ant7629 Posted December 11, 2008 Share Posted December 11, 2008 Hi all Got a question about my Gibby LP which I bought a month or so ago. Its one of the new 08 standards and hence comes with the jumbo frets. Its a great guitar, but it seems to sound out of tune when playing open chords. I have found the only solution to be not be pressing as hard so the note doesn't go sharp. Is this the fault of the huge frets? I don't have the same problem with my Epi LP Custom, and the frets are pretty high on there too. I am hoping that solution ISN'T a fret job because it has been plek'd and it would seem a shame to file the frets down...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron G Posted December 11, 2008 Share Posted December 11, 2008 My standard response to this one is a wound G string. It worked for me and a whole lot of other players. Read on: http://images.onstagemag.com/files/46/0202Setuptxt.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randy1281734003 Posted December 11, 2008 Share Posted December 11, 2008 Did you check the intonation? It could also be you are inadvertantly bending the strings when you play open chords, it happened to me when I first transitioned from accoustic to electric. Hope this helps, I doubt you would need to level the frets on your new Gibby. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricochet Posted December 11, 2008 Share Posted December 11, 2008 I'm afraid jumbo-frets require an adaption of your technique. Like a scalloped neck it's easy to press the intonation off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RSDx Posted December 11, 2008 Share Posted December 11, 2008 My standard response to this one is a wound G string. It worked for me and a whole lot of other players. Read on: http://images.onstagemag.com/files/46/0202Setuptxt.html Interesting read' date=' Ron ..... great, more time consuming fiddling with "Miss Honey" <insert "wink" smilie here> Will have to delve into tryin' all that out, once my classes let out for the holidays Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ant7629 Posted December 11, 2008 Author Share Posted December 11, 2008 Thanks for the replies guys. Ron- Interesting suggestion, although I would wonder if bending techniques would be affected. Maybe I will just have to adjust as Ric says. I remember experiencing something like this after coming out of my "acoustic years" and playing electric again. On the subject..... Has anyone experienced "scraping" of the fret when bending? It feels like the top layer of the wire is coming off! This doesn't happen on the Gibson, but it has happened on a few on my other guitars..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarxBros Posted December 11, 2008 Share Posted December 11, 2008 On the subject..... Has anyone experienced "scraping" of the fret when bending? It feels like the top layer of the wire is coming off! This doesn't happen on the Gibson' date=' but it has happened on a few on my other guitars.....[/quote'] As I just said in another post in a different thread, most imports have soft fret wire. Aggressive bending will mar the fret surface VERY quickly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricochet Posted December 11, 2008 Share Posted December 11, 2008 As I just said in another post in a different thread' date=' most imports have soft fret wire. [/quote'] Yep. http://forums.epiphone.com/Default.aspx?g=posts&t=3414 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueLesPaul2006 Posted December 12, 2008 Share Posted December 12, 2008 I think you just have to get used to it. I had no problem when i played the 2008 standard but i switch from acoustic to electric all the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted December 12, 2008 Share Posted December 12, 2008 Open chords going sharp with pressure on a new Gibby is most likely due to a high nut. Mine has always done it, too. The Epis are cut low enough that they don't. I think you'll find that the problem doesn't happen so much on the 3rd and 5th fret as it does on the first two. Fret the 3rd and you should have only enough room to slide a sheet of standard paper under the 2nd. If you can slide a business card under the 2nd, it's way to high. A guitar dealer with a set of nut files can fix it in 15 minutes. Common problem... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tulsaslim Posted December 12, 2008 Share Posted December 12, 2008 Being an old guy I grew up playing the so-called 'fretless wonder' LPs of the late '60s'-early '70's and just feel much more comfortable with the short, narrow frets. Today, it seems, the medium-jumbo and large-jumbo frets are just about all anybody puts on new guitars. I'm not sure why. People talk about it being easier to bend strings but I've never had any problems bending strings with the small ones. Granted, the big frets are more 'forgiving' since they will grab the string pretty much anywhere the player puts his finger in between frets whereas with smaller frets a player needs to be more careful to put his finger right behind the fret to avoid fret buzz. I have 3 indentical (Fender) tele custom guitars that all came with large jumbo frets. I just got one of them back from my guitar tech who popped out the jumbos & replaced them with small stainless frets. Man, if there ever was a testimonial for small frets this is it. Night & day. Both me and my brother (who also likes small frets) were amazed at how much easier that guitar was/is to play now. To me putting jumbo frets on a guitar is akin to putting speed bumps on a dragstrip. It is very uncomfortable for me and really slows me down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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