24 fret/22 frets and neck pickup

Jens

Jens

Power User
I keep hearing about 24 fret necks messing up the sound of the neck pickup on electric guitars.
I found a really nice guitar that I might buy, but it is 24 frets (and I need to drive a few hours to try it...)

What do you guys think? How much is that a factor in the sound of the guitar?

Thanks!

Jens
 
I think that schmuck Ed Roman left a trail of FUD a million miles long. Even in death his opinions-stated-as-facts live on! I attribute this one directly to him. He pontificated long and loud about this on his website...

I think you should follow your ears. If it sounds good: buy it.

Ed Roman's argument against 24 fret necks was that they place the pickup over a vibration node on the string. This is so beyond naive and wrong it's laughable. The vibrations of guitar strings are far from simple sinusoidal patterns. They follow more complex multi-wave patterns with lots of higher order harmonic content in their vibration pattern. They're also not fixed length -- you change the nodes and their placement as you move your hand around a fret at different locations on the fretboard. Nodes occur all over the place even with 22 fret guitars.

So yea: play it and if it sounds good buy it and don't even sweat this.
 
If you want the Strat neck pickup sound, you'll not get it with a 24 fret.

Ed Roman wasn't always wrong
But for the rest I agree with iaresee for the most part on this topic.
Someone once advised against a sustainiac on a 24 fret geetar for the same reason as Ed stated.
But I got one anyway and it works just fine.

Trust your ears.
 
The neck pickups on my 24-fret guitars are too far toward the bridge for my taste. If I want to record with a neck pickup, I use a guitar with fewer frets. Just my preference. There is no right or wrong. I met Ed Roman. I live in Las Vegas and have been to his store many times. He was an abrasive, opinionated, but colorful character.
 
MisterE said:
If you want the Strat neck pickup sound, you'll not get it with a 24 fret.
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Good point and no disagreement here. They sound different, but not in a one-is-better-than-the-other-way-in-all-circumstances kind of different.
 
In general, I prefer the sound of neck pickup on 22 fret guitars. I too prefer the neck pickup a little farther from the bridge than is possible on a 24 fret instrument. Even so, I have some 24 fret guitars where the neck pickups sounds just fine.
 
Thanks guys!

I just remembered that I'd heard something about it and suddenly became curious. Mostly because I use neck pick up with a relatively dark tone 99% of the time..

I'll probably go check the guitar, I have to play it a bit to see if it fits me anyway :)

Jens
 
Personally, I think Ed Roman was an obnoxious, opinionated jerk. An opinionated jerk is right sometimes, but that does not undo all of the times he was wrong. His rants are legendary. His intense hatred for all things PRS is borderline hysterical.

Personally, I think the sound of a neck pup on a 24 fret guitar does sound "different" than on a 22 fret guitar. If you are after the strat neck sound then perhaps the 22 fret will give you more of what you are looking for. I have several 22 and 24 fret guitars, including my signature model (22 fret). To say that a neck pup on a 24 fret guitar sounds bad...really? I have a Suhr Modern 24 with 2 humbuckers as well as 4 PRS's some with 22 frets and some with 24 and all sound great on the neck pup as well as bridge pup. They all sound sound different, so which one is bad? One of the great aspects of being a guitarist is the tremendous variety of sounds the instruments give. Just like the Fractal.
 
aleclee said:
In general, I prefer the sound of neck pickup on 22 fret guitars. I too prefer the neck pickup a little farther from the bridge than is possible on a 24 fret instrument. Even so, I have some 24 fret guitars where the neck pickups sounds just fine.
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Exact same for me.
 
The sound is definitely different. I know for a long time John Suhr never did anything with 24 frets (before the modern) and Tom Anderson only just this year finally did 24 frets. The sound of 21/22 fret guitars on the neck pickup, may be a bit more 'traditional' or familiar with some people. I actually enjoy both, I can't say I prefer one to the other.
 
You might find that you like the slightly brighter sound of the neck PU on a 24 fret guitar. I will say that I have a 2 humbucker guitar with 24 frets and the sound of the 2 inside coils (split coil) together in parallel is fantastic. The spacing & placement is just right to get a great chimey Strat tone.
 
Just for the record: It's a two humbucker guitar and I am not looking for strat neck pickup sound at all (I already have a strat that is very dear to me and has only 21 frets :) )

Jens
 
iaresee said:
Ed Roman's argument against 24 fret necks was that they place the pickup over a vibration node on the string. This is so beyond naive and wrong it's laughable. The vibrations of guitar strings are far from simple sinusoidal patterns. They follow more complex multi-wave patterns with lots of higher order harmonic content in their vibration pattern. They're also not fixed length -- you change the nodes and their placement as you move your hand around a fret at different locations on the fretboard. Nodes occur all over the place even with 22 fret guitars.

So yea: play it and if it sounds good buy it and don't even sweat this.
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Actually, I think Ed preferred a 24 fret neck. Again, I think it is purely subjective. I prefer a longer scale with 22 frets myself when recording with the neck pickup.
 
Interesting, as I've never heard this argument before. I've owned plenty of 24 fret guitars (all PRS) and the neck pickup has always been my favorite.
 
steadystate said:
Actually, I think Ed preferred a 24 fret neck. Again, I think it is purely subjective. I prefer a longer scale with 22 frets myself when recording with the neck pickup.
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Hey, yea, looks like I misquoted him for sure. From here:
I prefer 24 frets, for a lot of reasons, the most important being, the rhythm pickup has to be installed off axis where the 24th fret would normally fall. On a 22 fret neck the pickup sits directly over the 24th fret harmonic node. Simply explained a node is a dead spot or a massive phase cancellation
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His physics still suck. :) But yea, if wasn't already an asshole, I'm starting to look like one mis-quoting and harping on a dead guy like that, eh? :)
 
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The mere mention of Ed Roman can really get a thread going. I find his site entertaining, and spoke with him for an hour. He was nice, but I couldn't get him off the phone. I think his rant was against 22 fret guitars pickup placement.

Phostenix said:
You might find that you like the slightly brighter sound of the neck PU on a 24 fret guitar. I will say that I have a 2 humbucker guitar with 24 frets and the sound of the 2 inside coils (split coil) together in parallel is fantastic. The spacing & placement is just right to get a great chimey Strat tone.
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Agreed
 
Ed was what he was. He enjoyed irritating people and stirring up shit. I disagree with much of what he believed, and thought he contradicted himself in many ways. But his guitar shop/store is absolutely amazing. I have never seen anything like it anywhere. They have so many guitars it would make anyone's head spin. And not the usual stuff either. The place seemed like endless walls of guitars, all in great shape and in tune with good strings. Their shop can make anything, no matter how complicated or outrageous. I went there many times before they were by appointment only.
 
Personally I prefer the sound of neck humbuckers in 22 fret guitars. They do tend to sound a bit fuller and fatter generally. The only time I prefer 24 frets is if I want to play 5th fret harmonics - these get cancelled out on 22 fret guitars.
 
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