Flat Crown Frets?

[Rich_D]

I just got an SG Standard that I love, but the frets are flattened, obviously deliberately. Is this a Gibson thing, and what is the idea behind it? The guitar plays great but the square frets bother me a little when I'm sliding. I've also heard that intonation isn't as accurate with all that contact on the string which makes sense.

[fillmore nyc]

I just got an SG Standard that I love, but the frets are flattened, obviously deliberately. Is this a Gibson thing, and what is the idea behind it? The guitar plays great but the square frets bother me a little when I'm sliding. I've also heard that intonation isn't as accurate with all that contact on the string which makes sense.

That doesnt seem normal... it sounds like a noob tried a fret leveling. Frets should have a crown to them, otherwise, as you said, the intonation WILL be off (sharp).

The intonation point of the note when fretting wont be above the fret tang, it'll at the front of the fret, and the amount that the note will be sharp will be dictated by the width of the fret.
Plus, string bending will be weird as well (it'll probably have a "grind-y" feel) across that flat surface as opposed to more of a rounded point which should be smoother, assuming the frets are properly dressed... for the occasion.

[guitar007]

I had a Les Paul like that. Once I got a proper fret job on it...it played better than ever.

[Rich_D]

So get a fret job; there's no good reason for flat frets. Thanks.

[fillmore nyc]

So get a fret job;

IF there's no fret-meat left... if they still have some height left, you can always have them re-crowned.
If they're VERY flat, then refretting is the answer, and as "guitar007" said, if the re-fret is done right, it'll play light years better.
IMO, a great fret job (with huge frets, for me at least) is a thing of beauty.

[NY Chief]

....huge frets, for me at least) is a thing of beauty.

Is that what they call "them" nowadys??????
Why am I not surprised, Bro?

[Rich_D]

The bigger the better.

[guitar007]

So get a fret job;

IF there's no fret-meat left... if they still have some height left, you can always have them re-crowned.
If they're VERY flat, then refretting is the answer, and as "guitar007" said, if the re-fret is done right, it'll play light years better.
IMO, a great fret job (with huge frets, for me at least) is a thing of beauty.

Sorry for my poor use of guitar terminology...I meant to say re-crown...fillmore is correct.

[yngwie308]

I have played the Les Paul Custom fretless wonders, both pre and SG and couldn't get on with them.
I even hated the fret wire width and height on my two Heritage Gary Moore's from new. I had to have the boards re leveled so we went with DiMarzio stainless steel fret wire, medium wide oval I believe, and I have loved them ever since.
It says a lot about the touch and style of a player how his frets wear though I believe.
You do want some point of sharp contact though for best intonation, even with the widest frets.
My experience with the HUGE 6000 or whatever they are YJM frets was that they were like bass frets, yet would not slow you down due to the extreme scalloping.
Rory Gallagher changed his frets to jumbos I believe, that Strat must hold the worlds record for re-frets!! I know this influenced Gary Moore to go that route with his first vintage proper Strat the 1961 Fiesta Red, something Gary did on a lot of Strat's afterwards. What size are on the Rory reissue, 6105's the modern size??
I must say that original size Fender frets do not bother me with the vintage radius though, it is a perfect design!
The Super Strats I have all have fairly modest sized jumbos, though some eighties Jackson Soloists I played had ridiculously high frets, (ok for JB though.. ).
I have been lucky with all of my guitars liking the fret wire with the exception, expensively of the Heritages.
yngwie308

[Reeltarded]

It's called PLEK and I tried to tell everyone and got beaten down for almost 10 years at this point.

Gibson's attention to detail went away with a cheap manufacturing process. Look at the nut action. It's 3x as high as you would like it overall. No service returns if your guitar can't fret out.



My guitars are all setup about one human hair at the first fret. Average modern Gibson, about 2 feet.

[fillmore nyc]

My guitars are all setup about one human hair at the first fret. Average modern Gibson, about 2 feet.

+1...
Compared to all the possible adjustments on a guitar (truss rod, bridge height, bridge radius matching the fretboard radius, and even if the neck angle is adjustable, the nut slot (and by default, the open string height at the first fret) is by far the most critical measurement on a guitar, and needs to be within a couple of thousands of an inch for the guitar to play perfectly.
Any error there, and a player feels (or hears) it immediately.

[Reeltarded]

People play electrics without amps, then complain about tiny rattles that do not dominate an amplified guitar..

And so begins civilization's slide into the abyss. Never judge an unplugged electric's setup, and practice instead. Newly dressed frets will still have areas of a little rattle until you play them flatter, couple weeks break-in. Perfect.

[fillmore nyc]

People play electrics without amps, then complain about tiny rattles that do not dominate an amplified guitar..

And so begins civilization's slide into the abyss. Never judge an unplugged electric's setup, and practice instead. Newly dressed frets will still have areas of a little rattle until you play them flatter, couple weeks break-in. Perfect.

And so it is said in the "hood", Word.

[Rich_D]

Well I bought it used, a 2009 I think. I love it other than the flat frets. What is weird is that the guitar is mint other than the flat frets; it doesn't seem to have enough wear on the pick guard, pickup covers etc. to have been used enough to need a leveling.

[Reeltarded]

New Gibsons need a crown job out of the box. It's certain. I have 3 guitars coming to me just today, R9, 335 reissue, and an SG.

PLEK puts a big fret on a flat board, and they machine the playing surface dead flat, a nice place to start... (you overpriced lazy bastards with all the trademarks and marketing...)

I think they call it gold bricking. The classic reputation is not upheld by the current methods, it's the opposite. Trashed reputation. Don't let the big ads fool us. Your guitar wasn't finished when they shipped it.