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Post new topic Do many guitars have poor fret spacing accuracy?
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Author Topic:  Do many guitars have poor fret spacing accuracy?
Malcolm Leonard

 

From:
Rhode Island, USA
Post  Posted 9 Jul 2005 5:20 pm    
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Given all the different builders(big company and small)and all those who modify/improve their fret boards,there must be X number of lap steels out there in this world with inaccurate fret spacing.
Has anybody ever encountered this on a commercially made steel guitar?
Perhaps most players would unconciously correct for this by placing the bar slightly ahead of or behind the marked fret positions?
Malcolm
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Bobbe Seymour

 

From:
Hendersonville TN USA, R.I.P.
Post  Posted 9 Jul 2005 6:28 pm    
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Malcom, YES!!!!!


Bobbe
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Malcolm Leonard

 

From:
Rhode Island, USA
Post  Posted 10 Jul 2005 5:15 am    
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Thanks Bobbe!
The fiddle players,by the way,who generally operate in a completely fretless environment have my respect and admiration!
Malcolm
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Steinar Gregertsen


From:
Arendal, Norway, R.I.P.
Post  Posted 10 Jul 2005 1:03 pm    
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Here's a photo of the first dobro I owned. No problem with fret spacing here....



Steinar

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www.gregertsen.com


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Craig Stenseth


From:
Naperville, Illinois, USA
Post  Posted 10 Jul 2005 7:19 pm    
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Not that I know what I'm doing yet, but the fret lines on my Magnatone seem to assume a certain amount of pressure/weight on the strings. Maybe I need to get a bar made of lead or gold.
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Colin Brooks

 

Post  Posted 10 Jul 2005 10:13 pm    
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On my old Selmer, which has engraved fret positions, the 13th fret is about 1/8th of an inch on the flat side of where it should be. Everything else is accurate.

I could fix it but now regard it as part of the personality of the instrument.

Malcolm Leonard

 

From:
Rhode Island, USA
Post  Posted 12 Jul 2005 9:03 pm    
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Steinar,
How come no frets?
Malcolm
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Steinar Gregertsen


From:
Arendal, Norway, R.I.P.
Post  Posted 13 Jul 2005 2:06 am    
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Malcolm,- it was built by a local luthier, and I have no idea why he decided to make it totally 'fretless'. But I kinda liked it, looked good and sounded good too, and as a newbie in the world of lap steel playing I figured I was tough enough to handle the lack of frets.. Well, I wasn't....

Steinar

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www.gregertsen.com


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Charlie McDonald


From:
out of the blue
Post  Posted 13 Jul 2005 4:10 am    
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I was considering a fretless banjo, something I could string in nylon and get that 'koto' sound.
Than I thought about it.

Even a fretless bass has markers.
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Erv Niehaus


From:
Litchfield, MN, USA
Post  Posted 13 Jul 2005 11:48 am    
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As long as the fret markers are fairly close, it really doesn't make a lot of difference. They are there just basically as a guide. It's your ears that determines if you are on fret or not.
Erv
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Lee Baucum


From:
McAllen, Texas (Extreme South) The Final Frontier
Post  Posted 13 Jul 2005 12:50 pm    
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Fret

That's what Ricky called Fred Mertz on "I Love Lucy".



Lee
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Patrick Thirsk

 

From:
Lancashire U.K.
Post  Posted 14 Jul 2005 1:09 am    
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Charlie.... have you tried using the flat edge of a beer mat instead of a steel?? This gives an almost perfect b@nj0 sound..Regds...Patrick
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