The fret is the gap between the nut on the fretboard; each such interval is responsible for its own note (the interval between the frets is half a tone). Accordingly, the more frets, the more notes you can play on one string. However, keep in mind that the width of the gaps between the nut decreases as you get closer to the bridge, and if there are a lot of frets, playing at high frets can be difficult, requiring very high accuracy.
The most popular options today are
22 or
24 frets, they are found in most electric guitars of all types. In basses, there are also a smaller number (
20 frets and
21 frets), because. the distance between the nut on such instruments is greater, and the necks, respectively, with the same number of frets, are longer than those of guitars.
In general, paying attention to this parameter makes sense, first of all, for professional musicians, for whom a vast “space for manoeuvre” is fundamentally important.
A separate category is
fretless instruments, completely devoid of nut. Almost all of them relate to bass guitars; there are also electric guitars without frets, but very rarely. In such instruments, the role of the nut is played by the musician's finger, which presses the string to the fretboard. The technique of playing fretless guitars is noticeably mor
...e complicated: firstly, to extract clean notes, you need a very precise position of the finger; secondly, this design reduces the volume of the sound and the duration of the sustain, and special playing techniques may be required to obtain the sound of the desired volume (and heavier strings for basses). On the other hand, the lack of frets gives the professional musician a number of additional options. For example, on a fretless neck, you can make very smooth slides, without stepping between notes, and the instrument itself is not tied to a standard 12-step scale, which can be very useful in some areas of music (experimental, oriental, etc.). Also note that the fretless bass guitar, both in sound and playing technique, is very close to the classical double bass, which is especially appreciated by lovers of jazz and other similar styles.The material from which the fretboard of an electric guitar is made.
The fretboard is placed under the strings, where the strings are pressed when played. The need to use overlays is due to the fact that the types of wood from which the fingerboard itself is made are often not hard enough, and dents could occur on their surface from constant contact with the strings. Accordingly, the overlays are made of a harder material that retains the shape of the surface even after repeated pressing of the strings. As such a material, both special types of wood (
ebony,
rosewood) and high-quality phenolic polymers can be used.
In general, the quality of the fingerboard is usually quite consistent with the price category of the instrument, but it hardly makes sense to dwell on the detailed characteristics of each material (they are not so critical for the normal use of an electric guitar). We only note that the material of the overlay directly affects the appearance of the instrument.
