8-string Jackson Guitars

[pro-fusion]

You press the string up against the fret of your choice.

Seriously, though, it does take additional practice to play a fanned-fret guitar, but there are clear benefits. You have a longer scale to make the low strings sound tighter and better, while also having a shorter scale on the top to make the higher strings easier to play with string bends etc. Jazz guitarist Charlie Hunter has played fanned-fret guitars for years now--it's not a gimmick.