Fret calculator

When you make or repair the fretboard you need fret spacing calculator. In this article I have very nice calculator to locate fret position. Only put in your scale lenght and you get fret spacing table. But I have for you not only distances from the nut to frets but two more columns in table. First of all spacing between adjacent frets and special one distance from one chosen fret to other ones. This can be very helpful for understanding what the scale lenght on your guitar for example. You can calculate any guitar scale length up to any number of frets. It might not only be for guitars, as it's simply a calculator for the 12-tone equal temperament tuning. 

Go straight to the fret calculator

The precise positions of guitar frets are calculated using a formula. The idea is based on the concept that an octave is divided into 12 equal semitones. If anyone is interested, they can search in the web to find that this solution, although widespread since the 18th century, is not the only one.

What do you need to know to calculate fret locations on a guitar? For the 12-tone equal temperament tuning, there is a coefficient of 1.0594631. If you divide a certain fret position by this coefficient, you'll get the next fret a semitone higher. In practice, we need the distance from the nut to a specific fret and between them. This simple arithmetic will be done by calculator. As a guitar craftsman, I have expanded the capabilities of the fret calculator. In the calculator's results, you will see three tables.

1. The first table is the distances from the nut to a specific fret.
2. The second table shows distances between adjacent frets.
3. The third table represents the distance from the fret you selected to other frets.

You can get fret position template for any length, regardless of whether it's in millimeters or inches. You can enter almost any number :). You can also specify the rounding precision of the final result. You can enter your desired number of frets so that extra frets don't overflow the table.

Why is the third table necessary? If you're a guitar craftsman, sometimes you need to check the position of a particular fret. It can also help to determine a guitar's scale length accurately. The location of the saddle is offset for intonation compensation. However, it sometimes happens the location of the nut is also offset, or it's challenging to accurately place a ruler. In that case, measuring spacing from the first fret (not the nut!) to the 12th or 19th fret can be helpful. This distance will show you the exact scale length. In other words, subtract the spacing between nut and first fret. Enter 1 in "Chosen fret" form to get this counting.

You can just input any numbers and press the calculator button. Leave marks on your mobile phone :) or a wrist-to-elbow tattoo! It will have a twelve-step evenly-tempered pattern spacing. Please, no tattoo!!! Use thin unallergic highlighter:)

Fret Distance Calculator