Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I'm curious to hear some opinions on the playability and feel of slanted frets.

According to John Hall, most people will sit down and play a SF guitar perfectly and not realize it has SF until it's pointed
out to them....and then they suddenly can't play it anymore.


I've never touched one though.

My Brother used to say that his ULTIMATE Rickenbacker would be a 12 string, slanted fret, light show, 6/12 convertable in Jetglo!

fabandgear wrote:My Brother used to say that his ULTIMATE Rickenbacker would be a 12 string, slanted fret, light show, 6/12 convertable in Jetglo!

Sounds like McGuinn's was the only one to come close (except
for the converter which is impossible with a LS anyways..)

collin wrote:According to John Hall, most people will sit down and play a SF guitar perfectly and not realize it has SF until it's pointed
out to them....and then they suddenly can't play it anymore.


I've never touched one though.

I can almost see that. I do find it a little hard to imagine not realizing the frets were slanted. With the pickups being slanted, one would think it would be a little hard not to notice.

I never even heard of slanted fret guitars until I discovered Rickenbackers. I've never seen one up close and personal, so it's rather difficult for me to imagine there would be any advantage.
JimK

I have a book with a photo of a Fender Marauder with what looks like slanted frets.

My 481 slant-fret is very comfortable to play.... I really like the slender neck, and the slanted frets feel very natural to me. And this guitar absolutely rocks!

melibreits wrote:My 481 slant-fret is very comfortable to play.... I really like the slender neck, and the slanted frets feel very natural to me. And this guitar absolutely rocks!

481_2.jpg

Hi Melissa.That is a slant fret modle? A very hansom guitar, to be sure. Is that a BB? I guess I can see after all how someone might not realize it at first. Maybe its just the angle...
I would like to try one out though.

It is indeed a slant-fret model, as all 481's were. It was originally jetglo, but I sent it to Paul Wilczynski about four years ago for a refin in my own special shade of Blueburst. I've been looking through my picture files for a good one of the headstock that I took a few months ago, but until I find the one I'm looking for, this one will have to do.... you can see how the nut is slanted, and the frets are all parallel to that.

Here's the picture I was looking for....
I guess it's still kind of hard to see the slant, but will try to get a picture of the headstock, nut, and a few frets tomorrow if I have time.

A shop I worked at in the mid 90s got a slant fret in on trade-it made me seasick to look at it. I noticed immediately that the whole thing was slanted, and playing was something of a chore only because I was subconsciously compensating for something I didn't need to.
So, my bad, if they work for you, great!

melibreits wrote:Here's the picture I was looking for....

481_head.jpg

I guess it's still kind of hard to see the slant, but will try to get a picture of the headstock, nut, and a few frets tomorrow if I have time.

Even though I haven't tried one, I think I would take the 481 over the 480.
I am certain I have seen 360s with the slant-fret treatment too. ( I guess they would be a 361?)

Halbert wrote:

melibreits wrote:Here's the picture I was looking for....

481_head.jpg

I guess it's still kind of hard to see the slant, but will try to get a picture of the headstock, nut, and a few frets tomorrow if I have time.

Even though I haven't tried one, I think I would take the 481 over the 480.
I am certain I have seen 360s with the slant-fret treatment too. ( I guess they would be a 361?)

I think it's just called a 360 SF. Curiously, the 360 SF I have a photo of in a guitar book has dots instead of triangle inlays. I thought maybe it was standard for the SF, but IIRC, I've seen a 360 SF with triangle inlays as well.

I've played Gary Clauson's 481; the radius is even flatter, a 12" radius, IIRC, and the slanted frets are very comfortable for the most part. higher up nothe neck they start to feel less comfortable to me, but I think this was only at maybe the 10th or 12th fret.

I played one at one of the MARF gatherings. It make some chords easier and some chords harder.