Difference between 22 and 24 fret guitars

professorben

So is there a marked tonal difference between the two?

assuming similar or identical construction.

Does neck stiffness impact vibrational transfer?

guitarfishbay

Neck pickup tone generally more middy sounding on 24 feet guitars, by virtue of the pickup being closer to the bridge.

In theory there could be a difference in neck stiffness, which I do believe to be a factor in the instrument's tone, but I've not played enough similar instruments in 22 and 24 fret configurations to decide if the extra length is a significant factor to rigidity. I guess that's a question for one of the builders here

ICBM

Of course not. Body construction and pickup placement make no difference at all, any fule kno that.

Funkfingers

Depends.

Traditionally, the Gibson SG had a twenty two fret neck but the joint caused the neck position pickup to be placed closer to the bridge than on, say, a Les Paul.

Gibson now offers twenty four fret SG guitars. The neck position pickup has not been relocated. All the theory in the world would suggest that these two variants will sound the same ...

... until you hand them to a different player. 

professorben

guitarfishbay said:

Neck pickup tone generally more middy sounding on 24 feet guitars, by virtue of the pickup being closer to the bridge.

In theory there could be a difference in neck stiffness, which I do believe to be a factor in the instrument's tone, but I've not played enough similar instruments in 22 and 24 fret configurations to decide if the extra length is a significant factor to rigidity. I guess that's a question for one of the builders here

The reason I'm asking is that I have a 22 fret PRS CE and a 24 fret Custom 24. 

Contruction wise the 24 should be much brighter than the 22. 
But the opposite is true. 

Plectrum

This is something I've been wondering myself as I have 2 22 fret electrics and 2 24 fret electrics. But they're all sufficiently different from each other that I can't tell if the extra two frets affect the sound in any way.

ICBM

professorben said:

The reason I'm asking is that I have a 22 fret PRS CE and a 24 fret Custom 24. 

Contruction wise the 24 should be much brighter than the 22. 
But the opposite is true. 

No, if the CE has a bolt-on maple neck then it should be brighter than the glued-in mahogany neck of the Custom, irrespective of the pickup placement, assuming all other normal factors are the same.

Or have I just walked into some sort of trap?

Sassafras

Why are you asking us, we're just a bunch of cloth eared mugs who wouldn't know a guitar from a coffee table.

professorben

So my 22 fret is a glued neck, mahogany neck and body maple cap. 

24 is bolt on maple neck alder body. 

professorben

ICBM said:

professorben said:

The reason I'm asking is that I have a 22 fret PRS CE and a 24 fret Custom 24. 

Contruction wise the 24 should be much brighter than the 22. 
But the opposite is true. 

No, if the CE has a bolt-on maple neck then it should be brighter than the glued-in mahogany neck of the Custom, irrespective of the pickup placement, assuming all other normal factors are the same.

Or have I just walked into some sort of trap?

Muhahahahahaaaaaaa

DiscoStu

Having less frets means that the neck pickup sits under the 24th fret harmonic position which arguably produces a better tone. 

professorben

@ICBM ;
The 24 is bolt on alder body maple neck 
the 22 glued in mahogany body and neck. 

The 22 is dramatically brighter acoustically than the 24.......

(they have different pickups the 22 having softer vintage style and the 24 having bright hot ones, they sound similar plugged in) 

professorben

DiscoStu said:

Having less frets means that the neck pickup sits under the 24th fret harmonic position which arguably produces a better tone. 

On an open string yes........ as soon as a note is fretted that harmonic mode point moves tho?

professorben

Sassafras said:

Why are you asking us, we're just a bunch of cloth eared mugs who wouldn't know a guitar from a coffee table.

It's the best I've got to work with, my band have stopped returning  my texts and my wife 'has a headache'




again. 

Roland

The main differences between 22 and 24 fret guitars are neck pickup placement and neck length. (Let's just ignore the wood debate, and possible differences in the neck joint, and also assume electrics are identical).

For the same note (i.e. Same string and fret position) the neck pickup will hear a different harmonic mix. Whether the note has more treble, mid, or bass content will depend on which note is being played. Averaged over all the notes I would expect the neck pickup on a 24 fret guitar to be slightly less bassy than a 22 fret guitar, because it's nearer the bridge; but that's statistical averaging, and not necessarily evident in any particular song.

Neck length and stiffness are more interesting. It has been said that many early 24 fret PRSs had dead spots. I have read that PRS addressed this by lengthening the neck tenon. 

WezV

Funkfingers said:

Depends.

Traditionally, the Gibson SG had a twenty two fret neck but the joint caused the neck position pickup to be placed closer to the bridge than on, say, a Les Paul.

Gibson now offers twenty four fret SG guitars. The neck position pickup has not been relocated. All the theory in the world would suggest that these two variants will sound the same ...

... until you hand them to a different player. 

The SG is an odd example precisely because you can add 24 frets without changing anything else.

almost all other guitars require you to move pickup or neck join to accommodate all 24.  It's the factors you have to change that can introduce the variation in tone.  

Neck stiffness is a big one for me, but pickup position is undeniably more important in the overall sound

ICBM

professorben said:

@ICBM ;
The 24 is bolt on alder body maple neck 
the 22 glued in mahogany body and neck.

That's not what you said the first time .

professorben said:

The reason I'm asking is that I have a 22 fret PRS CE and a 24 fret Custom 24.

professorben said:

The 22 is dramatically brighter acoustically than the 24.......

It will be because of the maple cap on the body, compared to the all-alder body. PRS Custom bodies are actually 50/50 maple and mahogany if you look at them in cross-section, even though it doesn't look like that at the edges.

In this case it's obviously having a bigger effect than the neck difference.

professorben

Hmmm my '97 CE 24 doesn't seem to have any noticeable dead spots. 

I definitely notice a fuller neck pickup tone from the 22, always have done.

but it's perhaps the overall tone that I'm getting at. 

professorben

@ICBM ;
my bad...... I have full blown man flu. 
Apologies. 

earwighoney

professorben said:

So is there a marked tonal difference between the two?

Yes.  On a 24 fret neck in comparison to a 22 fret neck, it will have 2 additional frets. 

Funkfingers

professorben said:

I have full blown man flu.

What effect does that have on your hearing and/or aural perception?