at the time,mind you it had a set of 8's on it and I was 13yrs old. I had a trip down memory lane a couple of years ago and played a similar guitar in a shop..... I couldn't play it properly without aset of 10's and jumbo frets.
I think you'll devalue your RG IMHO.

Ben

toneboy · #4 05-18-2006, 08:31 PM

The other posters are right. If you play off the frets and not the fretboard (when you want to play fast runs for example), taller frets actually make it easier because you have less contact with the fretboard.

Whether or not you like the new lower frets, you will be taking quite a bit of life out of the frets and you'll just have to refret the guitar sooner.

**elcid** · #5 05-18-2006, 10:00 PM

well, I suppose if you have to blame something, the frets are as good as anything.

FireAndSpirit · #6 05-19-2006, 01:29 AM

I've tried to get the thing to play clean and it just won't. I've set it up in a many different ways. I just simply cant get the thing to have low action without a huge amount of buzz.

In order to get rid of the buzz I have to raise the action so much that when I play my RG it's just like I'm playing in slow-motion. I only want to take the frets down to the height of my JEM.

brothersnowgone · #7 05-19-2006, 01:34 AM

Like I said before, fret height has nothing to do with action. You should have just had a fret level, and if that wouldn't solve the problem there is something wrong with the way your setting it up.

Robot Boy · #8 05-19-2006, 06:59 AM

everyones right, frets have nothing to do with it. taller frets generally feel smoother and nicer. have the neck bow checked first, by a proffessional

**jim777** · #9 05-19-2006, 01:46 PM

If you get the frets crowned and polished, that will allow you to have lower action as they'll be more uniform from one to the next. that doesn't automatically equate to "lower frets = lower action". If one or two of the jumbo frets weren't set correctly in the neck, you'd need high action to keep them from buzzing but that would be true of any fret size.

Racerx2k · #10 05-19-2006, 03:51 PM

Exactly. Have the frets checked. Fret height means nothing, when it comes to lowering action. The notes at the fret, not the board.

toneboy · #11 05-19-2006, 03:57 PM

Any stock guitar you buy should always get checked over by a qualified tech for things like uneven frets. That's why I bought my PGM301 from Rich (at Ibanez Rules!). He's the only on-line vendor I've found that I trust to go over a guitar and fix problem like that.

gu1tar · #12 05-19-2006, 06:57 PM

Let me get this straight - lowering the fret size by 1/100th of an inch is going to lower the action? And if it did, a 1/100th reduction in action would make you play faster?

gu1tar · #13 05-19-2006, 06:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by elcid

well, I suppose if you have to blame something, the frets are as good as anything.

LOL

+1

TheJazzTerminator · #14 05-19-2006, 11:12 PM

... lol

Rusty Shackleford · #15 05-20-2006, 12:43 AM

I could be wrong but isnt the whole purpose of a scalloped neck gaining speed through less contact with the neck? And wouldnt taller frets be more like a scalloped neck than short frets?