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The 'fingerboard', (also known as a 'fretboard' on fretted instruments), is a part of most stringed instruments. It is a thin, long strip of wood that is laminated to the front of the neck of an instrument and above which the strings run. In the playing of such an instrument, a musician presses the strings down towards it in order to change their vibrating lengths, causing changes in pitch. This is called "stopping" the strings.
The word "fingerboard" in other languages sometimes occurs in musical directions. In Italian it is called either 'manico' or 'tasto', the latter especially in the phrase sul tasto, a direction for bowed string instruments to play with the bow above the fingerboard.

Contents

Frets

Materials

Parameters

Radius

Examples

Scalloping

Advantages and disadvantages

Popular products

De-fragmentation

Advantages and disadvantages

See also

References

External links

Frets

A fingerboard may be fretted, having raised strips of hard material perpendicular to the strings against which the strings are stopped. Frets easily and consistently allow a musician to stop the string in the same place, and they allow for less damping of the vibrations than fingers alone. Frets may be fixed, as on a guitar or mandolin, or movable, as on a lute. Fingerboards may also be unfretted, as they usually are on bowed instruments, where damping is generally not a problem due to the prolonged stimulation of the strings. Unfretted fingerboards allow a musician more control over subtle changes in pitch than fretted boards, but are generally considered harder to master where intonation is concerned. Fingerboards may also be, though uncommon, a hybrid of these two. Such a construction is seen on the sitar, where arched frets attach at the edges of the fingerboard; unfretted strings run below the frets, while fretted ones run above. The frets are sufficiently high that pressing strings against the fingerboard is unnecessary for the frets to stop their vibrations so that the lower strings' sympathetic vibrations are uninterrupted.

Materials

On bowed string instruments, (such as violin, viola, cello, and double bass), the fingerboard is usually made of ebony, rosewood or some other hardwood. On some guitars a maple neck and fingerboard are made from one piece of wood. A few modern innovative luthiers (such as David Rivinus, see External Links) have used lightweight, non-wood materials such as carbon-fiber in their fingerboards.

Parameters

Typically, the fingerboard is a long plank with a rectangular profile. On a guitar, mandolin, ukulele, or similar plucked instrument, the fingerboard appears flat and wide, but may be slightly curved to form a cylindrical or conical surface of relatively large radius compared to the fingerboard width. The ''radius'' quoted in the specification of a string instrument is the radius of curvature of the fingerboard at the head nut.
Many bowed string instruments use a visibly curved fingerboard, nut and bridge in order to gain bow clearance on each individual string.
The length, width, thickness and density of a fingerboard can affect the timbre of an instrument.
Most fingerboards can be fully described by the following parameters:

★ ''w₁'' — width at nut (close to headstock);

★ ''w₂'' — width at half of scale length (if fretted, usually the 12th fret);

★ ''h₁'' — profile height (thickness) at nut;

★ ''h₂'' — profile height (thickness) at half of scale length;

★ ''r'' — radius (may be non-constant);

Radius

Depending on values of radius ''r'' and their transition over the length of the fingerboard, all fingerboards usually fit into one of the following four categories:
{| class="wikitable"
| 1
! Flat
| Both nut and bridge are flat. The strings are all in one plane, and the instrument does not have a radius (the radius is in a sense infinite).
| $r\; =\; infty$
|-
| 2
! Cylindrical
| The fingerboard has a constant radius, and the fingerboard, the nut and the bridge all have the same nominal radius (that of the fingerboard is strictly speaking a little smaller than that of nut and bridge).
| $r\; =\; r\_1\; =\; r\_2\; =\; const$
|-
| 3
! Conical
| The fingerboard has a varying radius, usually linearly progressing from $r\_1$ to $r\_2$. Sometimes it is also called a 'compound radius'. The nut and bridge are both curved but the nut radius is smaller than that of the bridge.
|
|-
| 4
! Compound
| While not strictly conical, with a curved nut and linear bridge. All parts of the fingerboard will have some curvature, but the fingerboard shape is not strictly a cone.
| $r(x)\; =\; f(x)$, usually $r(l)\; =\; infty$
|}
Notes:

★ $l$ is a scale.

★ $x$ designates a place on fingerboard, changes from 0 (at nut) to $l$ (at bridge).

★ $r(x)$ describes radius depending on place on fingerboard.

★ $f(x)$ is a non-linear function.
Classical guitars, some 12-string guitars and a few other steel stringed acoustic guitars have flat fingerboards. Almost all other guitars have at least some curvature. However some recent five and six string electric basses have flat fingerboards.
For guitars, smaller radii (9-10") are said to be more comfortable for chord and rhythm playing, while larger radii
(12"-16" and up to infinite radius) are more appealing to fast soloing. Conical and compound radius fingerboards try to merge both of these features. The nut end of the fingerboard has a smaller radius towards the nut to ease in forming chords. The bridge end of the fingerboard has a larger radius to make soloing more comfortable and prevent "fretting out" (having the string press against a higher fret during a bend).
Bowed string instruments tend to have curved fingerboards, to allow double stopping of adjacent strings. Those of the modern violin family and the double bass are strongly curved. However those of some archaic bowed instruments are flat.

Examples

Examples of some instruments' fingerboard parameters:
{| class="wikitable"
! Model
! ''r''
! ''w₁''
! ''w₂''
|-
| Modern Fender Stratocaster American guitar
| 9.5" (241 mm)
| 1 11/16" (42.8 mm)
|-
| Vintage Fender Stratocaster guitar
| 7.25" (184 mm)
|-
| Gibson Les Paul guitar
| 10–12" (254–305 mm)
| 1 11/16" (42.8 mm)
| 2 1/16" (52.3 mm)
|-
| Ibanez guitars
| 12" (305 mm)
|-
| Jackson guitars
| 16" (406 mm) or compound, from 12" (nut) to 16" (heel). A compound radius is common on their newer models
|-
| Warmoth guitars
| Compound, from 10" (nut) to 16" (heel)
|-
| PRS Guitars^[1] Regular
| rowspan="4" | 10" (254 mm)
| 1 21/32" (42 mm)
| 2.25" (57.1 mm)
|-
| PRS Guitars Wide Fat and Wide Thin
| 1 11/16" (42.8 mm)
| 2.25" (57.1 mm)
|-
| PRS Guitars 513
| 1 43/64" (42.4 mm)
| 2 3/16" (55.5 mm)
|-
| PRS Guitars Hiland
| 1 21/32" (42 mm)
| 2 7/32" (56.3 mm)
|-
| PRS Guitars Santana
| 11 1/2" (292 mm)
| 1 21/32” (42 mm)
| 2.25" (57.1 mm)
|-
| PRS Guitars Custom 22/12
| 11 1/2" (292 mm)
| 1 47/64" (44 mm)
| 2 19/64" (58.3 mm)
|-
| Most electric guitars with LSR roller nuts
| 9.5" to 10" (241 mm to 254 mm)
|-
| Most electric guitars with Floyd Rose bridge
| 10" (254 mm)
|-
| Full size (4/4) violin
| 42 mm
| 24 mm
| 32 mm
|}

Scalloping

A fretted fingerboard can be 'scalloped' by "scooping out" the wood between each of the frets to create a shallow "U" shape. The result is a playing surface wherein the players' fingers come into contact with the strings only, and do not touch the fingerboard.
The process of "scalloping" a fingerboard well is tedious work, usually done by careful filing of wood between the frets, and requires a large investment of time. Consequently, it is somewhat expensive to have done. Thus, scalloped fingerboards are most often found on custom instruments and a few high-end guitar models. Scalloped fingerboards are most commonly used by shred guitarists, most notably, Yngwie Malmsteen, who had a signature model of Yngwie Malmsteen Stratocaster developed with Fender. Ritchie Blackmore, of Deep Purple fame, also used a scalloped Stratocaster.
Scalloping can be:

★ 'Full', i.e. all frets from the first to the last are scalloped.

★ 'Partial', when some of the top frets are scalloped for fast soloing. Popular examples include half scalloping (12th to the last fret) or few top frets scalloping (19–24, 17–22, etc)
Note that filing the wood while scalloping also touches inlays, thus fingerboards with complex and intricate inlays usually aren't conducive to scalloping, as it would damage the artwork. Simple dot or block markers survive the procedure well.

Advantages and disadvantages

The "scooped out" nature of scalloped fingerboards creates a number of changes in the way the guitar plays.
Most obvious, is that the string only comes into contact with the frets and the fingertip with the string, not the fingerboard itself, creating less friction for bends and vibratos, which results in more overall control while playing. Another advantage is that the player only needs to apply a fraction of the pressure to a scalloped fingerboard to make the note sound, as compared to a traditional fingerboard. This allows the guitarist to play faster because they don't have to invest as much effort into fretting each note.[1]
However, that is also one of the main disadvantages. Many players, especially new players, may find a scalloped fingerboard to be too different to play easily. And it does take practice to play well on a scalloped fingerboard. The player has to first become accustomed to not actually touching the fingerboard, which may take a while in itself. Playing a scalloped fingerboard also requires a careful balance of pressure; because too much pressure can change the pitch of the fretted note, as during a bend, and too little pressure can cause fret buzz. As a result the majority of players choose to use a traditional fingerboard on their instruments.

Popular products

★ Fender offers

★ Warmoth offers building guitars

De-fragmentation

The fingerboard and associated parts of the guitar, the bridge, nut, frets, and strings, facilitate a variety of tunings. Each tuning has advantages and disadvantages. The most widely utilised tuning is E-A-d-g-b-e. The disadvantage of this tuning is the introduction of an irregularity in the form of a 'major third' between the B and G, disrupting the other intervals of a 'fourth'. This can be appreciated when a number of strings are used to express an idea. The majority of music - most defiantly that which is harmony based - necessitates the use of all 6 strings and as such this discrepancy has a dramatic effect.
The system of de-fragmentation involves the fingerboard, frets and nuts being utilized together in a prescribed fashion that results in the physical augmentation of the 'major third' by a semitone so that thereafter the intervals, fret-wise, are ‘consecutive fourths’, the 'major third' ceases to be disruptive.

Advantages and disadvantages

The clear benefit of this system is fret-wise consolidation of intervals, without discernibly compromising the way in which the guitar is played, that is to say the process of building chords and other structures remains familiar. In effect, the movement of any structure fret-wise, such as a major chord, has greater congruency - a barre chord can be moved fret-wise as effortlessly as it can be moved lengthwise. This inherent fret-wise symmetry allegedly makes it possible to attain ‘a working knowledge’ in a fraction of the time it takes to attain a ‘working knowledge’ of the conventional guitar.
On a guitar equipped with a conventional fingerboard progress from one structure to another - be it a pair of notes, scale, arpeggio, or chord - involves learning to consider the intervallic discrepancy. Fret wise motion of the same structure, therefore will always yield a number of variations relative to the number of strings involved, variants number at least three and as many as five for a structure – depending on the number of strings.
From the sixth string to the first string, the fret-wise movement of a structure that utilises more than three strings necessitating inversion i.e. the note at the top of the structure moves to the bottom of the structure as the structure progresses beyond the first string, so that the intervals remain in order. This is in keeping with the expression of a series.

See also

★ Scale (string instruments)

★ Fingerboard synthesizer

★ Bridge (instrument)

References

1. PRS Guitars FAQ

External links

★ Stringworks U brief description of fingerboard for violins, violas, & cellos

★ Luthier David Rivinus' site explanation of why he doesn't use ebony fingerboards

★ Violin construction detailed specification sheet by Alan Goldblatt (PDF, 18KB)

★ Guitar neck radius article at Warmoth

★ The Scalloped Fretboard Guitar article

★ Scalloping article at Warmoth

★ Eythorsson.com Virtual guitar fretboard