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Here is my fret calculation program for free of charge. I'm using this to make my own ukuleles. I know there are many free calculation tools on the internet and they are really useful, but my program can print out the result as a plan so that it doesn't need to measure fret positions on the fret board. Instead of measuring your wood piece, you just put your wood on the paper and mark right positions according to the lines on the paper. The original program was made with Japanese language for Japanese people. Now I have re-made the program for English speaking luthiers, also I've added a new function for people usually uses inch scale instead of meter scale. |
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Download Fret Calculator Version 0.41 |
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Input either a length from the nut to the saddle or from the nut to 12th fret (1/2 of a scale). Press [Calculate] button to start calculation. You may get "Theoretical values" and "Corrective values". "Theoretical values" means frets span calculated with the magic number "17.81715"(default), which is usually applied for the modern fretting calculation. "Corrective values" are the values adjusted fretting tensions. Press [Print] button to print out the result. |
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| A printed result is as above. If you specify the width of the nut and (12)th fret, there are the lines showing the outline of a fret board. In this picture, measurement scale is "inch" and the values are formatted as the fractions. If you choose meter scale, the values would be "mm" scale. |
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You don't need to measure your wood piece for slotting, you may put your wood on the paper and mark the positions according to the printed lines instead. If you print out to a larger paper, fret lines would be wider. The paper in this picture is "B5" size which is usually used in Japan. I've also tested with "A4" size paper but not "legal" or "letter" size because those standards are not usually used in Japan. |
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| As you see the value for the width of 12th fret, a minus value can be allowed for (12)th fret width, which means the width of a saddle instead of a fret width. If you want to draw an outline of the fret board by specifying the width of a nut and a saddle, you may use a minus number. In this case, a fret number (12th) will be neglected. |
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A popup menu will appear when you right click the program window. You may change some values such as the maximum number of the frets, the compensation value to adjust the bridge position, the magic number to calculate the fret posisions, and the denominator for the fraction values. |
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This is a dialog to set a magic number for the calculation. The default magic number is 17.81715 wich is "12th root of 2". So, "12th root of 2" and "magic number 17.81715" are same. You may choose 18(Rule of Eighteen) and it only means the magic number is 18. * Usually you don't need to change this value. |
