Would you choose a 22 fret guitar as your main 7?

[odibrom]

I support the idea of going past the 24th fret, but with standard-ish scales it's unpractical while with a 28" scale AND a good upper fret access it doesn't feel clogged

Also, when I was a messy 18 years old guy, I always solo'd on the bridge pickup, now that I have much more control over my chops I shred only on the bridge, so I'd remove the bridge pickup on a "shred oriented" guitar; bridge pickup is great, but...for other stuff that requires less articulation to be "effective"

I didn't quite get what you meant, there are probably too many "Bridge Pickup" in that sentence that may/should be replaced with "Neck Pickup"...

 

[Stan P]

Here is an interesting 22 fretter!! Any experience?

 

[OmegaSlayer]

I didn't quite get what you meant, there are probably too many "Bridge Pickup" in that sentence that may/should be replaced with "Neck Pickup"...

*facepalms*

 

[odibrom]

*facepalms*

The first paragraph was ok, but the second quit a bit confusing...

 

[JohnIce]

Being a 22-fret neck singlecoil lover, I do prefer 22 frets on my main 7 (25.5" custom strat thingy). Anything in the style of Jimi, SRV or Asato etc. just sounds a bit off on a 24 fret guitar, the notes don't seem to reach that juicy responsiveness that I live for in a guitar playing experience. 24 frets just sound a little more anemic to me.

That said, once you start extending the scale length that "sweet spot" should move accordingly. So I'm not so sure if, just because I prefer 22 frets on a 25.5" scale guitar, I would feel the same way on a 27" scale guitar.

 

[OmegaSlayer]

The first paragraph was ok, but the second quit a bit confusing...

It's embarassing and you're beating a dead horse

 

[dgibbs1994]

I play on acoustic 7 strings which rarely ahave 24 frets. Doesn't bother me. But if u have music specifically written with the 24th fretboard that's a little rough. If it's a nice enough guitar tho...

 

[Acaciastrain360]

As long as the scale is right, it wouldn’t bother me at all I just chug the 0’s all day anyways

 

[odibrom]

It's embarassing and you're beating a dead horse

We all have those moments...

 

[Thesius]

Here is an interesting 22 fretter!! Any experience?

I've been looking at buying it haha. Momose are great guitars. I've only ever played their 6 strings however.

 

[Ross82]

I have a custom in production right now and one of my specs was a 22 fret neck rather than their standard 24. I'm a rhythm player first and foremost, I don't do much shredding so very rarely go past the 19th fret let alone get to the 24th. The other reason for 22 frets was so I could have the neck pickup further toward/on the finger board end. So for me those 2 extra frets mean nothing and will not be missed.

 

[Dabo Fett]

Although my 2 7s are both 24 fret, all my favorite 6s tend to be 22 frets. I don’t play up that high too often so honestly it just comes down to whatever the guitar has. With the exception of a prs custom, not a ton of guitars come in both 22 and 24 fret so whatever it is, it is

 

[Godflash]

24 fret useful only if you song in E (STANDART TUNING)
if not, BEND !!!

 

[odibrom]

Although my 2 7s are both 24 fret, all my favorite 6s tend to be 22 frets. I don’t play up that high too often so honestly it just comes down to whatever the guitar has. With the exception of a prs custom, not a ton of guitars come in both 22 and 24 fret so whatever it is, it is

My 7s are all 24 frets (except the acoustic, obviously) but my 6s are 22...

24 fret useful only if you song in E

 

[Mitri]

I used to have one of those 21 fret, fat strats from Series 10. I want those neck tones back in my life...on multiscale guitars.

That said, I think that most guitar companies don''t like making the full size guitar bodies that are meant to pair with 21/22 fret guitars. Something about smaller bodies being safer for consumers...yet these same guitar bodies are small enough to be super uncomfortable and kind of problematic for lankier peoples...not to mention that smaller guitar bodies can be more prone to neckdive...which adds further to uncomfort.

My valkyrie is a 727 with 22 frets (terrible neckdive) and it has some sweetness in the neck position, I loved it for rhythms back in the day. My Hawker (some neckdive) is 727 with 24 frets but it doesn't have the same sweetness.

In short: I think I'd like 6, 7, and 8-string, 21-fret, multi-scale electric guitars in just about every pickup combination, active and passive.

 

[DarrellM5]

It doesn't matter to me at this time. My KM-7 has 24 but I don't think I've ever used the last few. I'm good either way.

 

[Ross82]

I used to have one of those 21 fret, fat strats from Series 10. I want those neck tones back in my life...on multiscale guitars.

That said, I think that most guitar companies don''t like making the full size guitar bodies that are meant to pair with 21/22 fret guitars. Something about smaller bodies being safer for consumers...yet these same guitar bodies are small enough to be super uncomfortable and kind of problematic for lankier peoples...not to mention that smaller guitar bodies can be more prone to neckdive...which adds further to uncomfort.

My valkyrie is a 727 with 22 frets (terrible neckdive) and it has some sweetness in the neck position, I loved it for rhythms back in the day. My Hawker (some neckdive) is 727 with 24 frets but it doesn't have the same sweetness.

In short: I think I'd like 6, 7, and 8-string, 21-fret, multi-scale electric guitars in just about every pickup combination, active and passive.

Depending on how my current build turns out, I may get a 7 built too and have been debating whether to have that one as a 22 as well, though it would be an extended scale so I'm not sure how the physics shake out. In my world a double octave neck really is completely unused, its just what most things come with these days. Neck pickup placement is more important and impactful to me, my ESP ST-1 has 24 frets and the neck tone is gash compared to a real Strat with 21/22 frets.

 

[cardinal]

Being a 22-fret neck singlecoil lover, I do prefer 22 frets on my main 7 (25.5" custom strat thingy). Anything in the style of Jimi, SRV or Asato etc. just sounds a bit off on a 24 fret guitar, the notes don't seem to reach that juicy responsiveness that I live for in a guitar playing experience. 24 frets just sound a little more anemic to me.

That said, once you start extending the scale length that "sweet spot" should move accordingly. So I'm not so sure if, just because I prefer 22 frets on a 25.5" scale guitar, I would feel the same way on a 27" scale guitar.

Yeah, on the typical 24.75" and 25.5 guitars, there's no question I prefer the tone with the neck pickup at the 22 fret position. Juicy is a good adjective for that tone.

Don't have a lot of experience with longer scales. In theory, a 27" scale guitar is like adding two frets behind the nut of a 25.5 neck, so a pickup at the 24th fret of a 27" scale would be in about the same spot as the 22nd fret of a 25.5" scale.

 

[Nymblz]

Some thoughts … if the guitar is very nice, among the best, but has only 22 frets, would you choose it as your main 7? I tune step down and for some tunes use 24th fret… I could figure a workaround.. how about you? Could yoh live with a 22 fretter 7?

Absolutely! 22 frets is fine by me, esp for a 7 string which focuses on lower registers.
I rarely if ever feel a need for fret 23 and 24, and in fact out of my half dozen currently owned electrics only two go to 24. I mean, EVH did pretty good with just 21, though I do feel like I'm missing a fret on my strat.
But, so long as I can bend at the 22nd fret to get that high E note, I'm good. I guess I don't play that often in F or F# to need higher.

 

[Tuned]

Some thoughts … if the guitar is very nice, among the best, but has only 22 frets, would you choose it as your main 7? I tune step down and for some tunes use 24th fret… I could figure a workaround.. how about you? Could yoh live with a 22 fretter 7?

absolutely not. as a second - maaaaybe, since you're saying it is a really nice one