[wretchedspawn]

Ive been saving up to get a custom 7 string built and i wanted even more range without having to go to an 8 string. So i thought about more frets...3 octaves on a string. So would 36 be pointless(other than tapping i suppose) since they would be so tiny? Would it be better to go somewhere in between 24 and 36? Any help is appreciated. And I would like resposes from people who have actually played and extended scale guitar(nothing against those who havent)thanks

[urklvt]

As with everything, it is a matter of preference. Many people believe that it is pointless to have frets that small on a guitar. I personally disagree, hence my 39 fret 10 string from Mike Sherman.

It all depends on what you are looking for in an instrument. I want the range to be there if and when I may need it. I won't use the entire fretboard in every song I play (as if a piano player has to hit all 88 keys every time he plays!) but if I want to go there I can. Also I don't use the bridge pickup that much since I got used to playing with one bridge position humbucker with my Steinberger so the frets cover the otherwise empty space. Lame reason for extending the fretboard, but at least it's not my only one.

If you can get your hands on a mandolin you can get a feel for what it would be like to actually finger frets that small and narrow before committing cash to something you may regret.

[Mars Volta]

Why would you want the extra octave anyway?
IMO It's pretty pointless to have notes that high and most people don't want to hear them.
They'd be pretty hard to hear anyway I think.

[urklvt]

...case in point.

[Mars Volta]

I'm not talking about the size of the frets, I mean the actual notes.
24th fret is already pretty high in pitch, an octave above that and you can barely hear it.
I don't see the point, yes there's more range but it's a range that isn't very practical for use in a song.
I'd rather have a neck pickup than the extra notes that are only going to be used every so often because they're very high in pitch.

[Metal Ken]

Originally Posted by Mars Volta

I'm not talking about the size of the frets, I mean the actual notes.
24th fret is already pretty high in pitch, an octave above that and you can barely hear it.
I don't see the point, yes there's more range but it's a range that isn't very practical for use in a song.
I'd rather have a neck pickup than the extra notes that are only going to be used every so often because they're very high in pitch.

Tell that to piano and violin players.

[Mars Volta]

Those are different instruments, they're voiced differently than a guitar.
A violin is played with a bow and has no frets, a guitar has frets and is usually played with a pick. 36th fret using the bridge pickup and a pick is probably going to be pretty ear piercing.
The higher keys on a piano are usually used in a chord with low and mid range notes included, you can't do that on a guitar, the chord would have to be all high notes.

Violins are usually used in orchestras with the cello playing a low note, a few violas playing mid range and then a few violins playing in the upper range all at the same time, once again making chords, you hear the high notes adding to the chord as a whole, not just by themselves.

You might be using the guitar in an orchestra, I don't know but I would still let the other instruments stick to that area because they have the tone for it.

[NickCormier]

I was seriously considering 27 frets, and still kinda am.. but I dunno..

If I was going to do that though.. I was going to do something like 17-24 scalloped... then 24-27 fretless.. Because that way the frets wont get in the way of your fingers reaching the notes, and its fretless so you can still like.. manage to fret the actual note if you can grow accustom to the pitch.. I think its a good idea anyways heh

I would say past 30 though, is kinda stupid and more gimmicky than anything.. least 27 makes sense if you play in a A standard tuning, so you can reach the high E of normal B tuning still.. least thats why Im geting 27 made probably..

[distressed_romeo]

Originally Posted by NickCormier

I was seriously considering 27 frets, and still kinda am.. but I dunno..

If I was going to do that though.. I was going to do something like 17-24 scalloped... then 24-27 fretless.. Because that way the frets wont get in the way of your fingers reaching the notes, and its fretless so you can still like.. manage to fret the actual note if you can grow accustom to the pitch.. I think its a good idea anyways heh

I would say past 30 though, is kinda stupid and more gimmicky than anything.. least 27 makes sense if you play in a A standard tuning, so you can reach the high E of normal B tuning still.. least thats why Im geting 27 made probably..

It's not 'gimmicky' if you've played through a piece of violin music in its original octave and run out of fretboard.

[Durero]

Originally Posted by wretchedspawn

Ive been saving up to get a custom 7 string built and i wanted even more range without having to go to an 8 string. So i thought about more frets...3 octaves on a string. So would 36 be pointless(other than tapping i suppose) since they would be so tiny? Would it be better to go somewhere in between 24 and 36? Any help is appreciated. And I would like resposes from people who have actually played and extended scale guitar(nothing against those who havent)thanks

I'd very highly recommend, from my own experience, that you consider extending your fretboard the other way - past the nut. If you add another 5 frets that gets you the equivalent of another bass string without adding another string. That would get your scale out to 34" (same as a bass) so you could try out a bass (use light guitar strings and low action if you really want to know what it will feel like) first to see if you like it. Then adding another 7 frets on the high end will get you your extra octave without adding any strings. Your highest fret (36th) would then only be the equivalent of the 31st fret on a 25.5" guitar in this scenario. Just my 2 cents based on my own prototype that I've been playing for a few years.

Originally Posted by Mars Volta

I'm not talking about the size of the frets, I mean the actual notes.
24th fret is already pretty high in pitch, an octave above that and you can barely hear it.
I don't see the point, yes there's more range but it's a range that isn't very practical for use in a song.
I'd rather have a neck pickup than the extra notes that are only going to be used every so often because they're very high in pitch.

Mars Volta I'm going to respectfully disagree with your statements about tone, but not your priorities. If the tone of a neck pickup is more important to you than extended range then that's perfectly reasonable. But wretchedspawn probably values range more.

Those high notes beyond our 24th frets get used quite frequently on various instruments as others have mentioned. There's nothing special about those notes that makes them impractical compared to any others. I have a 36 fret 9-string that goes an octave higher that a 24 fret in standard tuning, and there's nothing particularly piercing about those notes, unless you choose to have a very piercing tone in general. The extra notes would be from E6 to E7 - a piano goes up to C8 which is 8 semitones higher, so this is still much lower than the range of a piano.

Originally Posted by Mars Volta

Those are different instruments, they're voiced differently than a guitar.
A violin is played with a bow and has no frets, a guitar has frets and is usually played with a pick. 36th fret using the bridge pickup and a pick is probably going to be pretty ear piercing.

Different instruments have different tone qualities true, but notes are not automatically piercing just because they are high. I play these notes on my 9-string whenever I want, and they feel fine.

Originally Posted by Mars Volta

The higher keys on a piano are usually used in a chord with low and mid range notes included, you can't do that on a guitar, the chord would have to be all high notes.

The high notes can be used in any way a composer or player wants to, just like any other notes. On a 7-string guitar you could easily combine these high notes in a chord spanning 3 octaves.

Originally Posted by Mars Volta

Violins are usually used in orchestras with the cello playing a low note, a few violas playing mid range and then a few violins playing in the upper range all at the same time, once again making chords, you hear the high notes adding to the chord as a whole, not just by themselves.

You might be using the guitar in an orchestra, I don't know but I would still let the other instruments stick to that area because they have the tone for it.

There is plenty of solo violin and flute music that uses this high range very effectively, without shocking or disturbing anyone just because of the range. I don't think anyone should be afraid to play in this range on any instrument and I'd encourage wretchedspawn to persue this idea.

Again I'll say that there's no value judgement going on here, I think it's totally cool that you know your own priorities and prefer a neck pickup to more range, but I have experience playing in this range and just disagree with your descriptions of the tone in this range.

cheers,
Leo