Guitar Frets - the math behind them....

- stringed instruments -

Here is another interesting bit of math - and a much easier one, as well....

Keep track of this here post, as we will be using this information in future posts, when we start to build our first rudimentary guitars.

This is called the "18 Rule" - this is how we figure out exactly where the frets on a guitar's finger board, or fret board, are placed, to be able to play precise notes along the lengths of the strings.

Here is how it works;

The strings are all kept tense, and the ends of these strings' tension is kept between two points on which they rest - the "nut" (also known as the "zero fret") and the "bridge". The nut is that part at the headstock end of the guitar neck that the strings rest on, and the bridge is at the other end, on the body of the guitar. It is between these two points that we make our measurements.

We first measure the effective length of the string - that is, the distance between the nut and the bridge, and divide by 18 - or actually, 17.8167942 is the much more accurate number, calling this "18" in the rule's name, only.

We take the answer to this math problem, and measure this distance from the nut, and that is where we place the first fret.

Now, measuring from that first fret to the bridge, we then take that measurement and divide that by 17.8167942 again, and that answer we use to measure from the initial first fret, to find where the second fret goes. This is continued, repeating this all along the fret board's length, until all fret placements are calculated.

And that is what we call the "18 Rule"!

That's all for today's post, everyone! Until next time, have a nice night! ^_^

- stringed instruments -