fingering to cover all scales. Because of the large range of notes from low B on a 5 String Bass, to high B four octaves above, however, he needed a way to have a long scale for the low B, but a shorter scale for the high B. He simply laid out the two scales he thought would work and connected the dots. The person generally credited with first using “fanned frets” on an electric guitar is Ralph Novak. In 1989 he was awarded the patent, which expired in 2009. Ormsby guitars ignored / violated the patent prior to its expiration. Other companies showed more restraint, and waited until 2009. This has led to an increase in interest and sales of multiscale guitars. Fanned-fret guitar Fanned-fret guitars have a multi-scale fingerboard because of "offset" frets; that is, frets that extend from the neck of the guitar at an angle. Ralph Novak (Novax Guitars) was the first to apply this idea to the electric guitar (1988). The frets are arrayed on an angle, in contrast to the standard perpendicular arrangement of other guitars. Proponents of this style of guitar claim such benefits as comfort, better ergonomics, better intonation, and better control of the tension of the strings across the fretboard. See also Bandora (instrument) Orpharion, another early modern instrument, similar to the bandora Charlie Hunter, an American jazz guitarist who has performed and recorded with a "fanned-fretted", eight-string electric guitar Brahms guitar, an eight-string classical guitar with slanted frets, originally developed by guitarist Paul Galbraith and luthier David Rubio Gordon Giltrap Tosin Abasi References External links A calculator to calculate fret locations for a multiscale fretboard can be found on the Calculating Fret Positions page of the Liutaio Mottola Lutherie Information Website. Guitar parts and accessories