How to Make Bass Guitars - The Math Behind Finding Fret Placements

In order to understand just how to make basskind of a mouthful of a number to use to verbally
guitars with frets, which play in tune, you have toexplain this aspect of how to make a bass guitar's
make a bass with a certain bit of knowledge infrets to be in their proper places, but it's close
mind. There's a little bit of a mathematical trick toenough to 18, thus the name of the rule. This is
it, but the formula for it is very easy to knowthe number you will be using as the main
and understand. Once you learn to keep it in mind,calculator of fret placements.
you can pretty much make a bass or any guitarUsing this number to find out how to make bass
with the frets in the proper place for preciseguitar fret placements known, you first measure
tuning, and this is the most important thing. Afterthe distance between the nut (otherwise also
all, you can make the most beautiful instrument inknown as the "zero fret") at the base of the
the world, but if it sounds like crap, then it's junk,head stock, and the bridge on the body of the
plain and simple. Would you like to know what thisguitar. This is the "effective length" of the strings,
mathematical formula is?the free vibrating area of their lengths. Now take
The trick to knowing how to make bass guitarthis measurement and divide by 17.8167942, and
frets to be in the proper place calls for a little ruleyou'll have the distance from the nut to the first
known as the "18 rule". This is used to makefret. Now that that's found, you then measure
guitar frets to be put into the proper positions forfrom that first fret to the bridge, and divide by
the best tuning on basic acoustic, electric or bass17.8167942 again, and you'll have the distance
guitars. Basically, you just keep one number infrom the first fret to the second, and so on, and
mind - write this down... 17.8167942. Now, this isso on, and there you have it - the 18 rule!