low frets, what to do??

[BDR]

Hey fellas,
I need some opinions. I have my high school sweetheart Les Paul 1970 Custom, orginal owner. I played it thru high school and a few years after and then it stayed in the case except for the ocassional jam with myself.
I got into strats about 6 years ago and still don't do much with the Paul.
Recently I have gone thru it and done allot of the Dan Ewarlwine mods and it plays great BUT ..... here's the biggie, I can't play it worth a crap with these fretless wonder frets, so should I invest in a new fret job and out here that is going to be hard to find a qualfied person to even do one, or should I consider selling and just finding one with bigger frets.... I am a Blues player and I play hard and really dig into the fretboard for those bends I like.
I mean these frets are so low it will be hard to even measure how high they are. I have never played another Paul, are they all this way?
I look forward to any and all answers.
BDR

[terence_tez]

we have roman and greg here...both superb luthiers.don't worry,they will spot this thread soon and offer advise...

[LoKi]

I go back and forth on frets myself. Sometimes I like the wide tall frets, like the 6100's found on Zakk Wylde Customs, or the tall narrow frets like on my EVH Wolfgang... 6105 I think.

But nothing beats the ease and speed of those low Les Paul Custom frets from the 70's. I love my 79 the way it is. Took some getting used too, but I find it very comfortable now.

[Hemply]

I've had fretless wonder on my 69LPC and you are right about the limitations you will face especially with your style playing. I enjoyed the fretless wonder but eventually grew tired of them and replaced them with Jumbos! With Jumbos I think you might find what you are looking for, I did.

Just a heads-up if you do get the Jumbos make sure you tell them you wanted the frets sanded and crowned as well, if they charge extra it's well worth the expense.

Good Luck!

PS if you decide to let her go I'll give her a nice home next to my Historic 68LPC, and Vintage 69LPC.

[b-squared]

+1

Did the same thing with my '76 LP Custom. It's awesome.

BB

[Robster]

Nope, there's nothing you can do - you should probably just pack it up and ship it to me - I'll take care of the hunk of junk myself - probably just set fire to it...

LOL

Man - I LOVE those fretless wonders! Just take the time to learn to adapt to those tiny frets, and you'll never go back to that strat, man! DIG the tiny frets, baby!!!

R

[dwagar]

I've got Jumbos on my '74, it's great with them.

But, you have an original '70. I'd have to suggest you keep it that way, if you really want a different LP, I'd say sell it. A '70 is getting to be worth quite a bit now.

[Roman Rist]

Originally Posted by Hemply

Just a heads-up if you do get the Jumbos make sure you tell them you wanted the frets sanded and crowned as well, if they charge extra it's well worth the expense.

That should be included in the price of a fret job period! If someone charges you extra, for doing something that is part of the job, that is wrong.

As to the question to fret or not to fret, Well, you want to enjoy playing it?

If you like the guitar use it as the tool it is and make it yours.

Roman

[alligatorbling]

Id get a re-fret job done... I just had one of my strats refretted with jumbo wire... A gentelman named Dennis Bonanza did the job... This guy does amazing work and dosent charge an arm and a leg like most folks doing fretwork these days... heres a link to his site if your interested.
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[Liam]

Originally Posted by RFR

As to the question to fret or not to fret, Well, you want to enjoy playing it?

If you like the guitar use it as the tool it is and make it yours.

Couldn't have put it better myself. I stalled on getting a refret on one of my Les Pauls, just thought it wasn't that bad. Then realised it was an old favourite that never got played. Got some frets put in it and it's back in regular use. I'd forgotten how much I liked it!

Take time to find a luthier you can trust. Nothing worse than a nice guitar wrecked by a shoddy refret.

[BDR]

Well thanks for the comments fellas, I am torn. If this were a strat I would refret it in a heartbeat. But I have never done anything major or minor for that fact to this guitar... It's been off limits to my experimenting on guitars.
I tear strats apart all day and never think twice about it.
I have contacted several of the people you all have mentioned and we'll see what the costs are.
My gut tells me that I should leave it alone.
Thanks again for all the advice.
BDR

[eddie_bowers]

My high school sweetheart is a 1984 Les Paul Custom and I had the same attitude (leave it stock) for all these years until this year then I stated experimenting with the electronics. It's clearly not as major as a refret, but I'm so glad I made some changes because it's so much more playable now. It's going to the grave with me, so why the hell not

[5F6-A]

My take is this: if you want to keep the guitar as a memento/investment leave it as it is . If you want to play it on a regular basis treat it to a refret. Very few things you can do to a guitar to make it play better. I'm installing jumbo frets on mine a.s.a.p.

[LoKi]

I dunno man... an all original 70 LP... At the rate the value's are increasing it might be worth more than your house someday.

[Weldaar]

If you are holding onto it for collectable reasons, by all means leave it alone. Personally, if it doesn't feel right playing it, fix it. I would re-fret in a heartbeat. I don't like low frets, I do a lot of pulls and vibrato. Low frets hinder that.

[LoKi]

I don't think they hinder vibrato at all. Depends on how you do your vibrato I suppose, but wristed vibrato doesn't need frets at all... Check out somebody doing crazy wide wave vibrato on a cello... No frets there at all. It's all in the wrist.

[Scooter2112]

A '70 is almost 40 years old. If it was a '90, I'd say do it tomorrow, but a '70 would be a tough call.

Oh hell.....just go out and buy a new one and tell the missus that the old one is wore out.

Just make sure that you slide the worn out one under your bed.

[Robster]

It's very subjective, but I find more complex stuff like sweeps or fast pull-off stuff is much easier with the little frets. Just what I was brought up playing. For strictly classic-rock and blues style, I prefer the medium jumbos (6150's). I wish like hell I had a fretless wonder like yours - I've had a few come through my shop, and every time, I spent at least a couple of hours just playing the hell out of them, and they amazed me at how easy they were to play! My current custom has the smaller frets, but not like the 'fretless wonder' days, and I like it a lot. One of these days I may just file those babies down and make her like your '70!

R

[Roman Rist]

Ferdinand Porsche, as he was walking though a Porsche show, once said, "these cars were meant to be driven, not polished"

The sad thing is that instruments have become investments, instead of musical tools.

So we have a bunch of people held hostage by economics.

That is however the reality. In the end you will do what you feel is the right thing to do.

[LoKi]

Originally Posted by RFR

Ferdinand Porsche, as he was walking though a Porsche show, once said, "these cars were meant to be driven, not polished"

The sad thing is that instruments have become investments, instead of musical tools.

So we have a bunch of people held hostage by economics.

That is however the reality. In the end you will do what you feel is the right thing to do.

I'm with ya there. A great guitar is a great guitar, but its only furniture if you don't play it.

The worst part is that it is valuable, and the potential value if the market continues climbing could be insane.

To me, a guitar has to be played. If its not comfortable to play, it's not doing much good.

I would probably sell it and buy a couple of guitars with features that work for me... But it's not mine, so I can't say. I'm biased because I love the low frets as well.

If you love the guitar, and plan on giving it a lot of stage or playing time, by all means make sure you do whatever it takes to make it work for you! I've done things to Paul's that would make people cringe, but they are tools to get the job done.

[BDR]

Well Fella's, heres an update about not being comfortable playing the low frets.
I played at the weekley jam last night and I think the low frets will stay.
I smoked em, that Paul has got huge sound, I could get a drink and come back and it was still playing...LOL
I did miss a few licks as I stumbled over the strings but I actually did better then expected and as one of you mentioned above I can do a few things better then on my strat.
So case is closed, low frets stay and guitar stays untouched as it has for 38 yr's.
Thanks again to all who posted.
BDR

[dwagar]

[Eddie]

Good to hear. FWIW, I believe that a fret job is basically guitar maintenance. Most of them will need one from time to time. Just like changing strings only not nearly as often. When done by a skilled luthier, I don't see why it would devalue your guitar as much as worn out frets would.

[Robster]

Originally Posted by BDR

Well Fella's, heres an update about not being comfortable playing the low frets.
I played at the weekley jam last night and I think the low frets will stay.
I smoked em, that Paul has got huge sound, I could get a drink and come back and it was still playing...LOL
I did miss a few licks as I stumbled over the strings but I actually did better then expected and as one of you mentioned above I can do a few things better then on my strat.
So case is closed, low frets stay and guitar stays untouched as it has for 38 yr's.
Thanks again to all who posted.
BDR

Kick ass! I'm glad you decided to give them a try - I knew you were going to love them once you got used to 'em. I wish both my LP's had those little frets!

R