For an explanation of the gibson scale length changes over the years see note. Fanned frets, fanned fret system tech article page from ed. What are the benefits of guitars with fanned frets. The correct answer depends on what your intentions are. Calculate fret placement for guitar, bass, banjo, mandolin, dulcimer, and more in inches or metric. Using this calculator you specify the scale length, then you specify the fret number as a decimal fraction. The ergonomic advantage, tonal balance, and modern aesthetic that the fan fret concept brings is truly inspiring. But after emailing back and forth with them, i decided to pass. Remember that the line at the top of the template is where the nut should be. Electric ukulele land look up ahead, i see the ukulele land, soon youll understand.
I designed this page to calculate where each fret slot should be cut, measured both from the nut to fret, and from the fret to bridge. A new free fretting calculator has just been added to the knowledgebase here at. Weve been commissioned to build an increasing amount of fanned fret guitars over the years. If you dont know already, fanned fret guitars are basically like regular guitars except they have multiple scale lengths, which means the frets need to be installed at various angles in. We serve the multiscale fannedfret builder and player. There just isnt much info out there about the topic of multiscale or fanned fret guitars. Now you can easily generate fret positions automagicaly. Question about fanned fretsmultiscale guitar ultimate. Why install angled slanted pickups for fanned fret guitars. S7g has been handbuilding guitars in the usa since 2008. Hi, im thinking about ordering my first 7 string guitar. This is achieved by having the bridge and nut at an angle and then angling or fanning the frets to keep proper intonation across the board. Fret dimensions is a design tool for guitar builders.
Understanding fanned fret guitars the art of lutherie. If all you ever want to do is strum chords to back up your singing voice or play along with others, then youll do just fine on your standard six string guitar. Yafcalc calculates the distance to that extra 6 12 fret, but it is not normally installed on an instrument. Select based on if you entered a scale length of inches or millimeters. I think the scale on a b string on a dingwall is like 37 inches or something crazy like that. Please not that the type of instrument has no baring on the fret spacing. In fact i had a late prototype of the expression series electrics. When building a guitar or bass and cutting your own fretboard slots versus buying a preslotted fretboard, its very important that the fret slots be cut accurately. Accuracy of fret location discussion forums banjo hangout how to calculate and implement a fanned fretboard cigar fan fret templates talkb fanned frets explained everything you need to know guitar fret scale template sle templates. Fretfind2d is a two dimensional fretboard design tool.
Novax instruments have several unusual design features. Fret specs 4 is a fret spacing calculator for the stringed instrument craftsman and luthier guitar makers will find this program very handy for custom scale length guitars. Measuring the distance from the nut to the saddles is not exact because the saddles where moved during setting the intonation. Please select your instrument class, and enter the scale length.
We work with many builders who offer fanned fret options and owner paul heumiller is currently working on a new fanned fret baritone design with ken jones that will be available in spring of 2014. Here is a list of some online fret placement calculators i have found either useful or interesting. Ive been looking at an ibanez srff806 as my next bass. Fretcalc plugin for imagej program allows pixelbypixel analysis of fret by acceptor photobleaching. I designed this page to calculate where each fret slot should be cut, measured both from the nut to. Fret transfers excitation energy from one molecule to another without a need for fluorescence and reabsorption. A fanned fret guitar or multiscale is where each string has a different scale length. Weve created a free calculator so you can do it right. Playing fanned fret basses are super easy, it takes no time to learn. It has an alder body with a maple bolton neck, aggressive top bevel, a 24fret fingerboard, and can be dressed up with many available custom shop options. The most difficult to learn is the fretless because that requires having a trained ear to get the most accurate notes since you have no frets to fall back on, so to speak. As a guitar player and professional repair technician with extensive experience, i had grown dissatisfied with the performance of instruments as they existed. With the proliferation of builders new to using the.
Selecting your instrument also calculates the bridge position for proper intonation. The first section is dedicated to making these sometimes confusing concepts easy to understand on a. Contribute to kazz12211fretcalculator development by creating an account on github. I was originally eyeing a dingwall, which got me interested in fanned frets. This calc determines the forster or fluorescence resonance energy transfer efficiency and critical distance from the spectral overlap and other known parameters. The fan fret nylon string is one of my favorite guitars that i have ever made. Now this is the stringjoy blog after all, so as you mightve guessed, were not going to finish this off without talking a little bit about the best strings for fanned fret and multiscale guitars. The fret calculator allow you to save the fret template to your computer select save to disk pdf multipage and then print it. Ralph loaned it to me to use in an ad for guitar strings that i did for a string manufacturer client i needed a futuristic looking guitar. From the photo above it would appear although not confirmed that the 7th. But ive heard that only a fanned fret guitar sounds correct with 7. Fanned fret guitars the concept of the multiscale musical instrument one in which each string has its own scale length is. Fretcalc uses thresholding fret th algorithm to exclude from data analysis pixels that do not match userdefined thresholds of donor andor acceptor fluorescence intensity, bleaching efficiency, and %fret. You can figure these out by using the very first calculator above, the one that only provides the fret offset from the nut for a single fret, given the scale length and fret number.
I made two saw guides out of 12 aluminum angle stock, slotting one edge of each on my table saw to the two different scales, using my usual stewmac blade and templates. Fannedfret innovations hardware and components are playertested and timeproven. Does playing a fannedfret instrument take a long time to learn. However, certain instrument have quite idiosyncratic designs. This is in contrast to the standard perpendicular arrangement of other guitars. Novax has redesigned the guitar to be more playable, more versatile, more intune, and more open and alive sounding. Heres a simple method for accurately slotting a fannedfret fretboard using standard fretting templates. Fannedfret guitars have a multiscale fingerboard because of offset frets. The scale length of a guitar is always twice the length from the front of the nut or zero fret to the 12th fret. The aries am6 multiscale fannedfret guitar takes its design cues from the popular kiesel a6 beveltop electric guitar. How to make a fanned fret guitar the art of lutherie.
So you could but if youre having an e string at 34 you may as well just have the rest the same. Beginning with a solid grasp on the fundamentals of scale length and other factors involved in the fanned fret system is key to developing a successful fanned fret guitar. Here is my fret calculation program for free of charge. At dream guitars we are champions of the fanned fret concept and almost always have one or two in stock. Fanned fret calculator best fan in thestylishnomad. Tape the paper to your fret board, cut along the lines, and then you are ready to install frets. Many luthiers contact me each month inquiring about fanned fret guitars, ranging from general questions like what are they to how to make a fanned fret guitar. Our fret calculator also gives you compensated bridge placement only at.
Please note, the fret calculator will not convert scale lengths, you can use our measurement converter to convert your scale length. On a fanned fret layout, there is one fret which is perpendicular to the necks center line, and the rest are slanted. To read a new updated and expanded version of this article click here. Another odd convention for a dulcimer is that there is only one 6 12 fret installed even though there is an additonal space where one would be appropriate between fret and fret 14. The 8string aries am8 multiscale fannedfret guitar takes its design cues from the popular kiesel a8 beveltop electric guitar. The point is to have your lower strings on a longer scale so they are tighter, not floppy. I know there are many free calculation tools on the internet and they are really useful, but my program can print out the result as a plan so that it doesnt need to measure fret positions on the fret board. If you know your scale in millimeters you have to convert to decimal inches. Fanned fret guitars the concept of the multiscale musical instrument one in which each string has its own scale length is not new by any means. Fannedfret innovations is dedicated to optimal performance. The scale length in decimal inches is the only thing that needs input from the user. Need to know where those frets go on your next cigar box guitar. It models the entire fretboard, strings and frets, as a system of line segments on a two dimensional plane. Best strings for multiscale and fanned fret guitars.
Craftsmen will appreciate the instant measurement display, which updates each time a new fretboard length is selected. Using this calculator you specify the scale length for the other strings, then if you specify the fret number as, say, 2 it will return the offset from the. From our standard models to custom shop masterpieces, we start with the best components available, pay incredible attention to every detail, and maintain unyielding quality control before your guitar ever leaves our shop. Ralph novaks fannedfret concept evolved from a desire to produce an instrument with balanced tone and string tension. And as you can see from the photo, it has fanned frets on it, and thats what this article is about. After doing this for a while someone mentioned that no one would hear the difference if i simply used 17. You can figure out both of these by using the very first calculator above, the one that only provides the fret offset from the nut for a single fret, given the scale length and fret number. Proponents of this style of guitar claim such benefits as comfort, better ergonomics, better intonation, and better control of the tension of the strings across the.
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