R9's have jumbo frets? How jumbo?

[shal1234]

So let me get this straight. R8's have fetter necks, but R9's have bigger frets. Is that about it? Oh the terror of not having a proper Gibson dealer in the area.

R9's must be the pride of Gibson because i can't find one new for under $5000 approx.

Is that about what you guys all payed for yours (if you have one)?

[billy]

All the historic les paul have the same frets.

[stinger]

All of my historics have the same frets. The neck sizes vary but the frets are the same. My R9 was under $5K. Keep in mind that dealers cannot advertise for less than a certain amount. They can sell them for less but not advertise. Another thing, R8's are every bit as good as R9's. The necks on R8's are maybe a little bigger and the new ones are plain tops but neck size is a personal preference, neither better or worse. You pay a higher premium for the flame on the R9's.

[Mike60]

currently and for the last few years, R8's,R9's and R0's have the same fretwire.

[eaglewolf]

When I bought my 68 re-issue over Memorial Day weekend, the 59 re-issue they had was a bit under $5K. I just couldn't justify the cost difference for my first guitar in about 15-20 years. (Okay, justification isn't really what I did when I bought the Custom I did get, but dang, that axe is gorgeous!) I don't know about the frets, but I wouldn't mind checking out the bigger neck, considering I have rather large hands. Really though, I should probably get to know the one I have. I doubt the neck has anything to do with my playing at this point!

David

[markguitar]

Originally Posted by shal1234

So let me get this straight. R8's have fetter necks, but R9's have bigger frets. Is that about it? Oh the terror of not having a proper Gibson dealer in the area.

R9's must be the pride of Gibson because i can't find one new for under $5000 approx.

Is that about what you guys all payed for yours (if you have one)?

All Custom Shop reissues have the same fret wire and it would not be considered jumbo as say 6100 Dunlop wire. The Gibson wire is considered med. jumbo and is within a few thousandths of original late '50's fretwire.

[shotgunlew]

What size was the original 50's fret wire? I played a 50's junior with the original frets, it played very nicely. How it had the original fret i do not know, but the guy said they where.

chris

[Liam]

Similarly, I've played some 59 Gibsons that are supposed to have the original Jumbo wire (but never a Burst!). The frets are a tiny bit lower than the current historics, but seem to be about the same width.

My guess is that they're something like 0.090" wide, and 0.040" tall, maybe a little less. 58s had smaller frets, but if you look through BOTB it gets a bit random!

[sapi]

Originally Posted by shotgunlew

What size was the original 50's fret wire? I played a 50's junior with the original frets, it played very nicely. How it had the original fret i do not know, but the guy said they where.

chris

Late '59 fretwire was approx .098 x .047.
Best,
jo

[shal1234]

this is what MF says in the description:

In 1959, the Les Paul Standard made a change to wider, fatter jumbo frets which made it a more facile guitar. The significance of this change wouldn't be felt until the late '60s when Clapton, Bloomfield, Peter Green, and other emerging guitarists discovered its warm, thick BurstBucker voice and fast, smooth and easy-playing neck.

[billy]

Thats just describing the actual changes in the 50's it also has this in the '59 description on the Gibson Custom website. Its very confusing because it makes you think that the reissues are the same with different fret sizes BUT they aren't all historic reissues get the same frets.

[Motorcycle]

MY R-9 was $4,500.00 new. I'm sure others have done better price-wise. But I bought this one based on tone. It was head and shoulders above all the others I comp'ed it to including R7's, R8's, and other R9's. The closest one to it in tone was a G0 which would have been my choice if the one I ended up buying wasn't available. The G0 is a Guitar Center guitar with plain top and a darker burst look to it. Very sweet guitar. They were going to let it go at $2,600.00. It was tempting, but....The R9 I bought was just so much better than everything else I tried.

Every historic I tried had pretty much the same palyability and the frets felt the same, the 57 & 58 had fatter necks, but not by a whole lot.

[shal1234]

while i'm on the subject, does anyone know if Fender Strats all have the same fret size? Like say a American Standard vs a Custom Shop?

[Liam]

Don't know about current ones, but they have varied in the past, along with neck shape and fingerboard radius.

[guitarstan]

Originally Posted by shal1234

while i'm on the subject, does anyone know if Fender Strats all have the same fret size? Like say a American Standard vs a Custom Shop?

I have an Eric Johnson and a 20th Anniversary Custom Shop Master Built. They both have very different frets. The CSMB has very tall frets great for bending.

90s Historics had different sized frets for R7s and R8s vs R9s and R0s. I think it was the early 2000s when they changed them to all having the same sized frets, which was different than EITHER sized frets used in the 90s.

[blueheeler]

No jumbo! None of my histotic's have jumbo fret's-from '99 onwards.