Can a re-fret effect feel of radius?

sjo89

I've a Fender Am Pro ii Strat - its all stock so has narrow tall frets and 9.5" radius. I think I prefer the feel of a flatter radius. I was wondering if a re-fret can be done in such a way to slightly flatten off the radius, or at least make it feel that way? I was thinking of going to jumbo frets.

thanks 

RocknRollDave

I’m no luthier, but having all the frets out of the guitar seems like the perfect opportunity to re-radius the fingerboard. I’ve seen it done in several videos.

paulnb57

Yes is the simple answer, it is more involved if it is a maple board as it would need to be re lacquered

elstoof

You’d have to be fitting 1/2” tall frets to increase the radius by an inch. Your need one hell of a shim to get that playing like butter, wiser to reprofile the neck once the frets are off

WezV

elstoof said:

You’d have to be fitting 1/2” tall frets to increase the radius by an inch. Your need one hell of a shim to get that playing like butter, wiser to reprofile the neck once the frets are off

You'd need 1" tall frets for that  

elstoof

No, adding half inch would be on both sides of the circle, a 1” wider radius is 1/2” bigger on either “side” of the circle 

WezV

elstoof said:

No, adding half inch would be on both sides of the circle, a 1” wider radius is 1/2” bigger on either “side” of the circle 

That's Diameter

FelineGuitars

Yes you can

If it's a rosewood board it can be done fairly easily - maple will require oil finishing or re-lacquering

elstoof

WezV said:

elstoof said:

No, adding half inch would be on both sides of the circle, a 1” wider radius is 1/2” bigger on either “side” of the circle 

That's Diameter

That’s quite correct

Gizmo

as stated yes can do if you have the fret meat to get into, id guess a plex might be the best/accurate method

btw the diff in radius over 56mm section between 9.5" and 20"  is just 0.860mm, he\s a pic of 9.5" to 20" ontop of each other

TJT1979

In theory, yes. By putting tall frets on, you could reprofile the top of the frets to a flatter radius. This would mean removing slightly more material from the centre of the frets. The pic above from @Gizmo sums it up nicely. 

Having said that, if the old frets are being removed it makes more sense to change the radius of the fretboard itself.