Kite Guitar: Difference between revisions

Line 41:

== For Luthiers ==

To place the frets on a Kite guitar, simply replace the 12th root of 2 = 1.059463 with the 41st root of 4 = 1.034390. Or purchase a pre-slotted fingerboard from Precision Pearl in Austin, Texas. It comes radiused, tapered and inlaid, so all you need to do is glue it on and put in the frets.

To place the frets on a Kite guitar, simply replace the 12th root of 2 = 1.059463 with the 41st root of 4 = 1.034390. Or purchase a pre-slotted fingerboard from Precision Pearl in Austin, Texas. It comes radiused, tapered and inlaid, so all you need to do is glue it on and put in the frets. Replacing 24 old frets makes 41 new frets, but the last few are very tight. One might instead replace 21 old frets to make 36 new frets.

To find the saddle compensation on a standard guitar, one compares the harmonic at the 12th fret with the fretted note at the 12th fret. For the Kite guitar, by coincidence, one does the same! But ~~that's~~ the 3rd harmonic, not the 2nd. ~~And~~ the two notes should be an 8ve apart, not a unison. ~~(Or else~~, when you fret the string, play the 2nd harmonic with your other hand to ~~get~~ a ~~unison~~.) And to be extremely precise, the fretted note should be 0.48¢ sharper than the harmonic.

To find the saddle compensation on a standard guitar, one compares the harmonic at the 12th fret with the fretted note at the 12th fret. For the Kite guitar, by a weird coincidence, one does the same! But the 12th fret now makes the 3rd harmonic, not the 2nd. Thus the two notes should be an 8ve apart, not a unison. To get a unison, when you fret the string, play the 2nd harmonic with your other hand. With your forefinger or middlefinger, touch the string midway between the 32nd and 33rd frets. Then stretch your hand and pluck with your thumb as close as you can get to the midpoint between your finger and the bridge. If this isn't feasible (e.g. with a bass guitar), you can capo the string at the 12th fret and use both hands to play the harmonic. And to be extremely precise, the fretted note should be 0.48¢ sharper than the harmonic.

== Chords (major tuning) ==

@@ Line 41: / Line 41: @@
 == For Luthiers ==
-To place the frets on a Kite guitar, simply replace the 12th root of 2 = 1.059463 with the 41st root of 4 = 1.034390. Or purchase a pre-slotted fingerboard from Precision Pearl in Austin, Texas. It comes radiused, tapered and inlaid, so all you need to do is glue it on and put in the frets.
+To place the frets on a Kite guitar, simply replace the 12th root of 2 = 1.059463 with the 41st root of 4 = 1.034390. Or purchase a pre-slotted fingerboard from Precision Pearl in Austin, Texas. It comes radiused, tapered and inlaid, so all you need to do is glue it on and put in the frets. Replacing 24 old frets makes 41 new frets, but the last few are very tight. One might instead replace 21 old frets to make 36 new frets.
-To find the saddle compensation on a standard guitar, one compares the harmonic at the 12th fret with the fretted note at the 12th fret. For the Kite guitar, by coincidence, one does the same! But that's the 3rd harmonic, not the 2nd. And the two notes should be an 8ve apart, not a unison. (Or else, when you fret the string, play the 2nd harmonic with your other hand to get a unison.) And to be extremely precise, the fretted note should be 0.48¢ sharper than the harmonic.
+To find the saddle compensation on a standard guitar, one compares the harmonic at the 12th fret with the fretted note at the 12th fret. For the Kite guitar, by a weird coincidence, one does the same! But the 12th fret now makes the 3rd harmonic, not the 2nd. Thus the two notes should be an 8ve apart, not a unison. To get a unison, when you fret the string, play the 2nd harmonic with your other hand. With your forefinger or middlefinger, touch the string midway between the 32nd and 33rd frets. Then stretch your hand and pluck with your thumb as close as you can get to the midpoint between your finger and the bridge. If this isn't feasible (e.g. with a bass guitar), you can capo the string at the 12th fret and use both hands to play the harmonic. And to be extremely precise, the fretted note should be 0.48¢ sharper than the harmonic.
 == Chords (major tuning) ==