Why slanted frets

The lower-pitched strings gain more length and the higher-pitched strings get shorter, similar to the string lengths on a grand piano.

Fanned frets first appeared on a 16th century Renaissance-era stringed instrument called the orpharion , so the idea of slanting the frets is a very old one. I bet this will take a while to learn.. Where the fanned fret has the advantage is concerning the reach of your fingers. On the higher frets in particular, you may find that playing intricate solos is far easier on fanned compared to straight simply for the fact your fret hand is more comfortable when playing on fanned.

Absolutely not. Fanned fret, while more inviting to alternative tunings and more comfortable to the fret hand for many players, is not a replacement for the straight-fret bass guitar. Notice on the image above that the fret markers on the fingerboard are on the bottom and not the top. You will naturally look towards the bottom of the board when playing on the higher-pitched strings, and use the side markers on top when playing the lower-pitched strings.

Because of the slant. With the exception of one fret, the held note on any fret will always have its position slanted from string to string. That slight difference in finger position for many requires extra attention to the markers, and the solution presented for that was to simply move the on-board markers towards the bottom. For normal bass measures, the low b-string is usually too poor sounding and not well defined.

Attempts with a longer scale length improved the sound of the B-string, but on the other hand worsened the sound of the D- and G-string and made the instruments more difficult to play. However, a much improved sound of the low B-string with electrical and acoustic basses is by no means the only improvement to be highlighted. The fingerboard allows the string tension to give a comfortable feel over the entire width of the fingerboard as well as the response of the individual notes is uniform over the entire length of the fingerboard.

This results in an open sound with a very clean intonation. False-sounding overtones are eliminated. Open or alternative tunings can be implemented with better sound output, resulting in an increased pitch range.

Last but not least, it is the overall sound of the instrument which, by the use of different string lengths, is given greater homogeneity with a clear bass reproduction. For good reason design principle of the concert harp or the grand piano is based on string lengths which are chosen depending on the pitch.

Our multiscale instruments are fanned with the eighth fret applied in the traditional way horizontally to the fingerboard and thus forming the center point. From there the frets are fanned in both directions. This way, the fretting hand can reach all positions of the fretboard in a relaxed way.

The hand no longer has to be moved parallel to the frets, but can make a natural semicircular movement. Our IQ Akustikbass is available with four, five and six strings. Can you image how much compensation we would need if we used a. In this next section we will look at how stiffness and mass effect the ability of the guitar string to divide into different overtones and guess what, the other parts of the guitar like the top behave this way too!

Getting a firm grasp on this concept helped me understand WHY I was getting the results I perceived from my experiments in bracing and other guitar design elements, and was instrumental pun intended in empowering me to push my designs further and get better results. Remember what I mentioned earlier about the other parts of the guitar?

The guitar top for example, has to fold or divide into different parts much like the string. Think about this when you are laying out your bracing and thicknessing the top plate. A thinner top will divide or fold more easily resulting in more audible high frequencies. That thin top will have less resistance to vibrating in smaller pieces in order to accommodate the shorter high frequency wavelengths. Or in other words it will be more efficient in that regard for high frequency energy.

Of course there are many variable to consider and experimenting is important to getting a sense of how much control you have and how to balance it out. All the while keeping in mind the effects of string gauge, tension, and mass. Pretty simple. The Single Scale Problem. The problem is that we usually have six strings each with a different set of the above mentioned criteria. Using only one scale length causes us to compromise overall.

If we use a fanned fret system, we can specifically choose a different scale for each string that perfectly suits our needs and allows us to incorporate all of the necessary criteria we have without compromising on any of the strings.

Yes, it is actually more ergonomic than playing a standard single scale instrument! Look down at your hand and spread your fingers as wide as you can. Do you notice how your fingers are actually fanned out, emanating from a common point? Building a successful fanned fret guitar requires far more than just picking a couple scales and slapping them on there, but with the right information the process can be easy and fun. Tom Bills has been hand crafting one of a kind custom guitars for the top players and collectors around the world since You can view and learn more about his guitars by visiting his website: tbguitars.