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A multi-scale fingerboard (also called multiple scale length fretboard
) is an instrument
fretboard
The fingerboard (also known as a fretboard on fretted instruments) is an important component of most stringed instruments. It is a thin, long strip of material, usually wood, that is laminated to the front of the neck of an instrument. The st ...
which incorporates multiple
scale lengths. The scale length is the vibrating length of the strings.
Guitar
The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...
s, including
bass guitars
The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and sc ...
, generally employ a single scale length for all of the instrument's strings, though the employed scale length varies significantly between manufacturers (electric guitar scale typically falls between 24" and 25.5"). This measure is the effective length of each of the vibrating strings, not counting compensation for adjusting intonation.
A multi-scale fingerboard or fretboard is typically based on two scale lengths, but could potentially incorporate more. The most typical use is one (long) scale length for the low string and a different, usually shorter, scale for the highest string. This could be achieved by angling the nut, and bridge, and
fanning the frets. Strings between the highest and lowest would also each have a unique scale length.
History
The
bandora is a late 16th-century instrument with a longer string length for its bass strings than for its trebles. It is depicted in
Praetorius Praetorius, Prätorius, Prætorius was the name of several musicians and scholars in Germany.
In 16th and 17th century Germany it became a fashion for educated people named " Schulze," " Schultheiß," or " Richter" (which means "judge"), to Latini ...
' music dictionary Syntagma Musicum published in 1619.
The concept of the multiscale fingerboard goes back to at least 1900, when the first patent for such a fingerboard was filed by E. A. Edgren. (Patent #652-353, E. A. Edgren)
In his 1900 patent Edgren describes in his claims: "… a musical instrument the combination with a sounding body or box, of the following instrumentalities, to wit: a neck approximately in the form of a double convex in cross section…" a plurality of frets secured to said neck, said frets being positioned at an angle one to the other so that the first and last frets incline in opposite directions "... it will be noted that the bottom flange of the head C runs at an angle so that one side of the neck B will be longer than the side opposite. The frets diverge, running from the center outward, so that the lower frets extend slightly in a direction opposite to the upper frets". This patent is no longer in force. When it was, it affected only instruments with a curved fingerboard, such as most steel-string guitars.
The first modern multiscale fretboard was used on an instrument called a
StarrBoard, invented by John D. Starrett in 1977. Starrett developed a tapping instrument that employs a matrix of halftones, fretted horizontally with strings spaced vertically, to allow one fingering to cover all scales. Because of the large range of notes from low B on a 5 String Bass, to high B four octaves above, however, he needed a way to have a long scale for the low B, but a shorter scale for the high B. He simply laid out the two scales he thought would work and connected the dots.
The person generally credited with first using “fanned frets” on an electric guitar is Ralph Novak. In 1989 he was awarded the patent, which expired in 2009. Ormsby guitars ignored / violated the patent prior to its expiration. Other companies showed more restraint, and waited until 2009. This has led to an increase in interest and sales of multiscale guitars.
Fanned-fret guitar
''Fanned-fret guitars'' have a multi-scale fingerboard because of "offset" frets; that is, frets that extend from the
neck of the guitar at an angle. Ralph Novak (Novax Guitars) was the first to apply this idea to the electric guitar (1988). The frets are arrayed on an angle, in contrast to the standard perpendicular arrangement of other guitars. Proponents of this style of
guitar
The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...
claim such benefits as comfort, better
ergonomic
Human factors and ergonomics (commonly referred to as human factors) is the application of psychological and physiological principles to the engineering and design of products, processes, and systems. Four primary goals of human factors learnin ...
s, better intonation, and better control of the tension of the strings across the fretboard.
See also
*
Bandora (instrument)
*
Orpharion
The orpharion ( or ) or opherion is a plucked stringed instrument from the Renaissance, a member of the cittern family. Its construction is similar to the larger bandora and an ancestor of the guitar. The metal strings are tuned like a lute and ...
, another
early modern instrument, similar to the bandora
*
Charlie Hunter
Charlie Hunter (born May 23, 1967) is an American guitarist, composer, and bandleader. First coming to prominence in the early 1990s, Hunter plays custom-made seven- and eight-string guitars on which he simultaneously plays bass lines, chords, a ...
, an American jazz guitarist who has performed and recorded with a "fanned-fretted", eight-string electric guitar
*
Brahms guitar, an eight-string classical guitar with slanted frets, originally developed by guitarist
Paul Galbraith
Paul Galbraith (born 18 March 1964) is a Scottish classical guitarist known for his unique style of playing.
Biography
Paul Galbraith had his first guitar lessons with Graham Wade, continuing his studies with Gordon Crosskey at the Chethams Sch ...
and luthier
David Rubio
David Rubio (born David Joseph Spinks; 17 September 1934 – 21 October 2000) was an English maker of stringed musical instruments.
Biography
David Rubio was born on 17 September 1934 in London, England. He acquired his new surname in his t ...
*
Gordon Giltrap
Gordon Giltrap, MBE (born 6 April 1948) is an English guitarist and composer. His music crosses several genres. He has been described as "one of the most revered guitarists of his generation", and has drawn praise from fellow musicians including ...
*
Tosin Abasi
Oluwatosin Ayoyinka Olumide Abasi (born January 7, 1983), is an American musician, best known as the founder and lead guitarist of the instrumental progressive metal band Animals as Leaders. He has recorded and released five albums with Anim ...
References
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External links
*A calculator to calculate fret locations for a multiscale fretboard can be found on th
Calculating Fret Positionspage of th
Liutaio Mottola Lutherie Information Website
Guitar parts and accessories