source file: mills3.txt Date: Thu, 18 Dec 1997 07:01:50 +0100 Subject: re: 19-tone Fret Lengths From: "Bob Lee" Gregg Gibson wrote: >I'm afraid I'm very ignorant about the pedal steel. However, here are >the 19-tone equal fret lengths for a guitar with a scale length of 25 >inches. Thank you very much! My diatonic steel has a 24.5 inch scale, but I'm sure I can do the math from here. >This does _not_ take into account compensation however, which typically >requires that the scale length be lengthened by 1 to 5 millimeters >(according to Fletcher & Rossing: Physics of Musical Instruments, p. >228). The bass strings particularly require to be lengthened, hence the >angled bridge concept. Electric basses are said to require even more >compensation. If this compensation is not made, fretted notes will be >sharper than open ones. The frets of a steel guitar are simply painted guides. It's not common to play open strings along with "fretted" (barred) ones. Open strings are generally used as a special effect. The difference in timbre makes them unusable in most passages. Steel guitarists slant the bar slightly to compensate for the different intonation of low strings at the higher frets. Most steel guitarists aren't even aware that they do this - it is a natural movement of the left hand. Beginning steel guitarists sometimes compensate too much, and must learn to straighten the bar at the high frets to the proper degree to make the instrument sound "in tune". -b0b- ----- quasar@wco.com (Bobby Lee) http://wco.com/~quasar/ SMTPOriginator: tuning@eartha.mills.edu From: Gregg Gibson Subject: Reply to Paul Ehrlich PostedDate: 18-12-97 07:23:02 SendTo: CN=coul1358/OU=AT/O=EZH ReplyTo: tuning@eartha.mills.edu $MessageStorage: 0 $UpdatedBy: CN=notesrv2/OU=Server/O=EZH,CN=coul1358/OU=AT/O=EZH,CN=Manuel op de Coul/OU=AT/O=EZH RouteServers: CN=notesrv2/OU=Server/O=EZH,CN=notesrv1/OU=Server/O=EZH RouteTimes: 18-12-97 07:20:59-18-12-97 07:21:00,18-12-97 07:20:37-18-12-97 07:20:37 DeliveredDate: 18-12-97 07:20:37 Categories: $Revisions: Received: from ns.ezh.nl ([137.174.112.59]) by notesrv2.ezh.nl (Lotus SMTP MTA SMTP v4.6 (462.2 9-3-1997)) with SMTP id C1256571.0022DE1F; Thu, 18 Dec 1997 07:22:47 +0100 Received: by ns.ezh.nl; (5.65v3.2/1.3/10May95) id AA18531; Thu, 18 Dec 1997 07:23:02 +0100 Date: Thu, 18 Dec 1997 07:23:02 +0100 Received: from ella.mills.edu by ns (smtpxd); id XA18689 Received: (qmail 24710 invoked from network); 17 Dec 1997 22:22:59 -0800 Received: from localhost (HELO ella.mills.edu) (127.0.0.1) by localhost with SMTP; 17 Dec 1997 22:22:59 -0800 Message-Id: <34992369.F8D@ww-interlink.net> Errors-To: madole@mills.edu Reply-To: tuning@eartha.mills.edu Originator: tuning@eartha.mills.edu Sender: tuning@eartha.mills.edu