True Temperament Frets?

[leandroab]

I don't know if this was brought up here by another member (search didn't come up to a result) or if this is the right section (may concern to 6, 7, 8, 999 string guitars) but this is a really funky fretting design! I think the videos can explain better than I!









True Temperament - Fretting systems

 

[Esp Griffyn]

Aesthetically looks terrible, but I see the logic behind it. Not really a new idea like. I must say, in that second video, the guy on the strat, some of notes look really hard to it, A on the 5th fret of the E string looks like a tiny gap, like a 22nd fret sized gap.

 

[MF_Kitten]

i remember looking through their website a while ago. they buy unfretted warmoth necks and fret them in different temperaments. they have many different ones that sound better when played in different ways (like bluesy stuff, jazzy stuff, etc)

 

[yingmin]

It seems like it would be really hard to accurately bend certain strings at certain frets because of the radical curvature of the fret itself. Kind of a cool idea, but probably more trouble than it's worth. And Vai's demonstration actually sounded more out of tune than a normal guitar.

 

[MF_Kitten]

actually, vai´s demonstration sounded way too in tune

it´s funny, because when chords are absolutely perfectly in tune, we perceive it as sounding weird. we´re too used to the imperfections of a standard guitar, i guess. the imperfections are part of the charm though, depending on what type of player you are.

the same type of "way too in tune" can be found on baritone scale guitars. there´s a part in Meshuggah´s song Pravus, from the obzen album (around 4:08), where they play some chugging and some chords, and one of the chords sounds "unnaturally" clean and in tune. i think it sounds awesome

 

[EliNoPants]

if there was a remotely affordable way to do this for a 7-string 27" neck i'd be all about it, but from what i remember, their price to do it custom is pretty fucking insane

 

[Esp Griffyn]

Yngwie Malmsteen bangs on all the time about how he has "perfect pitch", and how he hates being out of tune, and people doing out of tune bends, but you don't see him going for these fretjobs

 

[Scali]

I've always wondered how practical this is, really...
I mean, in theory the guitar is in tune better, but that is if the guitar has just had a fretjob, new strings installed, and is tuned up perfectly.

After you've played one song, is it still in tune? Or did the strings detune enough that it's not going to be in tune anyway? Then it'd just be out of tune in a slightly different way from regular frets.

And how long would these frets last? When frets wear out, intonation suffers aswell. So how long will you really benefit from better intonation?

And then there's the question of the strings themselves. Firstly, is string production THAT consistent, that if you change strings, their thickness, tension and everything is good enough to still have that perfect intonation?
Secondly, what if you change to a different brand of strings, different gauge or different tuning? I suppose you'd have to refret the entire guitar, because the notes need to be intonated at different points.
I suppose as strings get dirty and get little wear-marks from the frets, it also impacts intonation.

And ofcourse there's also the human factor. The pressure of your hands also has an effect on intonation. Some people press the strings down harder than others, making the notes go up in pitch slightly. So how can they make a neck that is intonated perfectly for ME? And how can I make sure that I am consistent enough not to screw the intonation because one day I may press harder than another, for whatever reason?

 

[sevenstringj]

In BOTH clips where they actually play guitars with this so-called "true temperment," the shit sounds outta tune.

I'll stick to my "wrong" frets and "out of tune" chords.

 

[Metal Ken]

So, what if you bend the string past the "True temperment" bend in the fret? Does the pitch drastically change?

 

[pink freud]

Yngwie Malmsteen bangs on all the time about how he has "perfect pitch", and how he hates being out of tune, and people doing out of tune bends, but you don't see him going for these fretjobs

Could you imagine how hard it would be to make a scalloped true-temperament neck?

 

[Caparison123]

Mattias Eklundh has a true temp. Caparison.

Yet, in all the live shots from his blog, you never see it being used live. I think it's because they really can't function live or at least, they're more trouble than they're worth- it's not like going back and forth from a 6 and 7 string guitar...it throws your hands off everywhere.

 

[shadowlife]

Man, i would love to try one of these necks- tuning paradise!
Maybe if i decide to build myself a Warmoth someday, i'll go for a neck form TT.

 

[Variant]

It would seem that the TT system, like regular intonation, would be compatible only with a specific tuning and specific strings. Like .009 - .042 in EADGBE.

 

[BenEllerGuitars]

holy fuck that looks odd... how come vai's frets look WAY different than the 2nd video's frets?

 

[hufschmid]

I find this incredible, and I'm going to order a neck pretty soon myself...

But check this out...

 

[NegaTiveXero]

^WTF!?

 

[hufschmid]

You need to be a player with a lots of Temperament to play on that neck

 

[BenEllerGuitars]

hoooly shit, what is that thing with the diagonal frets???? any more info on that?

 

[Trespass]

In my perspective, as someone who has humbly dabbled into temperaments and just intonation, and all sorts of odd tonalities, I believe I've cultured my ears into being able to hear and define (to me) the difference. Naturally, I may have just psychologically convinced myself of this; just as some Stradivari collectors couldn't pick out the Strad convincingly in a double blind test on air.

Regardless, I feel the real application of these frets would be in steel string and nylon string acoustics. Perhaps true temperament, on a slightly multiscale acoustic, would reunify the resonance of the instrument - Each string optimized to it's full potential scale, tension, guage, and intonation, and matching it's other plain and wounds consistently. As my imagine runs rampant, I imagine the blend between all these strings, possessing this dreamt unifying quality, would blend similar to that of a string section of an orchestra.