# Bass fret size?



## Richie666 (Sep 6, 2014)

I'm going to buy a Carvin bass soon and can't decide upon fret size. I use jumbos on my guitars which I've grown to prefer but never really thought about fret size when it comes to basses. Any obvious advantages/disadvantages? Preferences? 

I'm leaning towards SS jumbos but unfortunately I have no way of testing any basses out in the near future.


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## vansinn (Sep 6, 2014)

I used to prefer medium-jumbo on guitars until I got one with slim half-high frets.
However, my 7-string Wolf bass came with fairly slim medium-high hard allow frets, and I'm sure I would not like them any fatter than this.
There's a pic of it in my profile, dunno if it's detailed enough to be useful 

Somehow I find non-jumbo frets gives me a more 'accurate' feel, both on guitar and bass.
This is of course at the price of getting a good grab on them for deep bends on guitar - I don't band much on bass. It's really a personal feel, so I can't advise other than suggesting to try out different ones in a shop..


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## TemjinStrife (Sep 6, 2014)

Depends on how hard you press and what sort of techniques you do. My Dingwall has super small banjo frets, and I haven't had any issues with it, but some of my other basses have pretty large frets and also play great.


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## 7stg (Sep 6, 2014)

With Carvin I always get the Jescar 55090 Fretwire in stainless as option 50 which measures.
.055" H .090" W - Jescar 55090

Carvin standard stainless fretwire measurements are
.043" H .080" W - STRF - Stainless Regular Fret
.048" H .103" W - STF - Stainless Med-Jumbo Frets
.055" H .110" W - STJF - Stainless Jumbo Frets


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## HaMMerHeD (Sep 6, 2014)

I like LMI's FW74. I would call it straight medium. 0.043" crown height, and 0.079" crown width.


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## Grand Moff Tim (Sep 6, 2014)

Pfffft, frets. Get you a blank board, son.


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## yingmin (Sep 7, 2014)

Grand Moff Tim said:


> Pfffft, frets. Get you a blank board, son.



The best fret size is "none".


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## RV350ALSCYTHE (Sep 7, 2014)

I always used to choose Jumbo or bigger, then I tried a Dingwall with Banjo sized frets and it plays and sounds much better than bigger frets for bass guitar. I'd like to try them in SS eventually.

"We use 18% hard nickel silver fretwire. Lee Sklar turned us onto the benefits of small frets. The advantages are a more woody, less metallic tone, smoother glissandos and a faster feel. Our standard size is banjo size. This is the same size as youd find on most guitars from the 50s and 60s. Although its size is smaller than standard bass fretwire, its service life is about the same."


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## Richie666 (Sep 7, 2014)

Grand Moff Tim said:


> Pfffft, frets. Get you a blank board, son.



Hey man...


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## vansinn (Sep 7, 2014)

Grand Moff Tim said:


> Pfffft, frets. Get you a blank board, son.



 - make it a LeFay Remington Steele stainless steel fretless


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## Richie666 (Sep 7, 2014)

You just inspired me to finally do a NBD! The new bass I have in mind is essentially identical to this one except it will be green and fretted.

I mainly use jumbo frets on my guitar because I find bending to be easier which is big part of my playing. This won't really factor into my bass playing however. As for style I use many techniques including slapping, finger-style and with a pick. I don't press particularly hard but I wouldn't necessarily call it a soft touch.

I'm now leaning towards medium-jumbos.


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## pushpull7 (Sep 9, 2014)

So like everything else, it's taste.


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