OK So Who Has an Opinion?

[shredmonster]

I was playing my Charvel last night. I use a lot of vibrato and work on my vibrato all the time.

Most of my guitars are 24 frets except for the Charvel which is 22. All of my guitars have Floyd Roses by the way.

It seems to me that on 21 or 22 fret guitars you get a wider vibrato sound compared to bending the string the same distance on a 24 fret guitar.

Lets say for ease of numbers you bend a string 1 inch on a 21 fret guitar. 1/21 = .0476 Now on a 24 fret guitar 1/24 = .0417. The relative vibrato to neck length is larger on a 21 fret guitar.

I don't know if this is correct at all but it seems you may get more "pull" due to the physics of a shorter neck. So you get a "wider" sounding vibrato.

I was thinking maybe this is why Yngwie only uses 21 fret guitars. I mean he does everything you can do to maximize his guitar for vibrato - scalloped frets, 8 gauge strings etc... A lot of people wonder why he uses only 21 fret Strats and maybe this is why.

[noodlesatf]

Re: OK So Who Has an Opinion?

Number of frets has nothing to do with it, because additional frets just get tacked on past the others. Scale length is what I really think you're after, and in that regard, Yngwie has the same 25 1/2" as anyone.

[shredmonster]

Re: OK So Who Has an Opinion?

[ QUOTE ]
Number of frets has nothing to do with it, because additional frets just get tacked on past the others. Scale length is what I really think you're after, and in that regard, Yngwie has the same 25 1/2" as anyone.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah maybe I mistated that. Let me rephrase. The string length I think is what I am getting at.

I will have to measure. But it seems to me if the string length is Shorter on my Charvel than on one of my 24 fret Jacksons (and I don't know if it is right now) that the vibrato would be wider using the same bend on the instrument with the shorter string length.

[shreddermon]

Re: OK So Who Has an Opinion?

Shredmonster, string length = scale length. There's no difference between 22 and 24 fret'rs, if they're both 25.5 scales.

[GodOfRhythm]

Re: OK So Who Has an Opinion?

It's probably a combination of scale length, stringtype (0.11,...) and the fact that Yng has scalloped frets, the frets themselves are not really of grave importance. (unless you want thin vs jumbo competition )

[Endrik]

Re: OK So Who Has an Opinion?

I don't think that Yngwie really needs scalloped frets or some special neck to do his vibrato, it is just more comfortable for him to have scalloped neck and 21 frets. Altho it is easyer to bend wider with scalloped frets, I don't have any problems to do a Yngwie's vibrato on any guitar.
Maybe your 24 fret and 22 fret guitars have different fret sizes and that's the reason.

[mab8485]

Re: OK So Who Has an Opinion?

Scale length makes a big difference for me and bending/vibrato. My 750xl is short scale, my ibanez and charvel tele are longer scale. I have weak hands so i use super slinky's, and they are too slinky on the 750xl, so i think it needs 10's.

yngwie strings his guitars up with 8's????? wtf.............

[mattsmusiccenter]

Re: OK So Who Has an Opinion?

Scale length determines string tension as well. The more tension you've got, the more difficult it will be to bend it.

[shredmonster]

Re: OK So Who Has an Opinion?

Well I put my PC1 next to my Charvel last night and measured the length of the bridge to the nut.

Length was pretty much the same. I have not measured that before. So I figure string tension must be pretty close.

Also interesting, the body sizes of 24 fret guitars I have noticed are smaller than the 22 fretters that I have seen.

I can't figure it out. Maybe its just all in my head but I could swear that the bends on my 22 fret Charvel and 22 fret Strat sound wider for some reason than the 24 fretters that I play.

[markD]

Re: OK So Who Has an Opinion?

i don't know about all that pyhsics stuff, but all i know is that i prefer 22 fret necks. they are just easier for me to play. actually, my main player right now is a 21 fret telecater.

[shredmonster]

Re: OK So Who Has an Opinion?

Thats intersting MD. hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.............

I guess that leads me to the question of Charvels in general.

What exactly is the reason for the people prefer them - is it the tone or playability?

And if so, why? Is a 22 or 21 fret guitar easier to play?

[zeegler]

Re: OK So Who Has an Opinion?

The only difference the extra 2 frets make is to the balance of the guitar, and fret access. The bodies are not necessarily different sizes.

You could buy a blank strat body from Warmouth, and stick on either a 22 fret, or a 24 fret neck. Of course (assuming the same scale length) the location of the bridge would have to change to account for the extra 2 frets, and the guitar would be slightly more neck heavy because of the longer neck.

The number of frets should in no way dictate the size of a guitar body, or how a guitar plays, or feels. It is in your head!

[RickStar]

Re: OK So Who Has an Opinion?

yeah neither are easier to play. some say a 22 fret has better tone than a 24 but i have yet to see the difference.

[shredmonster]

Re: OK So Who Has an Opinion?

RickStar: I agree - don't think it makes a difference on overall tone but there is a harmonic you cant get because of pup placement on a 24 fretter that you can get on a 22 fretter.

Zeeglar - I put the Charvel next to my PC1 and Hamer Californian and the Charvie definitely has a bigger body.

But I measured length from bridge to nut and they are the same. So I think it may be the srpings. I am going to switch the srpings in my Charvel with my PC1 to see what happens.