24th fret for Goldstar Sound

[blake375]

I'm currently working on a song that requires the use of a 24th fret on the high E string; not having any 24-fret guitars to hand, I thought there must be a way of improvising a 24th fret on my Goldie. The way I figured out of doing it is so simple that even though I came up with it myself, I'd be very surprised if it isn't already well known amongst strat-users.

I simply took an allen key (the regular size for floyd rose trems etc.) and filed the top edge down a bit like this:

Placed it on the neck pickup like this (magnetism holds it in place):

An then added a bit of gaffa tape to make sure it stayed put:

Bob's your uncle. You can adjust the fret height by adjusting the pickup height. On my guitar it is almost the perfect pitch - play with vibrato and it sounds just fine. Just as well I didn't need the 22nd or 23rd fret though. Bending is awkward, but if you spent more time filing and polishing than I did I'm sure it would work wonders. Better than switching guitars or necks just because you need to hit a high E now and then.

 

[JohnA]

Brilliant!! That's improvisation!!

 

[Goestoeleven]

What happens if you need to play in a different.... "key"?

Must be a real "wrench" when that happens. etc..etc.

 

[Anonymous]

:lol: :lol:

I would never have thought of that......

Mike

 

[Goestoeleven]

Thank you folks, you've been a great audience. I'm here all week. :lol:

 

[marcusnieman]

Seriously, do you really need a 24th fret? One octave lower won't work?

 

[Goestoeleven]

*Waits for another thread on the acoustic properties of different brands of Allen key. Snap-On versus Halfords, etc.*

Don't tell Eric Johnson - We'll be here all night! :lol:

 

[AlanN]

Seriously, do you really need a 24th fret? One octave lower won't work?

C'mon Marcus - take that train of thought to its logical conclusion and you've got one string and twelve frets.

An ingenious solution, blake!

 

[marcusnieman]

Sometimes less is more :wink:

 

[Formula73]

 

[Dave_Mc]

What happens if you need to play in a different.... "key"?

Must be a real "wrench" when that happens. etc..etc.

:lol:

nice improvisation there, looks a little home-made, but if it works, that's what matters.

 

[blake375]

Seriously, do you really need a 24th fret? One octave lower won't work?

First time I've wanted to use one in years - but in the melody I was writing I wanted to use this in direct contrast to the lower octave for variation.

It certainly won't be staying on the guitar longer than necessary... not sure what effect it might have on the pickup/magnets long term... any electronics experts want to take a guess?

 

[leadguitar_323]

You could have used the note an octave down and used a pinch harmonic, if you pick it in the right place you will get an octave... :wink:

Mick

 

[Ozeshin]

I've got an OLP Petrucci model and it has 24 frets and when i switch from my LP to it I always seem to go to the wrong key....4 frets from the bottom of the fingerboard...stoopid muscle memory :roll: