Fretlight Guitars

[cheftisi]

hey guys. has anybody seen these and or played one. they look like a great tool for me, but 600 bucks seems to be alot. any feedback would be great.

[Bengal65]

I have a Fretlight and a Smartlight. They are both out dated (early 90's and 1998 model) and cannot be upgraded. Nice technology. The new ones should be great. The old ones were for sure at the time.

[cheftisi]

did they really help your playing ability?

[VulfgangPfuck]

I had borrowed a friends Fretlight Strat once, and I found it to be useful for a beginner. It wouldn't help you to pull off Yngwie-style runs...LOL
But it's a nice thing to have around. The coolest feature of it, is it shows you every chord combination that you can possibly use.

Also...don't try to use it as an effect guitar onstage....the lights make them noisy as shit!!...LOL!

[Bengal65]

I have a Fretlight and a Smartlight. They are both out dated (early 90's and 1998 model) and cannot be upgraded. Nice technology. The new ones should be great. The old ones were for sure at the time.

Absolutely, especially when used with the Guitar Magic software. It's very good in visualizing where all the notes are in a particular scale and what they sound like. The package is a great aid in transposing and a good lesson in music theory. I used to practice scales with the lights on then turn them off. A very good tool.

[charvelguy]

ya.. 600.00 is alot.. they go in an ebb and flow on market prices. Unfortunately I missed the boat on that one. They could be had in abundance for 250.00 back in '99.. just the last few years has seen them go sky high..people like those lights in the neck.
Typical price is around 400.00 and I'm hestitant about paying that much for one. It be nice to have all the chord forms laid out and scale patterns when practicing, especially when you have had some time away from the guitar.
IMO..250.00 was about what they're really worth but the market is saying otherwise...which is why they are going back into production. The list on these things in '96 was about 600-800 depending on the model. I have the promo packet on them somewhere from that timeframe.