string frets?!

[Diane in Chicago]

Any of you ever used strings for frets - like waxed cotton or the like? 

I'm thinking of tying frets on a cello so I can play it like an mini upright bass.

Here's my starting place:

http://vdgsa.org/pgs/frets.html

[HENRY LOWMAN]

I have used light guage fishing line for tie on frets. I was inspired by the way frets are tied on the Turkish saz and Iranian tar and setar. Good luck!

[Ben]

Don't forget the lute! Just takes a little getting used to.

[Bluesdog]

An upright bass doesn't have fret's, you should be able to use the chello like one right now. Just tune it EADG and you have yourself an upright base there.

If you know how to finger notes on the chello (correct intonation) you shouldn't have any problems doing it in the base tunning, if you do insist on tying frets to it's neck don't forget to slant your bridge to compensate stringlength. With fretless that's not a problem because you intonate the notes with your fingers by just moving them up or down slightly, with added fret's you will not be able to do that so the bridge need's to be in the exact right place or it will sound horrible.

Also most fretted instrument's have a certain amount of relief (bow forewards) built in their neck's around the 6th fret to prevent the string's from ratteling against the next fret, this could be a problem since fretless instruments don't have that relief but there is only one way to be certain about that and that's trying it. Your tying them instead of sawing real fretwire in so if it sucks you can alway's undo it.

Good luck!!

[Diane in Chicago]

Thanks, these are good things I'll keep in mind. I only plan on putting on a few dulcimer-ish frets for now and see how it goes.

Bluesdog said:

An upright bass doesn't have fret's, you should be able to use the chello like one right now. Just tune it EADG and you have yourself an upright base there.

If you know how to finger notes on the chello (correct intonation) you shouldn't have any problems doing it in the base tunning, if you do insist on tying frets to it's neck don't forget to slant your bridge to compensate stringlength. With fretless that's not a problem because you intonate the notes with your fingers by just moving them up or down slightly, with added fret's you will not be able to do that so the bridge need's to be in the exact right place or it will sound horrible.

Also most fretted instrument's have a certain amount of relief (bow forewards) built in their neck's around the 6th fret to prevent the string's from ratteling against the next fret, this could be a problem since fretless instruments don't have that relief but there is only one way to be certain about that and that's trying it. Your tying them instead of sawing real fretwire in so if it sucks you can alway's undo it.

Good luck!!

[Ben]

Hey Bluesdog,
While you're right about basses not having frets, I'm going to have to respectfully ask Diane not to retune her cello unless it's smaller than 4/4. Cello strings are expensive and not very forgiving to being tuned too far up (experience as an orchestra teacher with students who are sure they can tune their own cello). Also, you're right about the neck relief on a guitar but you might be interested to know that there is (or should be...probably not when its shipped from China) similar neck relief on your standard violin/viola/cello/bass. This is done with a hand plane and is hard to see without a straight-edge on top to judge it by.

Diane, are you worried about finger placement, or just experimenting with different effects? If its the finger placement thing, I suggest going to an auto parts store and buying pin-striping tape. Run it under the strings and just tape it down where you would for those frets. Its skinny enough to be accurate, thin enough to not buzz, and removes without any residue so there's no harm done.
Oh yeah, please don't move your bridge. If you move the treble side of your bridge, your sound post will no longer be in the right position (and you run the risk of it falling down). You may know this already, but the sound post works like a treble knob on a speaker system. The top of your instrument is made out of spruce (or something similar). This sound board is like the woofer in a speaker. The back of your instrument should be made from maple (or another hard wood). This works like the tweeter in a speaker. The sound post in your cello transfers the treble string vibrations to the "tweeter." Your sound post is (hopefully) positioned so that your cello is as balanced sounding as possible. The more directly under the treble bridge foot it is, the more treble (or trouble...sorry...couldn't resist) you'll pull from your instrument. Some people get fanatical about the placement of this post (also the grain of the post should be running perpendicular to the grain of the top) especially since new strings and/or climate can profoundly affect the sound of the instrument.
Sorry to get so off topic...good luck experimenting!

[Keni Lee Burgess]

http://www.daniellarson.com/vfrets.htm

http://www.mugwumps.com/FretKnot.html

http://www.vanedwards.co.uk/fretknot.htm

I hope this is helpful. Enjoy, Keni Lee

[The Phrygian Kid]

how frets started... ;)