Guitarophile.com

Tag: fretboard

  • How Paul Reed Smith’s Mom Had an Obsession that Led to an Iconic Guitar Look

    How Paul Reed Smith’s Mom Had an Obsession that Led to an Iconic Guitar Look

    I have a confession to make: I love the birds.

    This can be a bit of a polarizing statement, I realize. Some people absolutely love the birds, while others hate them. But I think I’m in good company. John Mayer seems to be in the former camp, as does Mark Tremonti. Even Carlos Santana has jumped on the “birds” bandwagon.

    But whoever designed my “unicorn” guitar, the Vela, seems to prefer dots.

    I’m talking, of course, about the now-famous birds on PRS guitars — specifically, the bird inlays that are found on many of the guitars they sell.

    A brief recap of fretboard inlays

    I’ve written about guitar inlays before, but the gist of it is these are the markers on the guitar’s neck that help orient the player to where he or she is on the fretboard. To put it simply, inlay markers tell you what note you’re playing.

    Historically, while there have been ornate fretboard inlays for decoration purposes for centuries, functional markers have almost always been simple dots, rectangles, or trapezoids, with very few exceptions.

    But then a guitar maker named Paul Reed Smith came along and shook things up.

    Paul Reed Smith, luthier and…bird watcher?

    Paul Reed Smith was much more successful at 20 years old than I was. (For that matter, he was more successful at 20 than I am now.) The young luthier had built a number of guitars but now, in 1976, he had just managed to secure one of his first major contracts: building a guitar for Peter Frampton.

    “When it came time to put inlays on the fretboard,” Paul said, “I didn’t even have to think about it, I just went down to the store, bought a bird guide, and started designing inlays.”

    A close-up of a PRS guitar’s bird inlays.
    A close-up of a PRS guitar’s bird inlays.

    If you’ve ever seen an interview of Paul, you know that he’s a bit of a weird guy. (I’m not saying that’s a bad thing, by the way.) He can be very picky and esoteric about the methods, designs, and materials he uses for his guitars, having amassed a vast amount of knowledge and experience after decades in the business.

    But why were birds an obvious choice for Paul for inlay markers, right from the start?

    The answer is that Paul’s mom was an avid bird watcher. In fact, she would often take young Paul and his siblings out with her to bird watch. Being somewhat close to Washington, D.C., she would even take the family to the Smithsonian from time to time to view bird exhibits.

    Birds and bird watching were a regular part of Paul’s family’s life, so when it came time to design inlays for his guitars, using an avian theme was a natural choice. And he worked with a small team to come up with a bird theme that really worked well artistically on the fretboard.

    Bird inlays on a PRS SE Custom 24 guitar.
    My PRS SE Custom 24 with bird inlays.

    Paul continued to utilize his bird inlays after Frampton’s guitar but assumed they would not be a popular feature. He expected about 25 percent of his customers to prefer the birds, but that isn’t what ended up happening. Instead, the bird inlays became an iconic part of PRS’s look and have been featured on a majority of the models over the years.

    What kind of birds are they, anyway?

    And by the way, in case you were wondering, the inlays on PRS guitars are illustrations of actual birds. Starting from the top of the neck, they are (with fret number in parentheses):

    • A Peregrin Falcon (3)
    • A Marsh Hawk (5)
    • A Ruby-Throated Hummingbird (7)
    • A Common Tern (9)
    • A Cooper’s Hawk (12)
    • A Kite (15)
    • A Sparrow (17)
    • A Storm Petrel (19)
    • A Hawk (21)
    • A Screech Owl sitting on a branch (24)

    Love them or hate them, it’s hard to imagine PRS guitars without thinking about birds. I’m a big fan, as I think they add class and grace, making the brand’s guitars look even better.

    You can learn more about the backstory of the bird inlay on PRS’s website.

  • Why Do Guitars Have Fret Markers? It’s Kind of Complicated

    Why Do Guitars Have Fret Markers? It’s Kind of Complicated

    If you are more than an absolute beginner at the guitar, then you are probably aware of, and maybe even know a little about, those little dots on the neck of your instrument.

    These dots are called fret markers, and they are there for a very good reason.

    Fret markers are a form of inlay, and they serve as a visual guide so that the guitar player can quickly locate where he or she is on the neck at any time.

    Or, to put it simply, they tell you which note you’re playing.

    These markers have been added to virtually every guitar neck (with the exception of classical guitars) since at least the 1950s. The first Fenders had them, as did the Gibsons of the time.

    But what is the history of these dots? Who invented them? And why are they in the positions they are?

    The history of fret markers

    As for the history of fret markers, it’s often said that they started with the electric guitar revolution in the 1950s. In fact, if you were to ask the big brands (Fender and Gibson), they would probably tell you the same.

    While it may be true that fret markers became standard during this time, they weren’t invented by Leo Fender or Ted McCarty. We know that to be true because there are extant examples of much older guitars with fret markers. The oldest known guitar with dots was built around 1805, in fact. (Here’s a similar one from 1850).

    Prior to this, guitars and other stringed instruments still featured inlay work on the fretboard, but it was strictly decoration and had no functional value.

    So we can say that fret markers were in use as early as 1805 and became commonplace at least by the 1950s, but as to exactly who created them or when they were first used, well, that fact has been lost to history.

    But there is another question to consider: Why are they located on certain frets and not others?

    Why the standard pattern is standard

    The standard pattern for the layout of fret markers is to put them on frets 3, 5, 7, 9, 12, 15, 17, 19, 21, and 24 (where available). But what was the reasoning behind making this the standard?

    First, it makes sense to mark the 12th fret — usually done with double dots — because that indicates the octave: the same note, just higher. From there, the pattern just repeats itself, so it makes sense to mark it.

    As for the reasoning behind the pattern itself, there is a bit of mystery here as well.

    Some have pointed out that the 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, and 12th frets, when playing the E string, are all notes of the C major scale. While this makes for a convenient answer, it’s only almost true. The 9th fret on the E string is actually a C#, which of course is not part of the C major scale.

    Others have suggested that the dots’ locations are a marriage of functionality and aesthetics. Because standard tuning is not symmetrical, no system of marking frets is going to work for every string. With that being the case, the tradition arose over time to mark certain frets (possibly based on the C major scale) but in a way that added “style points” to the guitar.

    That being said, not all guitars follow the “standard” pattern. Russian-made guitars, gypsy-style guitars, and banjos all mark the 10th fret instead, which is a D on the low E string (which is in the C major scale), thus choosing functionality over visuals, if the second explanation above is to be believed.

    Fret markers: form and function

    Not all guitars use dots for fret markers, either. There is actually quite a lot of variation across guitar makers and styles. Other common styles include rectangles, zig zags, crosses, half moons, and my personal favorite, birds (on PRS Guitars).

    Fret markers are a simple yet effective design on modern guitars. They help players orient themselves on the fretboard and find notes quickly, and they can add a bit of flair to make a guitar pop.

    And even though we may not know the story of their creation with certainty, they are certainly helpful for players and, when designed well, add to the beauty of the instrument.