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Topic: fretboard design idea |
Steve Atwood
From:
Massachusetts, USA
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Posted 12 Sep 2012 5:10 pm |
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My first lap steel was a Gretsch, with the black on white fretboard, which I liked because the contrast makes it easier to see the fret markers. When I was thinking of a design for a new 12-string, I thought it would look cool to have ebony for the fret markers, on a light, clear-coated board. Then - what if the frets stuck out above the surface? That would look cool too. Then I had an "aha" moment - if the fretboard was white and the frets were raised and wider than normal, it would look something like a piano keyboard. If the proportions were right, and the frets didn't cross the whole board but ended with a narrow groove on the player's side, it would look just like one.
I think it would even be useful in learning where all the notes are - since we learn music theory by seeing where the notes are on a keyboard - to have wide frets at the 1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th, 6th positions (with just grooves at 3 and 7) instead of the normal 3 5 7 9 12. If you have one of the strings tuned to C, you can use that string as a reference to help keep track of the notes on the other strings. I think that would help me, especially with sight-reading classical music. Did I explain this well enough? Has it been tried before? Just a gimmick or would it be helpful in learning? |
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Stephen Cowell
From:
Round Rock, Texas, USA
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Posted 12 Sep 2012 5:57 pm
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That would depend on whether you're coming from piano or guitar... I can tell you that it wouldn't help me, I think in guitar.
_________________
Too much junk to list... always getting more. |
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David Venzke
From:
SE Michigan, USA
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Posted 12 Sep 2012 6:37 pm
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| Black on white is easy enough to do with poster board and Sharpies. Try it. If it works for you, go for the real thing ... |
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Larry Phleger
From:
DuBois, PA
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Posted 13 Sep 2012 8:05 am
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What Stephen said.  |
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Jim Cohen
From:
Philadelphia, PA
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Andy Henriksen
From:
Michigan, USA
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Posted 13 Sep 2012 9:18 am
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| I'd have to see it, but I think it would confuse me more, actually. Every time I'd see two "white keys" together, I'd be thinking it was a B-C or E-F, regardless of what string I was playing. |
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Alan Brookes
From:
Brummy living in Southern California
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Posted 13 Sep 2012 10:16 am
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I make all my own fingerboards. As Stephen says, the best way to see if it works for you is to make one. It sounds like an interesting idea.
One of the problems of fingerboards, no matter how they're designed, is that your hands and tone bar cover them up, so the best place for fingerboard markings is behind the strings. |
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