Esp fret sizing

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rshatz

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I recently purchased a used 2021 ESP horizon for $1400. On ESP‘s website it states these guitars come with extra jumbo frets. I’ve been playing on jumbo for a long time and I do not feel as if these are jumbo frets on this guitar. I’m wondering if perhaps these frets were leveled in the past and now I’m left with something more in line with medium jumbo frets. I’m adding some pictures and would like any ESP owners or anyone with experience with this sort of thing to give their opinion on whether or not these frets were leveled or if this is normal. Thank you.
 

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IME, the fretwire on ESP stuff is not as humongous as on Ibanez. But it's still bigger than Gibson.

Every company refers to the wire they use however the hell they want, TBH. The frets on Gisbsons are supposedly "Medium Jumbo". The hell they are. They are definitely smaller than the "Medium Jumbos" on my Fender.

Even within brands, they do that. The frets on my '98 RG570 were fatter than the frets on my 2000's RGA121, even if both were Japanese.
 
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Best way to check is with a caliper.
Cant tell if its been leveled or not but will give you a ball park idea of what size frets they use.
 
After some more research I believe these frets were leveled aggressively at some point. I’ve looked at many pictures online and played an ltd recently. These guitars appear to have tall and wide frets (jumbo frets). Not sure if it came out of the factory like that or if someone did a crap job. I’d return it but I stupidly dinged the back of the guitar on the case latch so I’m stuck. Now I need to find someone to do a refret that will probably cost $500 or more. There goes my savings on this guitar! I may try and do it myself. Thanks for your replies!
 
Is the OP guitar an LTD? A '21 ESP I think would have Luminlay side dots.

ESP since '17 or so has used Jescar. Most models have the FW57110 which is 1.45mm tall (pretty darn big fret), and that should include the Horizons. Some models (Snappers, Stream, Maverick) use FW55090 which is 1.40mm tall.

Before '17, they used Sanko wire, often with less height. I think a Horizon would have a #214, which is 1.2mm tall, or #214H, which is 1.3.

I've had some recent E-IIs and the frets felt huge, comparable to the '17+ Original Series ESPs I've had. I didn't measure the heights, though.
 
Ok played with my calipers, and that all seems to check out.

Here are some measurements I just took:
'21 M-II CTM: ~1.45mm tall
'14 Horizon CTM: ~1.30 mm
'21 KH-602: ~1.30 mm
 
And I measure for an older Mexican Charvel I have here: ~1.40, which I think is right for Dunlop 6100.

So maybe LTDs are still using the lower/shorter Sanko sizes and are a bit smaller than a Dunlop or Jescar.

I thought the E-II frets were pretty big. Not sure if they are Jescar or something else. Don't have one any more.

1.30mm would be "XL" for Sanko because I think it's as tall as they get. But Jescar and Dunlop can go much taller. The highest Jescar and Dunlop's are both 1.47mm tall. So definitely a lot of potential for confusion. Guitar makers should just tell us the actual fret # or dimensions.
 
yes this guitar is a e-II horizon. I’m just trying to figure out if theses frets have been leveled down by a previous owner. They are very weird to me. I’m pretty sure this is the case. I don’t have calipers handy but I’ll borrow some and post my findings. Thanks for the idea!
 
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