Does evertune bridge remove the need for a true temperament fretboard?

J

John Atanasoff

Inspired
Does evertune bridge remove the need for a true temperament fretboard?

Why true temperament fretboards haven't been successful and mass adopted?
 
So, I have a slight feeling you may be conflating the ideas here.
Evertune keeps the string in tune with itself, despite what you do while playing - extreme bends, lots of whammy etc. won't send the string way out of tune. If it was an E when it started, it will still be an E.

True temperament is that the whole fretboard will be intonated near-perfectly for the temperament that it is made for.

The answer to your second question is fairly straight forward, and also fairly complex. For the most part, it boils down to cost. For, say, Fender, to adopt either system, would require re-tooling their production. Cutting straight fret slots is very simple to do. Cutting the "curvy" true temperament ones is not, and I also believe they'd have to license it as well, adding more cost.
Also, I believe that the overwhelming majority of musicians don't see the need or point of going with true temperament. The drift in intonation with standard necks that have been in use is perfectly acceptable.
 
Selta is spot on.

You can have an evertune bridge but if your guitar isn't intonated (or tuned) properly, the evertune won't change it. It just won't allow it to bend to a different pitch without playing a different fret.
 
selta said:
So, I have a slight feeling you may be conflating the ideas here.
Evertune keeps the string in tune with itself, despite what you do while playing - extreme bends, lots of whammy etc. won't send the string way out of tune. If it was an E when it started, it will still be an E.

True temperament is that the whole fretboard will be intonated near-perfectly for the temperament that it is made for.

The answer to your second question is fairly straight forward, and also fairly complex. For the most part, it boils down to cost. For, say, Fender, to adopt either system, would require re-tooling their production. Cutting straight fret slots is very simple to do. Cutting the "curvy" true temperament ones is not, and I also believe they'd have to license it as well, adding more cost.
Also, I believe that the overwhelming majority of musicians don't see the need or point of going with true temperament. The drift in intonation with standard necks that have been in use is perfectly acceptable.
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Whammy evertunes are not yet developed.
For my ear intonation with standard necks is not very acceptable. We all know about the E and A chord for e.x.
The reason i did not go true temperament, is that it might take playability away. Steve vai and other well known virtuosos are not using them
 
It's worth noting that "true temperament" isn't really true temperament (but it's fairly close). For perfect intonation, you'd need almost thirty frets per octave.
 
Rex said:
It's worth noting that "true temperament" isn't really true temperament (but it's fairly close). For perfect intonation, you'd need almost thirty frets per octave.
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Fairly close is good enough for me!
If i install evertune and it improves intonation across the fretboard it might be enough though.
 
Keep in mind that true temperament only works perfectly for one key at a time. Play in the wrong key, and a true temperament tuned instrument can sound even more out of tune by comparison. Pure musical intervals are fractions, not fixed pitch offsets. Equal temperament is a compromise so that chromatic instruments like guitar and piano can play equally well in any key. The sacrifice is that no key will allow notes to perfectly align in terms of pure intervals. I wouldn't worry too much about the intonation limitations of a standard fretboard. Unless you've got freakishly robotic Swiss watch like precision in your playing technique, slight variations in fretting pressure will almost certainly prevent you from ever consistently reaching perfect intonation on a guitar anyway.
 
mr_fender said:
Keep in mind that true temperament only works perfectly for one key at a time. Play in the wrong key, and a true temperament tuned instrument can sound even more out of tune by comparison. Pure musical intervals are fractions, not fixed pitch offsets. Equal temperament is a compromise so that chromatic instruments like guitar and piano can play equally well in any key. The sacrifice is that no key will allow notes to perfectly align in terms of pure intervals. I wouldn't worry too much about the intonation limitations of a standard fretboard. Unless you've got freakishly robotic Swiss watch like precision in your playing technique, slight variations in fretting pressure will almost certainly prevent you from ever consistently reaching perfect intonation on a guitar anyway.
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This is where the evertune bridge comes into play (which is why some players like the combination of the two). The evertune removes some of those nuances like fretting pressure or inadvertent bending out of the equation.
I have a guitar with an evertune bridge and 90% of the time I have it disabled. You never realize how much bending you do until you play on a guitar with an evertune bridge. Evertune is great for pure chorded rhythm playing, but for me, once you get into any form of single note playing it's hard to set up the evertune to behave properly.
 
mr_fender said:
Keep in mind that true temperament only works perfectly for one key at a time. Play in the wrong key, and a true temperament tuned instrument can sound even more out of tune by comparison. Pure musical intervals are fractions, not fixed pitch offsets. Equal temperament is a compromise so that chromatic instruments like guitar and piano can play equally well in any key. The sacrifice is that no key will allow notes to perfectly align in terms of pure intervals. I wouldn't worry too much about the intonation limitations of a standard fretboard. Unless you've got freakishly robotic Swiss watch like precision in your playing technique, slight variations in fretting pressure will almost certainly prevent you from ever consistently reaching perfect intonation on a guitar anyway.
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Regardless of fretting pressure which is part of technique anyway and can be solved with the evertune as @metal190 mentioned, my biggest fear is taking virtuosity playing away by having the frets bended; otherwise i'l do it!
 
metal190 said:
This is where the evertune bridge comes into play (which is why some players like the combination of the two). The evertune removes some of those nuances like fretting pressure or inadvertent bending out of the equation.
I have a guitar with an evertune bridge and 90% of the time I have it disabled. You never realize how much bending you do until you play on a guitar with an evertune bridge. Evertune is great for pure chorded rhythm playing, but for me, once you get into any form of single note playing it's hard to set up the evertune to behave properly.
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The reason i am unsure about evertune, is the picky treatment it needs to get it right.
Apart from that i was informed as long as you use the same gauge and brand when changing strings, the guitar will be perfectly in tune.

If i hear good feedback on true temperament and evertune i will install both!
 
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Those micro-bends are what makes your playing sound like you and are part of the organic and expressive character of a guitar. Take those out of the equation and you might as well be playing a keyboard instead.
 
You can adjust the evertune to allow bending, (adjustment is individual per string, so you can disable bending on one string if you like) then it's just a very stable bridge that keeps the strings in tune very well.
 
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