Mon, 30 Nov 2009 20:57:20 -0800 "David Love" <davidlovepianos at comcast.net> > > I believe it's not possible to make a equally tempered fretted instrument. > I say that because even the best acoustic/classical guitars made require > slight adjustments to the tuning for different keys. The quality of the > intervals, especially thirds and sixths, simply don't quite remain the same > as you change keys and most guitarists will make tuning adjustments > depending on the key to compensate. I can't offer the scientific > explanation at this point. > David, I should note that the conception of what constitutes "equal" was quite different in previous centuries than how it is conceived in the piano tuning community today. A lute with parallel frets is "equal" enough. I don't believe that the sort of mathematical precision that we obsess about these days ever played much of a role with practical musicians. And in practice, musicians who can, always fudge pitch for various purposes during performance. So I wouldn't worry about it... Israel Stein
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