https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-players-discussion/why-only-22-frets/ Guitar Noise Discussion Board en-US Thu, 04 Jun 2026 11:31:46 +0000 wpForo 60 https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-players-discussion/why-only-22-frets/paged/2/#post-324232 Wed, 25 Mar 2009 13:15:17 +0000 Guitar Players Discussion Ricochet https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-players-discussion/why-only-22-frets/paged/2/#post-324232 https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-players-discussion/why-only-22-frets/paged/2/#post-324119 Mon, 23 Mar 2009 20:58:57 +0000
If you balance the volumes (guitar/amp) to the point where any more volume on the guitar will cause distortion, you can play clean and bring in distortion by upping the guitar volume knob. As you're already on the cusp of clipping the sound, turning up the guitar will not get anymore volume, you'll just get more distortion.]]> Guitar Players Discussion greybeard https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-players-discussion/why-only-22-frets/paged/2/#post-324119 https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-players-discussion/why-only-22-frets/#post-324115 Mon, 23 Mar 2009 20:38:45 +0000
I hadn't thought about how that affects pickup placement, though. Looking at it now, I can see what you all mean. They are a little more crammed in there than on my other guitars. The neck pickup is literally almost touching the edge of the fretboard, and the others are pretty close together.

I'd have thought this would reduce the tonal differences between pickups, but it doesn't seem to.

The only strange tone thing I notice about this guitar is that when distorted, which is often, it's got the easiest pinch harmonics of any guitar I've ever played.

It's not at all twangy, but that may have more to do with the woods, or the pickups, or something. Clean, it has a fairly dark rich sound at the neck, quite a lot of bite coming off the bridge. (CAn't play the bridge clean on my amp, actually. It always distorts a little.)


Best,
Ande]]> Guitar Players Discussion Ande https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-players-discussion/why-only-22-frets/#post-324115 https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-players-discussion/why-only-22-frets/#post-323987 Sun, 22 Mar 2009 12:24:23 +0000
Since node position will vary with the length between any fret and the saddle, you can't make a guitar with an "ideal" pickup placement. But that doesn't mean you can't make a guitar with bad placement, at least to the average ear. Putting one under the 19th fret would sound a bit dead, comparatively speaking.

So the compromise most manufacturers take is to mount the bridge pickup right under where the 24th fret would go - when playing an open string, that gives you a nice solid mix of overtones (it's halfway between the node and antinode of the fundamental, so it gets a good piece of it, it's an antinode of the first overtone, so it gets all of that, making the tone "richer" in the typical neck pup, and it's a node of the third overtone, minimizing some of the highs). By maximizing the lower overtones, and minimizing some of the higher ones, you get the classic "rich" or "round" sound of a 21 fret neck pup.

Some folks argue that a 24 fret neck is "better" for pickup placement, because it senses "more" harmonics. For open strings, that's true - it does get more, in absolute number, from an open string. But it also gets less energy from the fundamental - it has to be closer to the node than the antinode. So the entire mix is different, and when you get right down to it, it's the mix of overtone presence and relative strength that creates the "tone" of an instrument.

That brings up one more reason why 21/22 fret guitars are more common: tradition. Move the pup, you change the tone. If most of what you listen to is recorded using 21/22 fret guitars, 24 won't sound as good, and vice versa. Because most rock/pop music is shaped by what came before, 22 still sounds better to most ears.

And that's not something you can get to the bottom of with technical arguments. Some folks (like Ed Roman) insist that more overtones are always better, even though they ignore the fact that the mix changes with placement. If they truly thought having all the overtones led to nirvana, they'd be building their guitars with optical pickups, which sense ALL the overtones on ALL the notes.

But they don't. Because the results wouldn't sound like what we expect guitars to sound like.]]> Guitar Players Discussion NoteBoat https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-players-discussion/why-only-22-frets/#post-323987 https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-players-discussion/why-only-22-frets/#post-323985 Sun, 22 Mar 2009 12:14:55 +0000
I wonder how high you could go - practically?

Pianos go up to a C8 - which, taking into account that guitars are playing an octave lower than it looks like from the written music, seems to be a couple of octaves higher than the guitar (if I'm counting right, which isn't a sure thing....). They sound pretty darned tightly strung when you get right up there, but part of the way might be achievable on a guitar style instrument?

Cheers,

Chris]]> Guitar Players Discussion Chris C https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-players-discussion/why-only-22-frets/#post-323985 https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-players-discussion/why-only-22-frets/#post-323984 Sun, 22 Mar 2009 11:57:50 +0000 Guitar Players Discussion greybeard https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-players-discussion/why-only-22-frets/#post-323984 https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-players-discussion/why-only-22-frets/#post-323983 Sun, 22 Mar 2009 11:45:47 +0000
Presumably, if your interest was soling in the high regions, then you could also add a seventh string - or maybe even drop the low E off, and move the rest across. I expect you'd hit some technical limitations but what would they be? 5 string banjos have a short extra string part the way down on one side. so maybe you could add a few more notes like that? Why not?]]> Guitar Players Discussion Chris C https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-players-discussion/why-only-22-frets/#post-323983 https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-players-discussion/why-only-22-frets/#post-323982 Sun, 22 Mar 2009 11:32:50 +0000
In order to be able to fret notes that high, the frets above 24 were spaced at whole tone distance rather than semi tone. He also had a pickup put under the fretboard to give him a second pickup.

http://www.edenwaith.com/uliroth/music/skyguitar.html

You can find some videos on youtube, if you want to see it in action.]]> Guitar Players Discussion greybeard https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-players-discussion/why-only-22-frets/#post-323982 https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-players-discussion/why-only-22-frets/#post-323981 Sun, 22 Mar 2009 11:15:57 +0000 Guitar Players Discussion Anonymous https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-players-discussion/why-only-22-frets/#post-323981 https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-players-discussion/why-only-22-frets/#post-323973 Sun, 22 Mar 2009 06:33:10 +0000
But then again, I play mostly rhythm guitar, and I play a lot in A or D....

:D :D :D

Vic]]> Guitar Players Discussion Vic Lewis VL https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-players-discussion/why-only-22-frets/#post-323973