Thanks, I can easily buy that, except for the frets (unless I don't understand what "jumbo" means). I've seen some Strats with frets that make mine look like pencil stipes. So, if the Epi LP has jumbo frets, what would be a typical guitar with smaller frets still?
There are two important dimensions for the player - basically width and height.
Width:
Wider frets offer durability and a bit more warmth and the extra mass adds sustain but go out of intonation as they wear flat. Wider frets are popular with folk who like to bend a lot as there is a little less drag from friction. The frets can feel a little crowded in the upper registers, where the frets are closer together.
Narrower frets are brighter sounding, intonate more accurately as they wear and leave more space between frets in the upper registers, but they wear much faster. For those of us that like narrower frets, stainless steel fretwire is wonderful as it is extra hard wearing and lessens the friction slightly.
Wide fretwire is common on basses, Gibson type guitars and many Superstrats, Medium width is your typical Fender wire and the narrow wires are only used on mandolins, banjos and for refretting vintage acoustics. Bear in mind that each of these is a range of widths - a vintage Fender will have a narrower wire than a modern version, but both still fall into the "medium" category.
Note: A lot of people call any wide fretwire "Jumbo" these days, but the term was originally used only for the Gibson wide/medium height wire, which isn't particularly tall or wide by today's standards.
Height:
Taller fretwire adds mass (and consequently sustain) and, as mentioned, means more fret life and fret dresses before replacement is needed. They can make vibrato and bends easier as you can bend the string down to the fingerboard and it gives you a good grip on the string. However, the taller the fretwire, the more you have to control your touch as it becomes easy to accidentally bend the strings by pushing too hard. This is good as it teaches you to develop a light touch, which aids in speed and agility and also reduces fingerboard wear.
However, some players prefer the feel of low fretwire as it lets them feel the fingerboard under their fingertips for a more intimate contact with the guitar. Lower wires are also often used to do a partial refret where some of the original frets are left in and just the worst worn frets are replaced. The Gibson Customs were originally fretted with a very low height jumbo width wire - which is why they were given the "fretless wonder" nickname. ?
