Or is Fender using a lot taller and wider frets these days than they were 10 or so years back?

I was at a store over the weekend messing around with a few new strats (MIA and MIM). I have a 1998 MIM and a 2000 MIA.

I like playing '98 MIM slightly better than the 2000 MIA and both of these feel better than the new ones I tried out.

Today, it hit me why and it may just be my imagination.

I'm not up on all the nuance of strat models over the years but here is what it seems to me.

The 98 MIM has low skinny frets
the '00 MIA has fret wires just a bit wider and about the same height

The new ones have fret wires that seem a lot higher and wider.

I'm not a big fan of tall fat frets. I checked model specs on the Fender web site and it speced the ones I was playing as medium jumbo.


Anyone know what size frets would have been on a 98 MIM and a 00 MIA both standards (nothing special, just plain old strats).

Thx.
Jeff

Yes they have changed the frets over the years. Medium Jumbo now. Whenever I play my old 92/93 MIM Strat (owned by a friend now) they tiny frets freak me out. I quite like the current ones. I don't think they're any taller now, just wider than what they used to be.

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MIM Std Tele, MIM HSS Strat, Homemade Mongrel Tele, Blues Jr, Champ600, coupla pedals...sweeeet!

most or the new guitars ive seen have jumbo frets... massive things...

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blues - its a religion...

Just out of interest: what dunlop fret size do the new 'medium jmbo' frets correspond with?

i.e. are they 6105s, 6150s or what?

I ask beccuase I'm thinking of having a neck made-up by the likes of USACG or Warmouth.

Maybe the jumbo / medium jumbo frets are an acquired taste. I haven't played a new strat in years.

For the past 25 years or so, I've been playing acoustic (hard driving bluegrass mostly) and just got back into electrics a few months back. I bought an MIA strat, liked it, bought a backup MIM strat to use as a project guitar.

The neck profiels are similar (Mex may be a little flatter on the back), the MIM is maple, the MIA is rosewood. Some playing differences, rosewood has more "feel", maple seems faster on slids and bends. Rose more familiar as it's similar in feel to the ebony boards on my Martins.

The frets on the MIM (1998) are a bit lower and narrower than the ones on the MIA (2000). However, both of them seem "tiny" compared to what I was playing on MIA and MIM strats in GC over the weekend. They were just your vanilla MIA and MIM strats. No artist series, special editions etc, just strats but the medium jumbo frets were something I didn't like right off.

Maybe they grow on you.

I will say the fit and finish on the new MIM strats is on par with my 2000 MIA Strat. In fact, I thought it was on par with the new MIA strats I was looking at.

Jeff

I kind of like the larger fatter fretts also. I have played acoustic guitars and like the smaller frets with acoustics but they wear down too fast for me with electrics.

I measured the frets on the 1998 MIM and they mic close to what I've read are the vintage frets. They're .085" wide and about .050" high. I haven't measured the MIA yet but I can tell they are a bit larger.

The ones I was playing at GC over the weekend are noticably larger.

I am coming from an acoustic bluegrass backgound playing vintage series Martins (HD28V and HD28) and the Martin vintage series has smaller frets too.

I guess that's one of the reasons the MIM feels more comfortable to me. The fret wires are closer to what I've been playing for the past 30 or so years.

Jeff

Depends on what model you were playing

all new American Standards have Med Jumbo
Dunlop equivalent 6130

the older Road Worn 50's and 60's have 6105 tall and
narrow (which I hate with all my being-no offense)

the American Specials have Jumbo = Dunlop 6100

your 98 MIM HAS Vintage Frets = Dunlop 6230

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1956 Gibson CS Lemon Les Paul
1957 Fender CS Aged Cherry Strat
1958 Gibson CS Pg 85 Les Paul
1960 Fender CS 3tsb Strat
1961 Gibson SG Wildwood Pelham blue
1966 Fender CS Firemist Metallic Silver Strat