Frets are strips of metal—generally, an alloy of nickel and brass—embedded along a guita

Although strictly speaking, the fret is the metal strip itself, the location on the fretboard belo

Moving up the fretboard and toward the guitar body, one fret raises the pitch of the resultin

Number of Frets
Depending on the type of guitar, and to a lesser degree the model, guitars have different n

Steel-stringed acoustic guitars tend to have more variation in the number of frets. Many steel-stringed instruments have 20 f

Electric guitars have the most variation in numbers of frets, typically from 21 to 24. Some e

Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster: Traditionally had 21 frets but began offering 22-fret ne
Gibson Les Paul: 22 frets, joining the body at the 16th fret.
Gibson SG: 22 frets, joining the body at the 19th fret.

Fret Buzz
On guitars with steel strings, frets experience wear and tear and eventually wear down. When this starts to happen, frets will

Intonation
If you've ever played a G chord that sounded fine, only to play an E chord that sounds out of tune, you've experienced an into
embedded along a guitar's fretboard, which makes up most of the guitar's neck. By depressing a st

tion on the fretboard below a fret is referred to as being that fret. For example, the position between

s the pitch of the resulting note by a "half-step" or semitone. The note at the 12th fret of a guitar rep

, guitars have different numbers of frets. The standard classical guitar has 19 frets. The guitar's nec

el-stringed instruments have 20 frets (for example, the Martin D-28 or Gibson Hummingbird), but it is not uncommon to see guitars with

ly from 21 to 24. Some examples are:

began offering 22-fret necks in the 1980s.

en this starts to happen, frets will begin to "buzz," making a literal buzzing sound. Fret buzzing plagues many guitars due to poor manufac

f tune, you've experienced an intonation problem with a guitar. Intonation problems can sometimes be a symptom of serious issues with
neck. By depressing a string against the fretboard below a fret, meaning away from the guitar body,

ple, the position between the nut at the bottom of the fretboard—the end farthest from the guitar bod

e 12th fret of a guitar represents one full octave above the pitch of the open string. The 12th fret divi

19 frets. The guitar's neck meets the body at the 12th fret. Guitarists attempting to play the upper fre

ot uncommon to see guitars with more. To allow for easier access to these upper frets, some acoustic guitars feature a "cutaway," an ind

many guitars due to poor manufacturing or setup. Although fret buzz can be caused by significant problems, in many cases, simple adjustm

a symptom of serious issues with a guitar but often can be corrected with a minor adjustment. Although intonation is not necessarily cau
 ay from the guitar body, the vibrating length of that string changes, and a specific note results.

thest from the guitar body—and the first fret is referred to as the "first fret," the position between the

string. The 12th fret divides the "scale length" (the distance between the nut and the bridge, above

pting to play the upper frets beyond the 12th ​fret on a classical guitar will need to adjust their picking

uitars feature a "cutaway," an indentation in the body of the instrument.

ms, in many cases, simple adjustments such as raising string action can fix these problems. The Big Buzz List, a catalog of problems that ca

h intonation is not necessarily caused by problems with frets, worn frets or frets that are too high are often the culprits. You can set your
pecific note results.

the position between the first and second frets is called the "second fret," and so on.

ut and the bridge, above which the strings are attached) exactly in half.

ed to adjust their picking hand position.

List, a catalog of problems that cause fret buzz, offers suggestions for correcting it. Although the list is geared toward acoustic guitars, vir

ten the culprits. You can set your guitar's intonation by yourself.
nd so on.

eared toward acoustic guitars, virtually the same conditions occur in electric guitars.