High E string falling off edge of neck when playing

[NSFY]

I have a couple of guitars that I have a problem with falling off the outside edge of the frets/fingerboard when playing on the upper frets.  One is a Les Paul and the other is a Strat that was refretted.  I have another Strat and a Tele that I don't have any of these problems with.  On both of the affected guitars I feel like I don't have enough room to dig in and bend that e string and any vibrato or sloppy fingering can lead to falling off 

Is this a nut / slot location problem?  Neck alignment problem?  Fret problem?

I haven't started taking any measurements or anything yet - just wondering where might be a good place to start.

[tubesornothing]

Here is one thing: I get it sometimes on a re-fret job when the luthier puts too much of a bevel on the frets.  I play with fairly high action so I can dig in and grab with my meaty fingers...

[jjasilli]

General rule of thumb:  ea E-string should be 1/8th" in from the edge of the fingerboard; But YMMV.  If the there is binding along the edges of the fingeboard, that doesn't count.  Measure from the fingerboard itself.  If the E strings are too close to the edges of the fingerboard, these outer strings may fall off when playing.  However. . .

Tubesornothing is correct -- if the edges of the frets are bevelled too much, then the outer strings may slide off the edges of the frets.  This essentially makes the effective width of the neck narrower.  To cure:  re-fret job; or nut job to bring the strings closer together and away from the fingerboard edges.  But tight string-spacing might interfere with playing.

[NSFY]

So that would be bad if the frets were beveled too much on the strat - the luthier who did the refret builds guitars and works on strats so I would be surprised if the bevel was messed up but we'll see.  Maybe the nut can just be slid over a bit toward the bass side - don't think I've ever come close to falling off that side.

In any case, I will take the strat back for some more work since it was refretted.  I'll wait to figure out what to do with the Les Paul since that one came from the factory/store like this (was a gift).  Maybe I have some kind of technique problem that makes me prone to pulling the e string off when playing - too late to fix that (old dog, new trick).

[jjasilli]

I feel your pain.  I've got thick fingers so narrow necks and tight string spacing don't work well for me.  I got a Gibson L6-S.  I love it, but it's got a narrow neck, and someone really bevelled the frets.  My solution -- rather than invest in a re-fret -- was to tighten the string spacing at the nut.  So I decided to use this axe for slide in an open tuning.  This helps solve the playability issue for my left hand, and my right hand can more easily mute the tight strings for slide playing.  Heck, it works out OK, but it's not what I originally planned. 

[Geo]

General rule of thumb:  ea E-string should be 1/8th" in from the edge of the fingerboard; But YMMV.  If the there is binding along the edges of the fingeboard, that doesn't count.  Measure from the fingerboard itself. 

I think you should still measure from the outer edge of the binding. The binding is not extra width on the fingerboard; it's replacing part of the fingerboard. The frets still extend to the edge of the binding and the bevels begin at the edge of the binding.

To cure:  re-fret job; or nut job to bring the strings closer together and away from the fingerboard edges.  But tight string-spacing might interfere with playing.

Be careful adjusting the string spacing at the nut. This has a huge influence on the feel of a guitar. I would never implement "custom" string spacing; just try to return the guitar to its original condition. It was designed with proper string spacing and strings not falling off the fingerboard. The nut spacing is not at fault, unless the nut is actually cut wrong.

Trust me... having designed and built guitars... the string spacing is carefully planned and should not be tampered with, unless the nut slots are actually off.

[tubesornothing]

I've got thick fingers so narrow necks and tight string spacing don't work well for me. 

Me too.  I really want to get a modern ES175 for my jazz stuff, but there is not enough room for my sausages when I use my fingers on my right hand - it more of a bridge issue.  Supposedly the 60s L4CES has more room, I am trying to hunt one down and see.  I am skeptical, cause the L4CES has a tune-o-matic bridge and they didn't change string width.

[jjasilli]

there is not enough room for my sausages