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Comment by Clock The Wolf on March 6, 2013 at 2:28pm

Hmm... looks interesting...

Comment by the anonymous pick on March 6, 2013 at 8:17am

i  can see  that  if you  backed   up  the frist  fret     a tiny  bit ,  (or added  one  further  back  )  you  could   chord the   the   3rd and 5th  frets  properly     with the same spacing  using   the  14th  and  19th position .

 this  could add a few  more  chords  ,  but that  fret  would be  useless anywhere else  .  but  it adds  some low  end  chords .

i  understand  this   is  just  for slide ,  but  as josh  says   ..  why  the  ehe extra  frets  then  ?

i assume  its to   chord  up  top  . hence addind a few  chord  posibilitys   would be  good  .

 

another  option would  be  a fixed  bottom  end  .. and a slider   for the   top end .  i  see more  practicallirt in that .

 

but  its  making  us  scratch our  heads  ..  and thats  always   a good thing   ;-)

Comment by Josh Gayou (SmokehouseGuitars) on March 6, 2013 at 7:09am

I'm confused by a couple of things here.  First, the spacing between the frets needs to decrease as they get closer to the bridge in order for the proper notes to be played when you fret the string.  Because of that, there is only one point on the neck where that array of frets at that specific spacing will play notes correctly, and at all other positions you'll get sharps and flats.  Essentially, the ability to play any chords is lost accept for when the carriage is placed at that one key position.

I understand the concept behind what you're trying to do with slide techniques, but why have all those extra frets on there?  You'd be better served just having one fret and working with that.  All of the others will just be extraneous until you hit that sweet spot.

I suppose you could space the frets so that they're correct for positions 1 through 5, at which point you could play chords when the carriage is moved up by the nut (where most strummers play their chords anyway) but then that's the only place you can chord your guitar?

If the guitar is just meant to be played as a slide instrument, why wouldn't you just mark out the frets on the neck (fretless) and use a slide?  Or if you didn't want to use a slide you could use an alternative material for the fingerboard like glass or metal, which provides an incredible sound and provides the range of all those middle notes that you're trying to find.

http://www.guitarworld.com/interview-ned-evett-discusses-his-fretle...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLsAJsH3mZ8

I'm just not seeing it.

Comment by Mark on March 6, 2013 at 6:20am

It's really difficult to see what's going on because the framing is off on the video - at some points you're talking about (and presumably pointing at) things which are out of shot.

It looks as if there's a big problem with the design but it's difficult to tell (but I have also looked at the still photo on your page). The issue is the relative spacing of frets as you move up and down the neck. You seem to have a sliding block with six frets on it and they appear to be at a fixed spacing from each other. But as you move up and down the neck of a guitar the fret spacing needs to change to give correct notes - the higher up the neck the closer the fret spacing. Am I missing something?

Comment by the anonymous pick on March 6, 2013 at 3:16am

i  can  see the concept  ,,  because  i  have  thought of something similar ,,  its  the practicality  that   brings  up  issues  . 

being able  to   finger   the   frets   too     would be  a bonus  ,  but  the  fret  spacing would  have to  be  compensated   at  the lower  end ,  once  a player  figured that  out    it could  be adapted   into  a  playing style  .

even  a combo  of using  a regular  slide   ontop  .   thus would save  3  inch  calluses     from   grinding  your  finger  all day     sandwiching  the strings  .  and it  would  avoid   fret  bumps   on   low action  setups  .

it  has something to  offer  , i  think  the answers  are there  ,  but  it still  begets  questioning  . 

great  job  and craftmanship   btw  .  

Comment by Uncle John on March 6, 2013 at 2:38am

Pretty cool.  I wonder,   How well could a person with no experience with guitars- make music on this?