On 4/17/08 11:56 AM, "Arle Lommel" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:>
> Actually, it's not a Euro things at all. Movable frets are exactly
> what the name says: frets that can be moved. Older string instruments
> such as lutes usually had frets made from gut that were tied on to the
> instrument rather than metal frets set into the fingerboard. Thus you
> could slide the frets up and down a bit to achieve different tunings.
>
> -Arle
Exactly so--lutes and viols are still made that way. When the frets are
tuned in meantone, they look a little strange if you are accustomed to
seeing equal temp frets as on a guitar. When meantone leaves you with a
note on a single course that might sound better changed, tiny mini-frets
(tastini) are stuck on to compensate. Looks odd, works wonderfully.
Regards,
Leonard Williams
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> On Apr 17, 2008, at 10:34 AM, Minstrel Geoffrey wrote:
>
>> As a seasoned 20+ year acoustic bass player (double bass, bass
>> fiddle, contra bass, etc) I've always knew it as "frettless" it must
>> be a euro thing to say movable frets. The only thing I knew was
>> movable in classical was the C-clef and I tip my hat to the players
>> whom use it, I just prefer my standard G & F clefs
>>
>> Sent from my iPhone
>>
