Fanned fret bass necks.

[T2W]

You can choose what you want but usually people use 37" for the B and 32" for the G for the most equal tension.

5" is quite a lot for a fanned fret bass. I went with 35.5 and 32.5 and it seems a little odd... even for a six string.maybe a bit too much. 35 and 33 would be nice for a 5er. sebastian, if youre still lookin, PM me, I might be able to help you out (build you one...) wink wink.

 

[SDB Guitars]

I've made a few multi-scale bass necks... they are not over-complicated. As stated above, you factor the scale of your two outside strings and connect the dots.

There is even a website that will calculate a complete template for you...

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[photoshopgeek]

Wow... never have played a fanned fret before. How long does it take to get used to? Is there really that much benefit from doing it?

 

[SDB Guitars]

It takes a relatively short amount of time to get used to, IMO... it just feels ergonomically better than perpendicular frets, to my hand, and doesn't bother my carpal tunner as much as standard necks.

 

[Phil Mailloux]

There is even a website that will calculate a complete template for you...

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Good find SDB, I enjoyed playing around with it for a while It's just too bad there's no feature that will let you decide which fret on the neck is perpendicular so you can choose the fan width yourself.

 

[Ramstien]

It takes a relatively short amount of time to get used to, IMO... it just feels ergonomically better than perpendicular frets, to my hand, and doesn't bother my carpal tunner as much as standard necks.

I was wondering the reason for fanned frets.

 

[T2W]

I was wondering the reason for fanned frets.

Bassists often want a long B string to get a good low end, and a tight G string to be able to play faster. Fanned frets are a perfect mix of both.

 

[Dirk Diggler]

For me one of the biggest advantages of fan fret design is even tension, all strings feel the same. It doesn't take long to play it, but I've found it does take a while to get good at position without looking/feeling. What I mean is getting the hand to land on the fret edge like it should with good consistant clean technique. To be honest it took me about 2 months of gigs to get completely comfortable. But I have been playing parallel for a long time.

I have seen many talk about adjusting the scale and where it's parallel, I guess I don't get that since on mine around the 12 fret is parallel. If you change that point are you not actually changing the scale?
The ones I build work fine so I'm not even going to worry about that.
Dirk

 

[Arx]

If you change that point are you not actually changing the scale?
Dirk

No. You can just move the relative position of each string. If you make the nut straighter (closer to a normal bass) then the bridge has to move further away on the low string and closer on the high string (assuming you want to keep the same scale). It's always going to be a compromize. you can go anywhere from a flat nut (which will be unplayable at the higher frets) to a flat bridge (which will be unplayable at the low frets) somewhere in between will work best.

-Nick

 

[eleonn]

Good find SDB, I enjoyed playing around with it for a while It's just too bad there's no feature that will let you decide which fret on the neck is perpendicular so you can choose the fan width yourself.

I think the Perpendicular Fret Distance gives you this and this is a factor of the distance from the nut to the perpedicular fret.

 

[Phil Mailloux]

I think the Perpendicular Fret Distance gives you this and this is a factor of the distance from the nut to the perpedicular fret.

You're totally right, I don't know how I missed that one

 

[eleonn]

 

[Dirk Diggler]

Ah I see now, in my situation I always just assumed since my scales are 4" apart the angle at the nut would be a 2" offset.
Interesting maybe in a future build I might play with moving some things around, or not I really do like the setup I have now.
It is nice to think about things differently, thanks for the new perspective.
Dirk

 

[CanadaMan]

Dingwall is 37" - 34 inch, and is a very comfortable neck to play. The frets took me absolutely no time to get used to, and after a little practice the transition between the two is nothing at all.

 

[eleonn]

How many string your Dingwall have and which is hte perpendicular fret? Do you have a pic?

 

[sebastian]

So Dingwall necks are 37-34" that is interesting. I've seen measurements mention in this thread ranging from 2" to 5" differences between the B and G. How important is that?

 

[T2W]

quite important, if you go too far (5"), you can end up having problems playing the first few frets, since they would be in an incredible angle (depending which fret is perpendicular) IMO I think 3" is ok, with the 8 or 9th fret being perpendicular, for a five string. Two can be just enough to get good tensioning (so I hear) and not too hard to get used to.

 

[CanadaMan]

How many string your Dingwall have and which is hte perpendicular fret? Do you have a pic?

It's a 5 string ABII, I'll get pics up when I upload them, but the 7th (I believe, hard to tell when nothing is straight 7th or 8th for sure.)

Scale difference is very important, like previously stated, because it's a teeny bit of a stretch on 3" for the first couple frets. 3 should be good for tension on a low B, as it's wonderful here.

 

[SDB Guitars]

I generally set my perpendicular fret at either the 7th or 8th...

 

[Engine207]

I'm starting to build basses in my spare time, and have a couple of questions. You fellas seem to understand this stuff pretty well...

1. Can most players, after spending some time, easily go back and forth between fanned and perpendicular frets (and fretless), or is it a system you choose and "convert" to?
2. Are string sets that accommodate different scale lengths commonly available from the various makers, or do you have to custom order?
3. What are some of the best places to source fanned-fret specific parts (bridges, pups, nuts, etc.)?