Fret Rails™

A new invention for fretboard instruments,
NAMM 2000 debut

First published February 17, 2000 in Sticknews

From: "Stick Enterprises, Inc." <stick@earthlink.net>
To: STICKWIRE-L@HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM

I'd like to introduce yet another choice of hardware to Stick players and two handed string tappers. We now have a new kind of fretboard with gently pointed stainless steel Fret Rails.

The 90 degree pointed tips of these innovative frets (patent pending) are planed to a very straight and even playing surface with very little material removed. The points are then very slightly rounded in the polishing process. As a result, several advantages (listed below) are attained to a degree never before experienced in stringed instrument manufacture.

1. FEEL: The moderate slopes of the 90 degree points provide sufficient sliding action for glissing and "trilling" across frets. At the same time,the well defined points provide a more exact sensation of fret center to the fingers, lending an overall feel of precision to the fretboard.
   
   
2. PITCH: Precision is not only perceived by the fingers but is heard as well. All strings vibrate uniformly from the centers of all frets, enhancing the sense of pitch and intonation. From my short experience playing on instruments with this new fretboard at various February 2000 NAMM show concerts and the associated "Stick Night 2000", I found these Fret Rails to be a noticeable improvement over frets with a rounded profile such as conventional guitar frets and our own circular Fret Rods (TM).
   
   
3. ACTION: Because the pointed tips don't flatten much in the process of sanding and filing an even plane along the fret tops, the playing surface can be made very straight and the playing action set extremely low. With low tapping action comes all the other advantages that Stick players and tappers like - speed, expression, expanded volume dynamics (starting from a very light touch), ease of playing (fluency) and a fuller tone.
   
   
4. WEAR: Stainless steel is not worn down by guitar and bass guitar strings, even after years of bending and vibratos. In normal guitar craft, the softer German silver fret alloy precludes any innovation in the direction of pointed frets, as deep notches and irregularities would quickly be worn in. You may ask, why is soft metal used in guitar fretboards? It allows the frets to be hammered or punched into their slots without rocking up and down from one end to the other. They lay into place. Our Fret Rods and Fret Rails slide into their grooves from the side of the board.
   
   
5. SEATING: Seen from the sides of the fingerboard, these square stock stainless steel Fret Rails are diamond shaped with the bottom most corner of the square machined a bit flat. The resulting five-sided structure can be seated in shallower fingerboard grooves so as not to compromise neck strength. The two outer corners (as seen from the sides) are submerged beneath the wooden fingerboard surface and provide strong anchoring against upward pressure. Unlike regular guitar frets, once these frets are dressed they won't rise or move around.

So far, I've made four prototypes with pointed frets, and am tooled and ready to go into limited production, but first I need to hear your views and reactions. The feel is different. I like it a lot. A few people who tried these Fret Rail equipped Sticks at our NAMM booth seemed interested and well disposed toward this innovation, but NAMM is intense and no one can really concentrate for long.

If you happen to be in the L. A. area and would like some quiet time to try out one of these ten-string Sticks in medium or heavy gauges, just give us a call and set up a session at our Woodland Hills studio. Your feedback will be appreciated.

All the Best, Emmett.

©2000 Emmett H. Chapman