"True Temperment" a Fix for something that just ain't Broken?

    There's a difference for sure. If I had boatloads of money to throw around, I'd have one with TT frets and an Evertune already, but I don't and I retune too often to warrant such a purchase.


    Of course regular guitars intonate very well if they're well built and have a good set-up. On the other hand, Strandberg makes stuff that's so different yet feels so natural.

    This looks great but I think lots of good players constantly compensate the intonation with their own ear and fingers by adding slight bends and hand vibrato , so it's not an issue. Regarding chords and harmonics, this seems like a killer tool.

    I was lucky enough to spend some time with a true temperament guitar earlier this year, and I came to a few conclusions


    1) Yes, it makes a noticeable difference to your tuning. Chords sound clearer, more even and simply better, right up the neck. Everything resonates much better as the tuning of each note is potentially perfect
    2) It doesn't play that differently to a regular, even temperament, neck. Couple of minutes and you're away.
    3) It's frustrating to go back to a regular neck as you notice the subtle differences in tuning
    4) After a while, you adjust back, and the slight "out of tune" irritation goes away from your regular neck
    5) It's a noticeable difference, but not a big difference. The fact of the matter is that you can negate any good the system is doing if your strings are even a few cents out. Which in my live gigging environments, they generally get a bit wobbly due to either heat, humidity or a combination of the two anyway. Personally I have filed it under "I'd love it, but can't justify it"

    Quote from waraba

    This looks great but I think lots of good players constantly compensate the intonation with their own ear and fingers by adding slight bends and hand vibrato , so it's not an issue. Regarding chords and harmonics, this seems like a killer tool.


    When i first played a Buzz feiten tuned guitar it felt strange, because as you said, i had earlyer compensated for the weakspots of a normal tuned guitar! but now its no problem! I play by ear, and i cant stand any notes out of pitch!

    Yeah if I got myself a TT guitar, I would only take it out for use when recording REAL takes for an album.
    Wasting those frets on day-to-day playing just isn't work the refretting costs needed after a while, haha.


    Evertune tho; I had a ET guitar, got bored of it, and sold it. It didn't sound as good as my other guitars, and it intonated weirdly with other regular instruments. Tried one now recently, and wasn't impressed.


    Guitars should be able to keep fairly good tuning anyway, my Floyd Rose guitars barely needs any tuning at all.
    And with some Big Bends Nut Sauce my hardtail guitars gets hard to knock out of tune as well.

    Quote from Michael_dk

    See, I wonder about this... I can totally see it if you're the only instrument playing, but how does it fit with the bass and "the other guitar" if those instruments are not also true temperament?


    It should be fine as far as I know. Maybe not if you're doubling parts with a different guitar.

    I own a TT neck. I've had it for about 4 years now. At one time, I assembled a Warmoth Tele with an Evertune route. I like to try new ideas. Frankly, no disrespect to Joe King intended but I'm sure when the electric lamp was invented there was someone saying "Why, gas lamps work just fine" Anyway, I ditched the Evertune. I didn't like the tone that the bridge produced and it doesn't always stay in tune and when it drifts it's a pain to get back to being . i.e. compared to turning a tuning knob. So I ended up putting the TT neck which is a maple neck, ebony board and with a 1 3/4" nut on a Yngyie Malmsteen Strat I own.


    Evo's post above is a good summary but I will say for what I bought this neck for, jazz fingerstyle solo guitar it is just great. Where I don't like it is for single notes e.g. double stops, bending etc. The inherent out of tune nature of the guitar gives some weight or coarseness to those types of fingerings. less refined if you will.


    As far as the physical act of playing, after a few minutes of playing , it feels no different than a regular neck..


    What I would really like to own is a good steel steel string acoustic with the TT tuning. The open position and 1-5 parts of the neck is where the TT tuning really shines.