What kind of frets are on the KE1? (KV style frets or SL style?)

[Deadlock]

I have a chance to buy a KE1F (I've been GASing for one for years!) but I can't try it first because it's hours away. Does anyone know which style frets the KE1F would have?


I used to own a KV1 and the frets had a strange shape to them - I hated those frets! From the side they looked like squares rather than half circles - very uncomfortable IMO. My USA Soloist and all of my import Jacksons have normal rounded jumbo frets. So what can I expect on a KE1?

[MakeAJazzNoiseHere]

Uh, that was a hack-job I'm sure. You should find a pretty nice crown on most any USA Jackson that hasn't had some jerkoff go at the frets with a sanding block.

[Johnnyryche]

I have a KE1 and KE1T and both of them have standard jumbo frets like my soloists. Did the KV1 have medium jumbo frets? That might be why they seemed strange to you.

[toejam]

I believe the KV1 and KV2 have the smaller "medium jumbo" frets, as that's what Mustaine liked. The only other model in Jackson's lineup, that I know of, that has the medium frets is the Mark Morton model.

[Deadlock]

I guess they were the medium jumbo frets. They seemed just as tall as normal jumbo frets, but they were thinner and less curved which made it really hard to slide from fret to fret.

[Musician78]

I like the medium ones better personally.

[javert]

Me too. In fact, the combination of my big fingertips, the jumbo frets and the narrow spacing at the high frets causes me some problems.

[MakeAJazzNoiseHere]

I like TALL frets. I would kind of rather they were narrow vs. wide but I can deal with the Jackson frets no problem.

[Tmoran]

I believe the KV1 and KV2 have the smaller "medium jumbo" frets, as that's what Mustaine liked. The only other model in Jackson's lineup, that I know of, that has the medium frets is the Mark Morton model.

actually the newer kV2 has the jumbo frets. Im not sure if they were always like that though. And I have no idea on the kv1

[Musician78]

They must have started that EXTREMELY recently... a buddy has a 2010 KV2 and it has mediums on it.

[RacerX]

Fret snobs

[shreddermon]

They must have started that EXTREMELY recently... a buddy has a 2010 KV2 and it has mediums on it.

+1. To the best of my knowledge, KVs are still using the "medium" jumbos.

Back to the original poster, that's a big reason why I sold my KV2. It's not just that the frets are thinner "medium" sized. The shape of the fret itself is very different from standard jumbos - more squared-off or even rectangular in shape, rather than the typical nice roundly-arched jumbos on all other USA Jackson / Charvel guitars. The size, and even more so the shape, were a turnoff for me.

The frets seem to be such a recurring complaint about the KV2, I'm not sure why Jackson just doesn't listen and switch 'em out to regular jumbos.

[javert]

I like TALL frets. I would kind of rather they were narrow vs. wide but I can deal with the Jackson frets no problem.

Isn't that what the medium jumbo really are, narrow? That's how I would describe them as compared to the jumbos.

[MakeAJazzNoiseHere]

+1. To the best of my knowledge, KVs are still using the "medium" jumbos.

Back to the original poster, that's a big reason why I sold my KV2. It's not just that the frets are thinner "medium" sized. The shape of the fret itself is very different from standard jumbos - more squared-off or even rectangular in shape, rather than the typical nice roundly-arched jumbos on all other USA Jackson / Charvel guitars.

See that, just confuses me, hence my first post. There is no reason for the crown to be squared off like that... :think:

Isn't that what the medium jumbo really are, narrow? That's how I would describe them as compared to the jumbos.

Jumbo-scmumbo, it really depends on the specific wire. What one guy calls "medium jumbo" another calls "vintage frets" or whatever.

I think Jackson wire is like 6100 Dunlop wire and there IS another wire that is almost as tall, but a fair bit narrower. No idea if that's what they are/were using on the KV2, though.

[shreddermon]

See that, just confuses me, hence my first post. There is no reason for the crown to be squared off like that... :think:

You're confused because, apparently, you just don't understand. The squared-off profile is the shape of the fret wire itself. It has nothing to do with how Jackson is crowning the frets.