bradtheimpaler Posted May 19, 2007 Report Share Posted May 19, 2007 I have a Squier Strat that I would like to modify. I want to double the number of frets, allowing the guitar to become a quarter-tonal guitar, however, I've never added frets to a guitar, only removed them. I'd hate to destroy the instrument (though monetarily speaking, it wouldn't really be a hardship). Does anyone have any advice on a method of adding frets for such an endeavor, or even some literature to recommend? Thanks a bunch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted May 19, 2007 Report Share Posted May 19, 2007 Interesting idea,but why?that's why people pull bends.I guess it would make chording quite interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bradtheimpaler Posted May 19, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 19, 2007 That's pretty much exactly why. First, my ear's not really good enough to be able to land a perfect quarter tone when I'd like it, or even bend to one for that matter. I've been working on that, but I still have the problem that if I want to be able to voice chords with quarter-tones in them it'll take quite a bit more ear training as well as just guitar practice. I've got nothing against practicing with my instrument, but I'd also like to be able to someday fret a guitar neck from a fretless guitar, or possibly make a microtonal guitar from scratch. I figure this is a good starting place, especially since it wouldn't break my heart to see this guitar hopelessly destroyed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmrentis Posted May 19, 2007 Report Share Posted May 19, 2007 (edited) I'm curious if fret size and scale would matter in this experiment? If these things make a big difference in playability then you would probably need to make a new neck, with those adjustments made. Just throwing thoughts to see what everyone thinks. Edited May 19, 2007 by jmrentis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bradtheimpaler Posted May 20, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 20, 2007 I think it might matter more around the higher frets, but I actually read an article where a guy who advocates microtonal music said that adding frets to an orthodox guitar will be the easiest way, one big problem I'm having is finding appropriate ratio and measurement information. This guy seems to know what he's talking about, but I can't figure out how to get in contact with him, so it's kind of a dead end. Thanks for your replies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapbarstrat Posted May 20, 2007 Report Share Posted May 20, 2007 I think Ronnie Tekro was using a guitar like that back in the 90's. I have little desire to do it, but if I did, I suppose I'd at least use gold colored fret-wire for the in between frets, in an attempt to make the odd-ball frets look a little different from the normal frets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xanthus Posted May 20, 2007 Report Share Posted May 20, 2007 Know what? I've been wanting to do this, or at least play a guitar with 48 frets, for a while. If anyone wanted to practice and get really skilled at it, I'd love to watch them play You could accompany a sitarist! It'd be cooler than whatever the Beatles did. ::EDIT:: I think you could get similar results, or at least have an easier time going about it, if you made a fretless guitar and marked all 48 frets. Much easier than trying to cram in a ton of fretwire onto the neck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desopolis Posted May 20, 2007 Report Share Posted May 20, 2007 Know what? I've been wanting to do this, or at least play a guitar with 48 frets, for a while. If anyone wanted to practice and get really skilled at it, I'd love to watch them play You could accompany a sitarist! It'd be cooler than whatever the Beatles did. ::EDIT:: I think you could get similar results, or at least have an easier time going about it, if you made a fretless guitar and marked all 48 frets. Much easier than trying to cram in a ton of fretwire onto the neck. +1 to the edit, I was thinking the same thing while reading... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bradtheimpaler Posted May 23, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 23, 2007 I actually tried to de-fret a guitar earlier this year, but I totally wasn't ready. I think part of the problem was that I probably moved the truss rod too much too fast (I'm guessing) after the setup, because I had everything going fine until I had to adjust the neck. Now, the truss rom isn't working, so my work was for naught. I decided to see if it was do-able instead of trying to de-fret another, though that may be what I end up doing. Also, the different color fretwire sounds like a good idea if I do add frets. Thanks for the tips, guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmrentis Posted May 23, 2007 Report Share Posted May 23, 2007 Hmm, would this help? Truss Rod Rescue Is it possible it stripped or broke like that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WezV Posted May 23, 2007 Report Share Posted May 23, 2007 Personally if i was asked to do this i would do a whole new fingerboard from scratch rather than trying to add frets between the old ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tirapop Posted May 26, 2007 Report Share Posted May 26, 2007 Lily Afshar plays a classical guitar modified to play 1/4 tones. The whole scale isn't 1/4 tones. It's set up to play a specific ethnic scale. You can hear about it at NPR. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapbarstrat Posted May 26, 2007 Report Share Posted May 26, 2007 Heck, if I was going to do that, I'd probably just nip the tang off some fret-wire and super-glue it to the surface of the fret-board. Would be pretty darn reversible, so there's a good chance I'll do it now (I don't mean soon). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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