small frets

Never tried it myself, but Alembic made a custom with Mandolin fretwire and swear it sounds awesome, but if you play heavey, you will need a refret sooner than one with standard wire. Check out their "BIG Bass" in the custom archive section.

 

Since smaller frets take up a narrower space on the fingerboard, they supposedly provide better intonation. I also personally like how they feel.

However, they're maybe a little harder to play, they wear quicker, and I've heard that they don't sustain as well, or give as clear a tone.

 

Carey Nordstrand built Matt Power the 'ultimate 4-string', sporting mandoline/banjo fretwire as part of the requirements. In the 'players' section of his site if you wanna take a look. Mr Power's somewhere about here isn't he?

Whether they contact the fretboard depends, possibly come close on lower frets if you dig in a bit, but because they wear faster you'd probly be sub-consciously inclined to lighten up a bit.

Josh D

 

Hey! I had Carey make that 4 string with small frets, and yes, they felt very "quick" under the fingers, and it actually makes it much easier on your touch....you can get away with a very light left handed approach. However, Carey has some REEEEAAALLY small fretwire which I LOVE (I can hear Carey grumbling in the background now...), but is a real bitch to install, since the frets tend to twist like a cat on a rope when you put them in. It's essentially mandolin wire. Once you play on that stuff, you won't go back. Ifd it wears out, I don't care. I'll pay for refrets all day long for the privelidge of playing on that wire!
Matt P

 

Dingwall uses banjo frets on all his basses.