Fanned frets

qjawz

qjawz

Inspired
Hey so other than scale lengths and creating a good over all tensions. Do fanned frets help with a more consistent intonation across the fret board?
 
Xrocker said:
Or with a little ( a lot) of talent you can intonate this way!

http://www.sylviamassy.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/02-GearStories-Prince.pdf
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Heh, I got some practice at this... I used to sit in front of the TV watching something like The X Files with my family, and as soon as the ads came on I would grab a guitar and play along with them. Great for ear training and seat of your pants improvisation, but sometimes tuning was a bit out so I would have to either bend each note just a touch sharper or play with the trem slightly depressed.

To return to the OP, no, fanned frets won't particularly help a guitar's intonation.
 
I'll start by saying I'm no expert... But I would think that intonation wouldn't inherently be improved because the math used to space the frets is still the same. You'd just be starting with 2 different overall lengths on your 2 outer strings while the remaining fall in line somewhere in between. It may allow you to adjust your playing so you can intonate better, like that article about Prince (that's pretty cool, btw). FWIW, I have a fanned fret 7 string, and outside of the ergonomic benefits, I haven't noticed that it intonates any better than my other guitars. But then again, I'm not exactly known for my keen, dog-like, hearing. :shock :lol
 
qjawz said:
Hey so other than scale lengths and creating a good over all tensions. Do fanned frets help with a more consistent intonation across the fret board?
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No.

The intonation compensation is usually done with the bridge, unless you have a fretboard with intonated frets, and looks something like this:

http://i568.photobucket.com/albums/ss125/Kaoskadosk/Guitar/Geetarrr001.jpg

Without the compensation on a per fret per string basis, any intonation needs to be done on the bridge.
 
Yup, intonation is the distance relationship for each string between the bridge and the nut. Fan frets are the result of multi scale fret boards.
 
Sixstring said:
Yup, intonation is the distance relationship for each string between the bridge and the nut. Fan frets are the result of multi scale fret boards.
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Intonation across the fretboard though implies the intonation for each fret. A fanned fretboard will not help with this, only with the nut/bridge distance.
 
Knuckles said:
And Im prepared for the jokes now. (Compensated nut)
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Haha thanks guys I've see those true temperaments frets around, around $800 bucks..I'll pass. I've contacted earvana they told me my radius is to flat for their nuts.
 
i think fanned frets are less about intonation and more just tightness/tone
not really necessary for 6 string guitars in my opinion, unless the tunings are really wild
 
At longer scales, notes on the higher strings are more likely to sound ice picky and brittle. Fanned frets are meant to combat that by making the higher strings a shorter scale. Personally, I don't even think it's necessary on 8 string guitars.
 
BigD1977 said:
Intonation across the fretboard though implies the intonation for each fret. A fanned fretboard will not help with this, only with the nut/bridge distance.
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Not sure where you were going with that but ok, I was agreeing with you on this. The OP was asking a question "Do fanned frets help with a more consistent intonation across the fret board?" so I guess the short and quick answer is no.
 
Sixstring said:
Not sure where you were going with that but ok, I was agreeing with you on this. The OP was asking a question "Do fanned frets help with a more consistent intonation across the fret board?" so I guess the short and quick answer is no.
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Crossed wires, I think! I didn't read your post right, to be honest! No worries. :)

IOW, I thought the 'Yup' was to the OP.
 
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