22 frets vs 24 frets

maltingsaudio

Have an assortment of 22 and 24 fret guitars and it makes no difference to me. That said  don’t know why they bother putting frets above the 12 th under the E A and D strings never play them there

UnclePsychosis

I genuinely don't know how many frets any of my guitars have. 

carlos

I prefer 24 because the two halves of the fretboard are symmetrical and so it's easier to know where the notes are quickly. But I guess if all my guitars were 22 fretters then it wouldn't make a difference.

DLM

Oh you sweet summer children!

Here's a thread I made about the guitar I've been playing most recently:

https://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/112462/

Tannin

UnclePsychosis said:

I genuinely don't know how many frets any of my guitars have. 

Me neither! I have 6 (soon to be 7) with 14 frets to the body and some dusty ones after that (I don't know how many) and one with 15 frets to the body (plus some dusty ones). One of these days I'll get a 12-fretter as well.

But why have only 12 frets to the body? What's the point of deliberately buying a guitar with some of the notes harder to get to? Because it really does sound different. On an acoustic, you only have one "pick-up". This is the saddle. It twists the bridge, the bridge warps the top, and the top makes the noise. In electric terms, an acoustic guitar's saddle is the "pick-up" and the top is the "speaker".  And this is the point - the ideal place to locate the saddle is in the centre of the lower bout, and that's what a 12-fret guitar does. A 14-fret guitar has the saddle pushed up towards the neck, which is sub-optimal. 

I hadn't realised that a 24-fret electric does the same thing! Nor that it makes a difference to the sound - though it seems unlikely that it could be very much of a difference. 

Anyway, if anyone wants some extra frets, you can have some of mine. I only use the first dozen.

Bigsby

jca74 said:

21 is plenty...

More frets = closer pickups = less tonal variation between pickups...

But I play bluesy stuff and spend most of my life using the neck pickup which is pushed closer towards the bridge when you have more frets.

Not necessarily, it depends on the model. Gibson SGs for example have a space between the neck pickup and the neck, due to the neck tenon, on most this is filled by a bit of plastic instead of frets.  There was a brief period in the 70s when the neck and bridge moved inwards, the neck pickup was up against the neck, but the bridge pickup barely moved, maintaining the gap between them, and effectively increasing the distance from bridge to pickup. Later the bridge pickup moved back, increasing the gap between pickups, (probably about the same as a Les Paul). Soon after, Gibson revered to the original design. However, my favourite feature on those SGs wasn't the pickup placement but the input jack being located on the side instead of the top.

On my Strats, the neck pickup is an identical distance from the 21st fret, regardless of whether there are 21 or 22 frets. The 21 fret neck just has a visibly larger gap between the neck and neck pickup. So large I do wonder why they didn't start out with 22 fret necks.

matt_sefton

I’ve got a Charvel DK24 - great guitar but difficult to switch to when all your other guitars are 21 or 22. Which is why it’s for sale if anyone’s interested!

Dan_Halen

36 FTW

elstoof

Bigsby said:

On my Strats, the neck pickup is an identical distance from the 21st fret, regardless of whether there are 21 or 22 frets. The 21 fret neck just has a visibly larger gap between the neck and neck pickup. So large I do wonder why they didn't start out with 22 fret necks.

Truss Rod adjustment at the heel

lustycourtier

I had a washburn in early 90s with 36 frets...

BlueStrat

here's a great animation that demonstrates the 22 / 24 fret difference on a PRS

I love the slightly smaller feel of the 22, even though it really is tiny.

The answer is to buy one of each

http://gtroblq.blogspot.com/2017/07/prs-22-and-24-fret-guitars.html

Grumpyrocker

I have probably half 22 and half 24. Doesn't make much difference to me as I rarely get up that end.

I don't really have a preference. I do think the PRS Cu 24 looks a bit squashed up compared to the Cu 22 though. 

p90fool

Bigsby said:

DiscoStu said:

It makes no difference how many frets you have if the scale length is the same, the nut isn't any further away from the bridge. The fretboard does obviously come further in to the body though.

One difference between the two which is often overlooked is that there is a harmonic located at the 24 fret position, and with 22 fret guitars the neck pickup probably sits under this harmonic and with a 24 fret it doesn't. The argument is that the neck pickup on a 22 fret sounds sweeter due to the harmonic and also slightly bassier due to being further away from the bridge.

I've never understood this argument - surely the location of the 24th fret harmonic relative to the neck pickup is only relevant when playing open strings? 

True, but the neck pickup does sound different on all notes because it's further back. 

I jump between a Les Paul and an SG with the same pickups and the difference between the neck pickup placements is not subtle - the SG almost has a Strat position 4 quality, which is not surprising given where it sits. 

Philly_Q

BlueStrat said:

here's a great animation that demonstrates the 22 / 24 fret difference on a PRS

I love the slightly smaller feel of the 22, even though it really is tiny.

The answer is to buy one of each

http://gtroblq.blogspot.com/2017/07/prs-22-and-24-fret-guitars.html

That's a neat little demonstration.  I'd forgotten they need an extra bird when there's 24 frets!

guitarfishbay

I prefer the neck pickup tone of 22 fret placement, but I think the inside and outside both pickups on single coil positions on a 24 fret HH guitar are more useful. I prefer the bridge to sit where it does on a 22 fret PRS or typical strat

fretmeister

My PRS is 24 - it's lovely even if I never actually use those last 2! the 22nd is easier to get to though.

tanihhiavlt

Devil#20 said:

 If I decided I need a 24 fret then what can I expect? 
 

What would prompt that decision? 

Philly_Q

tanihhiavlt said:

Devil#20 said:

 If I decided I need a 24 fret then what can I expect? 
 

What would prompt that decision? 

A song with a really high E that's not too difficult to bend up to F#.

prlgmnr

I know I don't really need 24 frets but I feel kind of uncomfortable without them; a little like underpants in that regard.

skullfunkerry

All of my guitars have 24 frets. I do have one song with a solo that goes up to 22 but that's it, so I could live with 22 frets, but not 21. I've never done a back-to-back test of the neck pickup compared with a 22 fret guitar, although I did post on here a while back about the differences (a guitar that I'd got rid of seemed to go into musical feedback more readily, and it was 22 fret), but most of the responses to that thread were along the lines of it becoming irrelevant once a string is fretted.

I've never had any complaints about my neck pickup tone, or thought it sounded too similar to the bridge pickup.