Problem with choice of Fret Wire
Hey guyz...
Quick introduction:- I'm Mark from Kent, southern England, and I'm a Bassist of some 30 years. I now mainly Studio Record (PC based) and my Specialty Area is Virtual Amp & FX Sims using PCs. I Beta Test for most major Developers. It's great to find another Guitar Makers website - hope you can help me with my problem...
I am undertaking my first Guitar Build, and have run into a bit of a Dilemma. The instrument I am building is a 10 String Tapping Bass (similar to a Chapman Stick in some areas) and the problem I have is choice of Fret Wires. There seem to be two very distict ideas from the people I have asked. The first recommends Jumbo Fret Wire because it is High and Wide:- The Second school of thought is very Narrow and Low (like a Banjo) which is what Logic tells me is right.... For Reference, the Chapman Stick using Pyramid-shaped Fret Rails which have a very small contact area with the Strings (which supports my Banjo Fret wire Theory) Another possibility was two different size Fret Wires - Wide for the Bottom 16 Frets and Narrow for the Top 12 (it's a 36" Scale with 28 Frets) Obviously all the Fret Wire would have to be the same Height in this scenario. I would be interested in any comments or suggestions regarding this dilemma.
I have attached two Rendered Pics of the latest WIP to give you an idea of what I'm building (the Bass was designed purely in CAD-3D, but has interestingly evolved as Real World Parts have arrived for it)
I appreciate any help you can give. Thanx in advance....MARK
Quick introduction:- I'm Mark from Kent, southern England, and I'm a Bassist of some 30 years. I now mainly Studio Record (PC based) and my Specialty Area is Virtual Amp & FX Sims using PCs. I Beta Test for most major Developers. It's great to find another Guitar Makers website - hope you can help me with my problem...
I am undertaking my first Guitar Build, and have run into a bit of a Dilemma. The instrument I am building is a 10 String Tapping Bass (similar to a Chapman Stick in some areas) and the problem I have is choice of Fret Wires. There seem to be two very distict ideas from the people I have asked. The first recommends Jumbo Fret Wire because it is High and Wide:- The Second school of thought is very Narrow and Low (like a Banjo) which is what Logic tells me is right.... For Reference, the Chapman Stick using Pyramid-shaped Fret Rails which have a very small contact area with the Strings (which supports my Banjo Fret wire Theory) Another possibility was two different size Fret Wires - Wide for the Bottom 16 Frets and Narrow for the Top 12 (it's a 36" Scale with 28 Frets) Obviously all the Fret Wire would have to be the same Height in this scenario. I would be interested in any comments or suggestions regarding this dilemma.
I have attached two Rendered Pics of the latest WIP to give you an idea of what I'm building (the Bass was designed purely in CAD-3D, but has interestingly evolved as Real World Parts have arrived for it)
I appreciate any help you can give. Thanx in advance....MARK
Views: 60
- Attachments:
-
-
Chaostic-36inch.jpg, 189 KB -
Chaostic-36inch-.jpg, 175 KB
-
© 2025 Created by Frank Ford.
Powered by
