More on refretting guitars...

I appreciate all the responses I've received
concerning my message of yesterday. But, I've
previously read everything that I was pointed to.
It's good information, but it's not really
what I was asking for.

I guess what I'm really asking for is opinions.
I would like a tuning that isn't just some
"better Western tuning". I want something that
sounds unusual, but nice and melodic. So far,
I've only heard stuff in 19TET, Partch 43, 31TET,
and some historical tunings. Hence, I don't have
a lot of aural experience to work from. I'll be
playing somewhat hard progressive rock.

If you have refretted a guitar to some "strange"
tuning, what was it, and why did you pick it
over the myriad of other choices? If you're
thinking about refretting a guitar, the same
question applies.

Thanks for your help.

Sincerely,
Darin "Basil" Arrick
basil@homestead.org

Nonagon - A Progressive Rock Band
http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Diner/2190/index.html

Hi Mr. Arrick:

As a good source, let me recommend the
Ivor Darreg CD, handled by Gary Morrison
a few years back. Hopefully some are available.

Personally, reading your note, I think you'd enjoy 20-tone
and 16-tone (two which I, an old-hat Crimson freak,
like using in my own tunes). They work well in
cyclical root movements popular in the prog
format you mentioned.

I will mail you, if you like, a cassette of some
snippets of both those tunings.

regretfully I can't give you advice on placing frets -
I'm a percussionist.
cheers

Rick Sanford
Manhattan

[Wim Hoogewerf:]
> Since the death of Vogt one of his former disciples, Herv� R.
Chouard continued his work under the name Fret mobile. Adresse:
Fellererstr.2, 85354 Freising, Germany.(E-mail???)

Thanks for this information.

>The system has been used with success on the electric guitar as well.

Would you wouldn't happen to have any rough idea (estimate) of what
this might cost?

Dan

basila@txk.net wrote:

> I appreciate all the responses I've received
> concerning my message of yesterday. But, I've
> previously read everything that I was pointed to.
> It's good information, but it's not really
> what I was asking for.

Paul Erlich gave you a pretty good answer. Picking a tuning
is a pretty subjective decision. If you're going to do the
work yourself, you always have the option to do it over
if you don't like the results. If you've got the cash to burn,
you can always have another neck fretted.

I'm inclined towards just intonation, but yer traditional
prog-rock draws heavily on the bombastic European
classical tradition where modulation is real important.
You might be more interested in equal temperaments
other than 12tet. It's not like you can't modulate in
JI, it just isn't the same thing.

> I guess what I'm really asking for is opinions.
> I would like a tuning that isn't just some
> "better Western tuning". I want something that
> sounds unusual, but nice and melodic. So far,
> I've only heard stuff in 19TET, Partch 43, 31TET,
> and some historical tunings. Hence, I don't have
> a lot of aural experience to work from.

Accumulate more experience and you'll have more
experience to draw from. This may not be something
you want to rush into.

> I'll be
> playing somewhat hard progressive rock.
>
> If you have refretted a guitar to some "strange"
> tuning, what was it, and why did you pick it
> over the myriad of other choices? If you're
> thinking about refretting a guitar, the same
> question applies.

For now I play fretless bass. I aim for ji intervals. ;)

long time Yes, King Crimson, ELP, Henry Cow fan,
among many other types of music.

db

--
* D a v i d B e a r d s l e y
* xouoxno@virtulink.com
*
* J u x t a p o s i t i o n N e t R a d i o
* M E L A v i r t u a l d r e a m house monitor
*
* http://www.virtulink.com/immp/lookhere.htm

David Beardsley wrote:

>
> I'm inclined towards just intonation, but yer traditional
> prog-rock draws heavily on the bombastic European
> classical tradition where modulation is real important.
> You might be more interested in equal temperaments
> other than 12tet. It's not like you can't modulate in
> JI, it just isn't the same thing.

You can't modulate for the best part to a scale with exactly the same
ratios, but then why bother if you are just going to have the same ratios.
I modulate all the time and will continue to do so!:)

-- Kraig Grady
North American Embassy of Anaphoria Island
http://www.anaphoria.com