Why 24 frets?

[tulsaslim]

I see where Epi's Prophecy guitars have 24 frets. This is supposedly a selling point for metalheads. I've been playing for 45 years but don't understand why those two extra frets are so important. Can somebody enlighten me?

[matiac]

So you can have a 2 octave neck, there's supposed to be some sort of advantage to that for drop tunings typical for that genre, that's just my take. Gibson's SG Supreme has a 2 octave neck too.

[Notes_Norton]

My partner's ESP/LTD has 24 frets, but I've never used them all - perhaps my limited experience has limited my use of the upper notes. I can't get them to sound all that well anyway.

 

Notes

[Insideout]

My 2 cents... even if you don't play the 23rd and 24th fret, having them there makes for easier, cleaner access to the 21st and 22nd. Pure physics - there's more room for your hand.

[Vic Flick]

I see where Epi's Prophecy guitars have 24 frets. This is supposedly a selling point for metalheads. I've been playing for 45 years but don't understand why those two extra frets are so important. Can somebody enlighten me?

 

There's actually a drawback to a 24 fret neck - the neck pickup should be placed where the 24th fret is. You get ringing harmonics at the octave points, think of the harmonics at the 12th fret. You want the pickup mounted under that point, a 24 fret neck moves the pickup further into the body.

 

The bridge is another octave point, but the best you can do is get the bridge pickup as close as possible. My guess is that's the reason Gibson flipped the bridge humbucker, so that the exposed screws would be closer to the octave point.

 

From what I understand, Leo Fender experimented with different placement of the pickups, and I think that's a big part of the unique Strat sound.

[pissedoffepiphoneowner]

ha!

 

the way i always figured, if you want them two extra notes, ben a lil... haha

 

i got a solo in one of my bands songs, and I always clear it out with a quicksie run, in the key of A, and I end it with a huge E way up yonder, so I gotta give my 22nd fret the big bend...

[Biff]

24 frets sounds like a baritone, but without the extra scale length I can't see the point - not even with drop C tuning...

 

Might be interesting though.

[evol04gt]

im not sure how 24 frets give you better access to the 20th fret area because the neck of our guitars joins at the same spot so that doesnt change your access at all....now a DEEPER cutaway will give you access... not more frets...

 

why 24? why did we go from 20 on most acoustics to 21 or 22 on electrics? because people will buy them... and i think having that exta whole note to get that HIGH HIGH HIGH screeching E note is sweet! lol... i never thought about the pick ups being right under the spot where a 24th fret would be.... DUH! how could i miss that?

[Ricochet]

im not sure how 24 frets give you better access to the 20th fret area because the neck of our guitars joins at the same spot so that doesnt change your access at all....now a DEEPER cutaway will give you access... not more frets...

 

It may be similar to why I kept flying over the nut of my headless. Something with reference-points I suppose.

When you reach for the 22th fret you are subconsiously more aware it's the end of the fretboard and approaching that note with a lot less reckless abandon than you would on a 24 fret neck?

[Parabar]

Opined jerrymac:

There's actually a drawback to a 24 fret neck - the neck pickup should be placed where the 24th fret is. You get ringing harmonics at the octave points, think of the harmonics at the 12th fret. You want the pickup mounted under that point, a 24 fret neck moves the pickup further into the body.

 

This is true --- as long as you're playing open strings. Once you start playing fretted notes, the relative position of the pickups to a particular point or node on the string varies continuously depending on which fret you play, so in practice the 24th fret "sweet spot" has less tonal effect than you might think. I find this especially true when playing in the high register (where the frets are closer together anyway). This is also why the tonal variations between neck and bridge pickups tend to become less distinct in the high register. If you play a note on a high fret such that the distance between fret and neck pickup is the same as the distance between the bridge and the bridge pickup, (and the pickups are the same type), the two pickups will sound very similar.

 

My Dillion DR-500's have 24 fret necks, and I use them (in standard tuning) mostly for leads and melodies where I want a singing, sustaining tone a la Santana. They also get a nice bright clean tone that is well suited to R&B rhythm playing. For me they fill the niche that a Les Paul might typically do, but I find them more versatile, and without the muddiness that LP's can be prone to.