Greg.Bassman Posted January 10, 2018 Share Posted January 10, 2018 Hi all. I’m just curious to know how fret height and width effects playability? Being a light-player, I require my action as low as I can get it; that way, I don’t have to press so hard on the board to fret notes. However, I can never get it low enough on my fender jazz without the associated spiking and buzzing. Would a change in fret height/width make a difference, and if so, what measurement would you recommend for someone (like myself) who is looking for a (very) low action? Cheers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HowieBass Posted January 10, 2018 Share Posted January 10, 2018 I would think (though others might have to correct me) that ensuring the frets are correctly levelled and an appropriate amount of neck relief has been set is more important than the fret profile (height/width). When you have a really low action do you get fret buzz consistently along the whole fretboard or is it confined more to one area of the neck in particular? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norris Posted January 11, 2018 Share Posted January 11, 2018 That sounds spot on @HowieBass. A fret dress and setup will help get the action lower Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_b Posted January 11, 2018 Share Posted January 11, 2018 9 hours ago, Greg.Bassman said: Hi all. I’m just curious to know how fret height and width effects playability? This is one detail that doesn't affect me at all. I've had basses with fat, Gibson-style frets, thin, banjo frets, high and low and everything in between and I've not noticed any difference in the way any of these basses play. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg.Bassman Posted January 11, 2018 Author Share Posted January 11, 2018 (edited) 20 hours ago, HowieBass said: I would think (though others might have to correct me) that ensuring the frets are correctly levelled and an appropriate amount of neck relief has been set is more important than the fret profile (height/width). When you have a really low action do you get fret buzz consistently along the whole fretboard or is it confined more to one area of the neck in particular? Hi HowieBass. Sorry about my late response. Yes, I’m aware that there are other factors that come into play as far as action is concerned, I have other threads on here that focus on such. But for this particular thread, I was curious to know more about frets, as it is something that I think often gets over-looked. But thank you for the reminder, you are right, relief and levelling are very important. To answer your question, whenever I have had problems with buzzing, it is generally confined to one part of the neck... Edited January 11, 2018 by Greg.Bassman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HowieBass Posted January 11, 2018 Share Posted January 11, 2018 Hi @Greg.Bassman - you probably know this already but usually if fret buzz is confined to the area near the nut then that suggests insufficient relief whereas fret buzz at the 'dusty end' suggests there's too much relief - where's it occurring with your jazz bass? Like others I've never noticed any difference in playability whatever the fret profiles on my basses though obviously when frets get too worn and flattened that's likely going to affect intonation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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