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frets, 20, 22 or 24?

#61
HogieWan said:
# of frets does not determine where the neck and body are joined. The difference between a Fender 20 and 21 fret necks is just a bit of fingerboard that extends past the end of the neck
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Bryan R. Tyler said:
HogieWan got to it first- it's a mistake that I've seen before and I don't know why people think it. Fret count has nothing to do with neck length at all. You can take the same bass and pull all the frets out until there's just one left, or extend the fingerboard until you've got 40 frets- either way it does not lengthen or shorten the neck.
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well yeah, if we're talking about a neck of the same size but with an overhanging fretboard extension then there's no argument to be made. (the difference is likely slight enough that there's no argument to be made anyway :smug:)

i was referring to a neck that's made longer, and set into a correspondingly shorter body.

prs guitars refers to their 22-fret guitars as having stiffer necks than their 24-fret models of equal scale length, for example.

or look at anthony jackson's contrabass, which avoids the issue by having very little of the bass side of the neck clear the body at all.

again, it's likely a slight difference, but it may not be no difference.
 
#62
That's not the number of frets doing that though- you can have a longer neck with a shorter body or vice versa- neither is dependent upon fret number.

I understand what you mean- some companies will have a shorter body and a longer neck to make the addition of more frets more accessible, but phrasing it as "a neck with more frets but the same scale length is therefore a longer neck" is obviously false in definition even though it may not be the intent, and is likely to confuse people who don't know any better.
 
#63
interesting variety in responses. It's great that our responses are as varied as probably our approaches to the various forms of music we play. Again sorry for being sloppy in not reading what forum I was in before posting this and i didn't know how to change it. The Article I sited stated that a 24 fret guitar would allow for a more proper placement of the pickup. He noted that with a 22 or 21 the neck pickup often ends up over the overtone and creates the nodes or dead spot on the guitar. I'm not sure that applies to basses. I did a search on this and didn't find anything other than that guitar article. Lot's of stuff on frets and the material used but nothing on length.
 
#65
pauldebass said:
He noted that with a 22 or 21 the neck pickup often ends up over the overtone and creates the nodes or dead spot on the guitar.
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Harmonic nodes are located along divisions of the string and have nothing to do with frets. Dead spots are caused by different resonances along the neck having to do with the construction of the instrument- they exist whether there's a pickup there to emphasize them or not. Who wrote this article?
 
#68
This bass has 29 frets and Claypool uses them all. He's making plenty of money.

The argument for the number frets in either direction (too many vs. too few) is just stupid. It's all personal preference. That's why there are so many varieties. If there was one magic fret number then all basses would be made the same way.
 

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#69
I can't see how having fewer frets is a benefit, unless you don't like the look - having said that I prefer the simplicity of guitars with single pickups.

So many people play 20 fret Fenders so brilliantly that any more would seem pointless, but I have run out on several occasions, sliding a 7th chord up etc.

My Jaydee has 24 and I'm more comfortable with that than feeling a little limited on excursions up that end on my Fender. So, 24 but I would never use 'not enough frets' as an excuse!


Greg
 
#74
It's strange to me because, now I mainly use my fodera that are 24 frets, but I use sometimes my classic 50 pbass and my marcus jazz 4, and they are 20, and to me there's no problem, I adapt my playing without thinking about it.
Ithink that even if I had only 12 frets, I would be able to play most of the song I need to lol
 
#78
Bryan R. Tyler said:
Harmonic nodes are located along divisions of the string and have nothing to do with frets. Dead spots are caused by different resonances along the neck having to do with the construction of the instrument- they exist whether there's a pickup there to emphasize them or not. Who wrote this article?
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the article I linked in my first post was by Ed Roman, a Las Vegas luthier.. I looked through his stuff when searching for anything re # of frets and tone and found his article. But as I noted his article is related to guitars. I agree with you it would appear dead spots would related to construction. I remember the old Fenders (maybe new too?) often would have a dead spot on G string around 5th and 7th fret and guys would put a clamp to add mass to the head stock.
 
#79
pauldebass said:
the article I linked in my first post was by Ed Roman, a Las Vegas luthier.. I looked through his stuff when searching for anything re # of frets and tone and found his article. But as I noted his article is related to guitars. I agree with you it would appear dead spots would related to construction. I remember the old Fenders (maybe new too?) often would have a dead spot on G string around 5th and 7th fret and guys would put a clamp to add mass to the head stock.
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Don't listen to a word Ed Roman has to say, utter shyster.:rollno:
 

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