Is this normal

[brianerwin]

Check out Andy McKee, He plays a guitar with frets that are angled along the whole neck of the guitar. Also Don Ross uses the same style. They look strange but intonation is spot on.
Not all of his vids have it, but this one does.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfF4QLO-L_4

[dmusic148]

Originally Posted by megafiddle

Kind of ironic, since classical guitars don't suffer from
the same intonation problems that steel string guitars
have.
?

All guitars have the problem.

[Hopkins]

Originally Posted by brianerwin

Check out Andy McKee, He plays a guitar with frets that are angled along the whole neck of the guitar. Also Don Ross uses the same style. They look strange but intonation is spot on.
Not all of his vids have it, but this one does.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfF4QLO-L_4

Thats a multi-scale guitar. Its not really the same as the fret to fret intonation.

[HaMMerHeD]

Originally Posted by megafiddle

Kind of ironic, since classical guitars don't suffer from
the same intonation problems that steel string guitars
have.

Notice that classical guitar saddles are straight, not
angled. The saddle needed no compensation, but the
frets do?

All guitars with straight frets have screwy intonation.

The saddle should rightly be compensated, as well as the nut and the frets.

If you want perfect intonation, a straight nut, frets, and saddle are definitely not going to get you there. For most people, getting close is good enough. Others demand greater precision, and there are solutions for that.

[pilotjones]

People here are confusing intonation with temperament. They both relate to the pitch produced, but are very different things.

The guitar with the segmented frets is made that way in order to follow an non equal-temperament, such as just or Pythagorean temperaments. As such it will sound (after it is intonated -- a separate process) very sweet when played in the key for which it is tuned. And horrible in keys far from that in the circle of fifths. This is like early renaissance instruments, made before the invention of equal temperament, which allowed composers such as Bach to compose pieces that included modulations.

[lethargytartare]

Originally Posted by thebassbuilder

I am with you on that. Also could you really hear the difference?

Probably more important to him: can HE hear the difference!

[line6man]

You guys have never seen classical guitars with differently-tempered frets? As I understand, this is popular with instruments played in parts of the world where the usual 12 step temperament is not common.

I've seen a few guitars that had a sort of "fret track" that let you move the frets around with a light blow from a hammer. I can't remember what it's called, however.

[line6man]

Originally Posted by megafiddle

Kind of ironic, since classical guitars don't suffer from
the same intonation problems that steel string guitars
have.

Notice that classical guitar saddles are straight, not
angled. The saddle needed no compensation, but the
frets do?

Care to elaborate? The type of string used is irrelevant. There is no inherent difference between steel and nylon strings with respect to how the instrument itself is built. That should be obvious. In any case, the fact that guitars have straight frets means that you have to deal with compromises in temperament if you have more than one string. The use of staggered bridge saddles and sometimes compensated nuts helps with this, but you can still only go so far when the frets are the same distance apart for all strings.

[pilotjones]

Talking about intonation compensation in trying to answer why those frets are segmented is like discussing what kind of tires are best for your boat.

The segmentation is to provide a different temperament. It has nothing to do with intonation.

If you're interested in learning about the subjects, go to the Wikipedia articles on "Musical temperament," and "Intonation (music), " subsection "Fretted instrument intonation."


I'm out.

[lethargytartare]

Originally Posted by pilotjones

Talking about intonation compensation in trying to answer why those frets are segmented is like discussing what kind of tires are best for your boat.

The segmentation is to provide a different temperament. It has nothing to do with intonation.

Not an expert, and it may be true that the pictured guitar is fretted that way ONLY to achieve a different temperament. However, here's one company that does something similar to achieve both alternate temperaments, AND (taking them at their word) to give better intonation with a standard temperament (and in the alternate temperaments as well, obviously):

http://www.truetemperament.com/site/index.php

[pilotjones]

Yes it would be possible to combine temperament adjustments with intonation adjustments to fret position.

But those necks definitely have temperament adjustments. As such, they are centered around one key. I can pretty much guarantee that if you play a barre chord at most of the positions on one of those necks, it would sound like total crap. Most likely they sound good in the keys of E and A, and bad in C.

The claims there are unjustified. Just look -- they claim the guitar never goes out of tune! Because of their adjusted frets?! Preposterous. You can take any guitar between rooms of different temperatures, and unless the neck and body are made of steel like the core of the strings, the tuning will change. And possibly even then.