Do any of you guys simply gravitate to 22 fret guitars??

[strat63]

I prefer 22 (or 21) fret necks but still play CU24s. It always amazes me how much different the feel is going between them.

 

[Russ73]

That extra dot confuses me when I'm noodling up there....

 

[JMintzer]

You sound like one of those old guys - "Nothing good happens there. The only people who go above the 20th fret are the dregs of civilization - you know, sailors, drunkards, women of ill repute..."

Well, I'm not wrong...

 

[SamIV]

This seems very strange to me... I can't imagine selling the "best playing guitar I ever owned" because it has two extra frets, way up where if I don't like them I just don't go up there. What bothered you enough about them to make you sell the best playing guitar you ever owned?

I know, but just could not get accustomed to 24 frets. It just felt weird to play for some reason. But it was very easy to play at the same time. I owned a Schecter that felt the same and it went as well. I don’t regret it though, as much as some of the others I have let get away. Tried a couple CE-22’s but they did not play as well as it and as most of my 22 fret S2’s. The CE-22 in my avatar is gone. Fretboard edges were not rolled and it needed truss rod adjustment way more than the norm.

 

[Mozzi]

For me it is different. If I switch from by CU22 to my CU24, which I used to do at gigs, the neck feels slightly longer. I found that if I push the guitar a little to my right it was easier to adjust to it. I know the scale length is the same on them. I am not sure if the bridge is a little farther toward the front end of the guitar or what makes the neck feel a little longer but it is definitely something I notice when going straight from the CU22 to the CU24. I have a 22 fret Suhr as well as a 24 fret Suhr but they are not the same model and I don't think I have ever gone from one to the other. I don't take the 24 fret guitars out much. I had planned on selling all of them but have not made it around to doing that.

It is a slightly longer neck and the bridge/bridge pup is moved closer to the neck pup rather than move the neck pup deeper into the body and access being a bit more difficult to the 23/24frets. But the person who I was responding to had stated he found the 24 fret to be the the best playing guitar they owned and technically, the bridge is still exactly the same distance away from the frets due to the scale length - its just the body that is slightly further back as it joins at a higher fret.

There are differences between guitars - 25.5" scale has a longer neck than 24.5" in general and you have various other guitars that vary in length, shape etc but I'm still don't understand why, if something is the best playing guitar, having 2 extra frets makes such a difference you'd have to sell. They specifically stated they couldn't get used to 24 frets so sold it.

 

[JasonE]

Well, I'm not wrong...

Or maybe at your age you can't hear those notes to know they are not wrong or bad?

 

[JasonE]

It is a slightly longer neck and the bridge/bridge pup is moved closer to the neck pup rather than move the neck pup deeper into the body and access being a bit more difficult to the 23/24frets. But the person who I was responding to had stated he found the 24 fret to be the the best playing guitar they owned and technically, the bridge is still exactly the same distance away from the frets due to the scale length - its just the body that is slightly further back as it joins at a higher fret.

There are differences between guitars - 25.5" scale has a longer neck than 24.5" in general and you have various other guitars that vary in length, shape etc but I'm still don't understand why, if something is the best playing guitar, having 2 extra frets makes such a difference you'd have to sell. They specifically stated they couldn't get used to 24 frets so sold it.

I can definitely feel the extra length in the neck on mine. However, I feel it when I first pick the guitar up. After a few songs I have adjusted and moved on. I am fully aware of the different neck pickup position. That is another thing I don't love on 24 fret guitars. I don't seem to have an adjustment period to guitars with different scale length as long as they are 22 fret guitars.

 

[Maxime Bousquet]

I like everything ! It depends on the style of music, if I have to choose it's 24.

 

[Longneck Tenon]

Yup. As God intended.

 

[SamIV]

It is a slightly longer neck and the bridge/bridge pup is moved closer to the neck pup rather than move the neck pup deeper into the body and access being a bit more difficult to the 23/24frets. But the person who I was responding to had stated he found the 24 fret to be the the best playing guitar they owned and technically, the bridge is still exactly the same distance away from the frets due to the scale length - its just the body that is slightly further back as it joins at a higher fret.

There are differences between guitars - 25.5" scale has a longer neck than 24.5" in general and you have various other guitars that vary in length, shape etc but I'm still don't understand why, if something is the best playing guitar, having 2 extra frets makes such a difference you'd have to sell. They specifically stated they couldn't get used to 24 frets so sold it.

And that would be me. The guitar was built so well. Better than any of my other guitars, played so well, but I just couldn’t get the same out of it that my other guitars would give. And they were 22 fret guitars. It’s like I did not bond with it. I played with more feeling on other guitars if that makes any sense, and I sounded better. And
my favorite of all now is an S2 Singlecut Semi-Hollow that has finish chips, and lacquer delaminating from the side of the fretboard, but it just has that feel to it. And I had it when I had the CE-24. And it’s 22 frets. It’s home and to each his own opinion. Won’t hurt my feelings.

 

[Woodrow F Call]

I prefer 22 frets because it moves the neck pickup closer to the headstock and the neck pickup sounds a little sweeter that way.

Edit: I don't mind 24 fret guitars. Not a deal breaker, but I just prefer 22.

 

[tdroid]

Never something I've ever thought about or looked for, but every single one of my guitars has 22 frets (Yamaha PAC, 2x Epiphone LPs, Squier CV Starcaster, MIM Strat). It just turned out that way. I'm not sure if I'd miss that extra fret if I didn't have it, though. It's rare I use the two highest frets on the board.

 

[sergiodeblanc]

22 fret guitars are fine for rhythm players.

 

[Juan Luis Vidal]

I really love the look and feel of 24 fretters. In fact, I'm struggling so much with my brand new Tremonti Core just over the fact that it only has 22 frets...I try to convince myself that I barely go up there and that when needed I can move the position of the notes. But my head refuses to accept this new layout. And the feeling is definitely different.

21 frets? Is that a real thing??

 

[Rod/]

I had an S2 CU24 for a short time. Couldn’t get used to the neck feeling like it was further away from the body, sort of what an SG feels like, but not as bad… Traded it in on my Stripped 58 in my avatar. Best trade I ever made. Hence, all my PRS’s are 22 frets… well, xcept a Santana SE, but I never go beyond the 22nd fret With the 24 1/2” scale it’s like playing a mandolin when you get above the 18th fret anyway. . Does that count?

 

[Xtcclassic]

21 frets? Is that a real thing??

Absolutely. Vintage Fenders.

I definitely prefer 22 (or 21) fret guitars. I have no use for the extra frets and with PRS 24 frets usually means a wide/pattern thin neck which is an immediate deal-breaker for me.

 

[dogrocketp]

I prefer whatever is in my hands at the time, 22, 24, wide/fat, wide/thin, pattern, don’t care. They all sound different, which is a good excuse to have them all. I do believe that the 24 fretters feel more stiff, except my Johnny Hiland. I don’t know why that one is different. The only thing I really prefer is a 25” scale length, even though I have 24.5, and 25.25 on a DC3.

 

[vchizzle]

Yup. Although I have a song, that at its apex, the “24th fret” octave(I think) is where the climax is. While writing the part, I instinctively fret the note needed on the neck pickup. I have 2 PRS that I can do it on. I think the screw on the high E string on the neck pickup is up high enough that it sustains and is in tune. Who’d have thought?!?

 

[DISTORT6]

Yup. Although I have a song, that at its apex, the “24th fret” octave(I think) is where the climax is. While writing the part, I instinctively fret the note needed on the neck pickup. I have 2 PRS that I can do it on. I think the screw on the high E string on the neck pickup is up high enough that it sustains and is in tune. Who’d have thought?!?

Paul knew.

 

[shinksma]

I have 21, 22, and 24 fret electric guitars. Just a couple 21-fretters, IIRC.

22 fretter make up the majority primarily because that's where the variety of PRS models (and other builders) sit.

Rattling off what I can remember:

PRS has/had the Core, S2, and SE CU24 (with sub-variations thereof like the CU24-08), Core and SE Standard 24, Core P24 (CU24+Piezo), the US and SE CE24s, Core and SE Santanas, Brushstroke 24, SE Akerfeldt, SE Holcomb/SVN, SE CU24/7, SE Torero, Navarro (just a CU24 really), um...any others? EDIT: I guess the Johnny Hiland, though that is kinda just a CE24. And the Orianthi, though that was just an SE CU24 with bling, I suppose.

Of those, less than a dozen are still in production (including the "duplicate" models across the Core/S2/SE lines), less than two dozen ever made (possibly even counting the CU24 vs CU24-08 variations, and that's just electronics). Vs dozens & dozens of 22-fret models that are now in production or have ever existed.

I do like playing stuff up at the 23rd and 24th fret if the guitar is so equipped, but if I don't have those available, I don't wither and die. When I record lead breaks for my bandmates' songs they seem to prefer I stay below the 16th or 18th fret anyway. It's just metal-head me that wants to go explore 23 and 24.

I do concur that the placement of the pickups on 22 vs 24 fret guitars does obviously affect tone - try playing 5th fret harmonics with the neck pickup selected on a 22-fretter...