Speed Bumps

[Brad Scott]

Hello all,

In looking for an Anderson, I am reminded of the DT I owned a couple of years ago and unfortunately sold. One of the reasons I let it go was that it had heavy frets installed, and I remember having a fair amount of difficulty adjusting to them.

The heavy frets felt like speed bumps for me; actually slowing me down and tearing up the tips of my fingers. After only minutes of playing, I would notice deep creases in my fingers, and experience a fair amount of discomfort.

When I spoke to Roy about this, he said that I should use a lighter touch; the idea is not to dig in like I'm used to doing with my Strat, but lightly press the strings -- which, he said, actually facilitates faster playing . . . not the opposite. I tried using a lighter touch, but only got buzzing in return. When I did press down harder to properly fret the note, it seemed I was back to my old painful problem again.

I don't know if anyone else shares this feeling or if I'm the only one (most players seem to prefer the heavy frets), but as much as I want to like heavy frets, I had a difficult time of it and never fully adjusted to them.

What's the secret to playing with heavy frets? Is it a case of simply getting used to them, or that playing guitar shouldn't be that painful and if it hurts now, chances are it'll hurt 3 months from now?

Thanks

[oscar100]

the answer for me at least is teh medium frets which i like alot but are not on many andersons -

teh heavys seem to work better on teh cobra style neck 4 me

:cool:

[John Price]

That's the beauty of Anderson guitars! You can order them anyway you want!!
Order one with the medium frets!!!

[tom]

i grew up playing small fretted guitars. all our early guitars had heavy frets cause that's what people wanted. i felt the same as you. it took me years to feel comfortable with them. i can play them now but prefer the mediums. you could also order smalls.

[Brad Scott]

So it sounds like you do get used to them in time. I might give them another try; if it proves to be a difficult adjustment, I will definitely switch to mediums.

Is there truth to the statement that the heavy frets actually intonate better and bend easier?

[tom]

intonation is a question of fret crowning and player technique. if the fret is crowned so the top is not too flat and wide intonation can be good regardless of the fret size. taller frets make it more important for the player to be aware of how hard they press down with their fingers. if you push down too hard you will make the note go sharp.