Fret height vs string gauge

[alex1fly]

Does anyone prefer larger gauge for larger/taller frets, or vice versa? I'm finding that my tall-fretted guitars tend to need a lighter touch as the strings can go further out of tune, so I've combated this by increasing the string gauge on those guitars. On the flip side, short-fretted guitars seem to do better with light strings.

Anyone have similar experiences matching gauge with fret height? Or not at all? Curious to hear some thoughts. I've added a few guitars to the stable this year after playing pretty much a single Strat since 2002. Not surprisingly, other guitars are different (gasp) and I'm having fun getting to know them.

 

[Adieu]

No? Unless you mean action not fret height

Super low action likes 11's unless you're a very gentle touch

 

[alex1fly]

I mean the height of the frets. I'm finding that the taller the frets, the more I'll push the note sharp if I have heavy hand. Larger gauges are harder to push down, mitigating some of the sharpness.

 

[Sirion]

From a physics perspective this would make sense. For myself, I like thin strings (.009-.042 in Eb) and tall frets, and to play with a light touch and rely on my ears for intonation.

 

[GuitarStv]

I like .11s in standard tuning on 6100 or bigger frets. Smaller strings feel too mushy to me, but I don't think it has anything to do with fret size. They feel too mushy on small frets too and I prefer 11s there as well.

 

[ehdwuld]

Yeah all mine are 9-42
The Ibanez RGs have the super jumbo frets and really low action

They go sharp easy
Almost like scallops

The lower frets on my Epiphone Florentine dont do that
It also has 9-42 and super low action

I dont think it has a lot to do with gauge
It might

But I ain't playing no thick telephone pole wire

 

[Demanic]

I usually like taller frets with 10-50's. Just got a Strat with the vintage style frets (much shorter and narrower than what I'm used to) and put a new set of the above mentioned strings on it and love it. Aside from the fret ends, which are a work in progress. Plenty easy to play, good sustain and tone. Had to adjust the intonation a bit, but no biggie.

Sent from my SM-A115A using Tapatalk

 

[Mincer]

Actually, I've never thought about it in relationship to the fret height. I've only thought about string size in relationship to how easy/hard it is to play.

 

[Demanic]

Once you get used to playing bass, guitars are easy, regardless the gauge.

Sent from my SM-A115A using Tapatalk

 

[Clint 55]

No, cuz I like the maga jumbo frets where I don't feel the board too much. I'm used to it for whatever gauge. It feels bad to me to play small frets now.

 

[Bogner]

I am super gifted and can play anything you place in my hands with ease and excellence. I especially excel in poor intonation and fretting and bending things out of tune no matter the string size, fret height, scale length, action, you name it.

 

[ItsaBass]

Why would it make a difference unless you were playing too far back from the frets, and in the bad habit of letting your fretboard control your fretting pressure? You should be fretting just behind a fret, not right in between two of them. I play on the frets for a slightly damped tone, or just a bit behind for a normal tone and sustain. It was literally part of my first day ever of guitar instruction, and it stuck.

Moving between string tensions takes some technique adjustment, and the same with moving between different frets. That's just how it goes. But moving between fret heights affecting how much I push a string out of tune during normal fretting? No; never. The fretboard is not a "stop" that controls how much pressure I put on the strings...and I'm pretty much playing on, or choked right up to, the frets anyhow, so even if I was using the fretboard that way, it still wouldn't make much difference.

 

[Demanic]

My first experience with a stringed instrument was a cello. For guitar, I had to train myself to play behind the fret, that was a challenge.

Sent from my SM-A115A using Tapatalk

 

[ehdwuld]

Why would it make a difference unless you were playing too far back from the frets, and in the bad habit of letting your fretboard control your fretting pressure? You should be fretting just behind a fret, not right in between two of them. I play on the frets for a slightly damped tone, or just a bit behind for a normal tone and sustain. It was literally part of my first day ever of guitar instruction, and it stuck.

Moving between string tensions takes some technique adjustment, and the same with moving between different frets. That's just how it goes. But moving between fret heights affecting how much I push a string out of tune during normal fretting? No; never. The fretboard is not a "stop" that controls how much pressure I put on the strings...and I'm pretty much playing on, or choked right up to, the frets anyhow, so even if I was using the fretboard that way, it still wouldn't make much difference.

You sir
have some skinny fingers

A major

E

Any proper barre chord

How do you get all those fingers in a row right behind the fret?

I call BS

 

[Demanic]

You sir
have some skinny fingers

A major

E

Any proper barre chord

How do you get all those fingers in a row right behind the fret?

I call BS

I don't know, maybe be trained in classical guitar?

Sent from my SM-A115A using Tapatalk

 

[ItsaBass]

You sir
have some skinny fingers

A major

E

Any proper barre chord

How do you get all those fingers in a row right behind the fret?

I call BS

A formation is the hands down easiest open chord to play right on the fret. You simply bar the three-note formation: ring finger bar when using a full bar behind it, or bar the three notes with the index finger if playing an open A. Haven't played a three finger open A since I was probably 8 years old, and being taught by a teacher who didn't really know anything on a formal level (my dad). It's a terrible formation from a technique perspective (as you have so helpfully pointed out), and it ties fingers up needlessly.

E formation ends up with only the ring finger a bit farther back...but not much at all. A few mm, maybe. And you can get it right on the fret, if you have just a bit more time to position your fingers. All other notes end up right on the fret without struggle. And are you gripping your neck like a vise, enough to bend that note out of tune with your ring finger a few mm back? If so, you have other problems to work on.

And, ya know...there are many other things on the guitar aside from A and E formations.

I do not have skinny fingers. I have short fingers and wide palms.

If you're calling B.S. on this, you haven't ever really tried it. It's extremely easy – playing between the frets is harder for me...because of the problems it can create, that need to be consciously compensated for.

 

[Mincer]

A regular A-formation barre chord is tough for me. I can do it, but I've got small hands, and it isn't comfortable.

 

[GuitarStv]

A regular A-formation barre chord is tough for me. I can do it, but I've got small hands, and it isn't comfortable.

Index was easy, but it took me a really long time to get the hang of doing a bar with my ring finger. I still default to using middle/ring/pinky rather than the bar most of the time out of habit unless the chord explicitly calls for it. Made it a breeze to learn the A shaped maj7 barre chords though.

 

[alex1fly]

Neat responses. I wonder if my technique needs to adapt to the taller frets. I just push notes out of tune so easily with light strings on tall frets. Thick strings on tall frets, not so much. But thick strings have a whole host of disadvantages too.

 

[GuitarStv]

Neat responses. I wonder if my technique needs to adapt to the taller frets. I just push notes out of tune so easily with light strings on tall frets. Thick strings on tall frets, not so much. But thick strings have a whole host of disadvantages too.

Tall frets reward a light touch. That's why you can play faster on them . . . they force you to use a light touch and the less pressure the less tension, the less tension the faster the fingers work.