True Temperament - Mattias Eklundh Guitar Lesson 

2:49 the intonation was so perfect, you could hear the major third ringing

That just blew my mind! 50 years of playing out of tune guitars. Like mortality, i'd just accepted that certain chords were out of tune and i biased the compromise towards my playing style. Isn't this thing called music the most amazing communal experience that just keeps growing!

perfect intonation almost makes it all sound like a synth -- I kinda like it

what a master of the harmonics and the whamy bar..

I'm annoyed at how much better this sounds than a regular guitar.

i didn’t realize how much of a difference this would make until I heard it and it sent shivers down my spine

It IS fucking divine!!!!! I had no idea. I have been playing for almost 40 years and complaining about the tuneing and or intonation of every guitar I've ever picked up. Thank God! I was beginning to think my eardrums were warped or something. I need more of this, much more!

This is without doubt one of the greatest guitar innovations ever

True Temperament is the best thing to happen to electric guitar since noice cancelling pickups. It’s amazing.

I've always struggled to get intonation just right. Never knew it was actually impossible.

I would like to see the process of crowning those frets

As a guitarist of nineteen years...this is like poetry to me. And he's a fellow swede, playing with swedish frets. Kinda awesome, I have to say.

And whole my life with my guitar never used was..... "I'm deaf!"... So, I tuned my guitar just for fun and just as I liked it... and I was sure I'm deaf and my guitar is broken... And today, after 20 years... :) I realised I was right and my guitar is good... Damn it! :) Thank you! All the best! :)

It almost scares me how in tune it is.

Sigh, those harmonics are dreamy

you have no idea how happy this makes me. it just sounds so beautiful

It's cool, but doesn't that just all go out of the window as soon as you change the tuning?

The imperfect intonation gives guitars human like voice qualities thus adding soul to music, this sounds more like a synth .

correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't intonation depend on the gauge of the strings? if so, then putting on a different gauge would screw up the intonation again

Awesome harmonics and squeals and all. Now do a bend.

it kind of looks like it would make bends unpredictable.

That is the coolest HEADSTOCK I believe I have ever seen. Gorgeous axe!

3:56 yes

Been playing professionally for 15 years, and I always hated the fact that when i play a harmonic and fret together there is a dissonance there. I never realised anyone has corrected this! Thank you for this video

Not rubbish as he shows factual information, however part of the fun of guitar is the magic of your fingers and how you apply pressure to the chords to create your own intonation. Perhaps he has perfect pressure throughout his left digits electing the need for such mathematics. I on the other hand delight in knowing I and my instrument are as closely related as possible and we together are like a cat on a fence, waiting for each other to slip and to see how we can recover together and make things work. I love IA and his inspired translation of the instrument. God bless and inspire!

I get this is the style the neo-classical ultra-precise guitar players want, but for me; imperfection is a part of the magic and humanity of rock and roll guitar.

But... if you play in a band with a piano, a bass and another guitarrist, Wouldn´t you be the one that is "out of tune"?

I've a real hard time playing any of my guitars anymore.. one day they just stopped sounding in tune and it really annoys my ears. I'm thankful there's a solution! Also, when you were speaking between the chords 'professionally', I was cracking up over here!

I find the disonance quite pleasing

Si las cosas nacen mal desde un primer momento no importa que sea en nombre del arte, están mal y hay que corregirlas. Lo realmente artístico es el ser humano detrás del instrumento. Voto por esta guitarra.

So if this makes your guitar intonate equal temperament better, why demonstrate all the harmonics? Mathematically, unless harmonics are octaves of the note, they will not be 100% in tune with an equal temperament note. You could theoretically fret the guitar so it's in tune with the harmonics, but it would only be effective in one key. Unless it's a fretless guitar.

I'm playing in open D major all the time. I find if I tune for sustain (first harmonic can be heard) then the intonation is pretty good. I think standard tuning is part of the problem. I also like the effect of sympathetic harmonics coming out as I play.

I'm not very educated on intonations, but should it have the same / similar effect if the nut shape was changed instead of the frets

Liked and subbed. What a fun energy this man brings to the topic of the joy of being able to play in tune in ways we can't with a standard guitar. BTW folks, I came here from Tolgahan Çoğulu's channel. Highly recommend you all to check it out - he's not a rock player but he's an absolute beast classical player and he plays music from many cultures that you're probably not familiar with which are going to blow your hair back. The rabbit hole of tuning is deep, friends. Happy listening.

Dude wtf......how are those harmonics happening?

Agora eu entendi. Isso é o que acontece quando você entrega uma guitarra para um afinador de pianos. Essa guitarra continua no sistema temperado, a única diferença é que, assim como fazem os afinadores de piano, cada nota é afinada individualmente com aparelhos eletrônicos que não medem apenas a frequência da nota, mas também sua intonação para corrigir a desarmonia (efeito no qual a frequencia medida das notas não corrsponde ao som percebido) própria dos intrumentos de corda. "To attain optimal intonation possibilities when applying a specific temperament on a string instrument of the type described, all of the note positions on the instrument's fretboard must normally be corrected. Manufacturing of the device according to the invention demands thereby that the note at every note position on the fretboard be monitored, suitably with a microphone, and its frequency measured. This requires sensitive measuring equipment, for example a frequency counter or stroboscope tuner. Auditory monitoring can of course also be used." Para que isso seja possível na guitarra é necessário trocar as cordas por um modelo de cordas comprimidas com fibra de vidro, por isso a guitarra apresenta maior sustain e estabilidade na afinação. "The invention also relates to strings for string instruments comprised of a glass-metal material. These strings have very long sustain, and due to this material's unique combination of strength and flexibility these strings show superior durability and intonation characteristics." Então não se trata de uma afinação perfeita, assim como acontece no piano, a afinação permanece no sistema temperado e mantém uma ligeira desafinação das notas quando comparado à instrumentos não temperados, mas ainda assim pretende oferecer uma afinação superior a das guitarras tradicionais, sob o custo de impossibilitar bends e ficar preso a compra de cordas de modelo específico dessa marca. Citações retiradas da patente deles: www.google.com/patents/US7728210

So are these frets calibrated for only one type of tuning (Say E standard)? Or can you tune your guitar in any way you want (Drop C, Open D, etc) without having to change the positions of the frets?

Amazing. It sounds so true! You realize you've spoiled my ears for all other guitars...

2:02 I JUMPED

This is how a piano is tuned :) same principle - temperament tuning! This sounds amazing!

Okay, that's impressive. But you should not create the impression that "true temperament" tuning is the final word - perfect tuning (having flawless intervalls in *every* possible combination of single notes) is *mathematically impossible*; hence the existence of two different tuning systems side by side in classical music without a clear "winner" in this competition. It is just about at what you are willing to compromise about; you always have to sacrifice one aspect for the other.

I'm amazed at the true temperament frets of course but jeez, the PLAYING!!!! Mattias is a freak. (Kitchen).

Warning to all, alternate tunings are tuned to make certain keys sound better. In this case, it's actually made to make first string base not chords sound better, so you'll notice he didn't play anything but first string major shapes... there's a reason for that. He didn't play a g chord (the most prominent chord in all of guitar) He didn't play a c-chord (The most prominent key in all of classical music) He didn't play anything in A minor, D minor, etc... Unfortunately, this is simply an unsolvable problem. Take the C# on your 5th string for instance. If you use your open 1st string (E) at the node NEAR the 4th fret on a standard guitar, you will find that it's 10 cents off... how annoying. But if you move the fret 10 cents flat to fix it... make no mistake, the note will sound better. Happy day for you. :) BUT... if you play anything in any other key that calls for a c#, you will find that the c# is not in tune with those things. So... this isn't to say that a guitar like this is useless... it's not. It's a nice thing to have if you often do certain harmonic tricks like he demonstrated... but just know that when you shut a door in God's face, he'll open a window and let out the air conditioning out. The most VERSATILE setup... is the one you already have on a standard fretted guitar. It's not perfect, but at least every single fret is concert pitch.

I see I'm years late to this party but I just learned about these frets. I always thought it was just me and that I wasn't any good at setting intonation on my guitar; now I understand that it's a physics issue and why these true temperament frets are the solution. Oh, sure, guitars sounded good for centuries without this but even my terrible ears were able to appreciate the beautiful result of these frets. It reminds me of why we finally gave in and bought an LCD TV years ago. My argument was that there was never any problem with my 25" CRT TV. But this is like Blue-Ray compared to that 25". Just because we didn't know how bad the picture was, or at least how good it might be, didn't mean there was nothing wrong with it.

I like the fact this is comment number 440

I thought about the 3rd. Those frets are designed so that the major 3rds (that we do between the 4th and 3rd strings) sound almost like a natural 3rd (the mayor 3ds in 12EDO slightly "sharper" than a natural 3rd, that's why they "beat" in a correct tuned piano) But what happens if I do other intervals with that G string? a fifth (between the 4th and 3rd string) will be "narrower" than a 12EDO 5th (and even smaller than a natural 5th (3/2 in Pythagorean tuning)) What about a fourth (between 4th string and 3rd string)?? will also be "smaller" than a perfect 4th in 12EDO. A 6th? Correct me if I'm wrong, but those frets only work with the first positions of the basic chords. With other positions/intervals (chord inversions, intervals longer than a 3rd ( those that include the G string of course)) important intonation mismatches will be noticed.

Close is good enough for me. I don't need perfect

I almost quit playing guitar because no matter how I tuned my guitar, no matter how perfectly I have intonated it, my ears still telling me it is out of tune. Im kindda frustrated, but thank God I found this video, now I know guitars cant be tuned perfectly.

So when you bring that guitar to band practice, you’ll be the only one that will sound off lol

Even as someone who just plays cause i like to I noticed a huge difference in quality from my lp! It sounds amazing! I wanna do this to my epi now!

I think there is a reason why frets have been straight for 500 years ;-) but keep exploring, if you have the time and money

Oh my gosh, I NEED that guitar. It is like balm in Gilead for my ears!

He would be the kind of guy to use the tremolo to demonstrate a guitar instead of just using a pick.

Truly is divine! Thanks MusicOff and Mattias!

2:02

How does his whammy harmonics ring so clearly and sustain that long despite being on a clean sounding channel? He's barely using any gain.

I find this really amazing on the engineering side, but in the same breath it makes it have less life to me. Idk why. I feel the same with anything that's too perfect. Life isn't perfect and art imitates life. Again, the engineering of this is superb and downright genius. Given the opportunity to switch over though, I'd still pick my "out of tune" Tele and J45.

I just go with the sound the guitar makes I love it

In all my years of playing I have never heard of this guy. Quite a capable player. And the guitar sounds great! Gonna have to do some more research on true-temperament guitars.

Hello, is it possible to change mode with true temperament frets ? I mean the note that are common to different mode (with equal temperament) won't be the same with true temperament, right ? exemple: the E of C major is not the same than the E of A major. does the guitar need to be tuned specifically according to the desired key ?

Must be shitty to actually have such good hearing. Personally, I like my shitty guitars with the terrible action. It's bluesy, it's rock and roll.

I LOOOOVE the idea but what gives the beauty of the squeals to me is the micro contrast between the note and the harmonic

This reminds me of when Rick made a truly flat surface for Morty and then he started freaking out when he was taken out. I didn't realize how imperfect my guitars were.

My body even relaxes when listening to this tuning perfection.

1:20 do you know what is scaring the shit out of me? that the automatic english subtitles generator of youtube is taking all the words correctly with no mistakes... The end is near boys and girls!

That sustain is KILLER

I get the appeal but it's too perfect for me. When you hear a choir singing, the reason it sounds so huge and full is because no one is on the exact same pitch. They are hitting all the right notes (if all goes well) but aren't perfect to every cent. They might be ten cents off, maybe less or maybe more. If they were all hitting the exact same pitches for each note it would be loud, but it wouldn't sound any bigger than a lone trumpet player. There are so many different factors that control intonation, such as string thickness and the relative thickness of the strings you're using, the age of strings (we all know old strings don;t stay in tune well), how hard you press on the fret board and where you press, vibrato, the composition of your strings and plectrum (or lack thereof if using fingers), and that lovely thing called the weather. If you use this in a band, everyone else is going to have to be perfectly on pitch for it to have any effect. The bass player would have to have a true temperament fretboard too, and that's going to be just about impossible considering the strings basses have. And if they're playing an upright bass or a fretless bass (which they very well could be, seeing as I can see a lot of jazz and metal guitarists liking these) it's going to sound way off. That's just one musician out of the whole band though, everyone else would also have to have perfect pitch, which realistically will never happen. It would only ever sound really good if you were a solo guitar player, or someone like Stanley Jordan, where the guitar is the only lead instrument and everything else is kinda backing it up. It also essentially renders the chorus pedal a redundant tool, seeing as chorus just splits the audio and delays one section of the signal, so it sounds slightly out of time and pitch. Which isn't a big deal, I just love the sound of a good chorus pedal. Last reason is that we're all so used to the sound of a regular guitar with barred frets, and as you said, it's been that way for hundreds of years. I think if it was such a huge deal someone would have fixed it along the line, and if it isn't broken don't try and fix it. To me this is an experiment for a mathematician, not a musician. It sounds amazing on its own, I'd definitely consider using it for writing and playing at home, but never in a band and never for a gig. I can't imagine it cutting through or fitting in with the rest of the band.

my ears love this.... this is guitar paradise! I want one

One guitar would be necessary for each key for this to work correctly. Fretted stringed instruments and pianos are tuned at a compromise to cover all keys and the modes equally.

This is why I switched to fretless (bass) years ago.

Honestly, when you first play the bar chords up and down, they simply do not sound 'better' than other guitars that are 'in tune' and set up well. One thing I've always had is great ears. And of course it's impossible to tune a guitar, or anything, 'perfectly'. But those bar chords sound just as good as, well, anyone's who is a decent handler of the thing.

If l wanna have my Custom done, how much would that cost me? Where do you live? Also, once l have the fret channels, are you able to “relocate the NEW channels for the new frets”, or it’s a pain?...

I will stick to playing my old geetar the old way...the millions of concerts that have been played the old way, all those recordings the old way...and all that music who would have thought the guitars were not true from 1 to 22..

do these work with all different tunings? if you're downtuned and the strings have more slack, would the harmonics still same in the same spot?

Maybe his friend should come up with a better hair conditioner for him as well?

Jeez, I need to pick myself up one of these, ever since I became a pianist with equal temperament keys, my guitar never sounded good to me again

press 5, you're welcome

My ears are pleased.

400 years ago they had moveable frets made from guts.

Straight frets are equal temperament. Putting individual frets in each string is well temperament. So how do you install individual frets in each string? Are there metal patches that you can easily stick in the finger board?

NOTICE he's only playing in the shape of E? You'd need a guitar equally tempered for every chord shape

So is this just trying to do just intonation tuning, in which case how do you deal with key changes, the whole reason people switch to equal temperament, is because you would need a different set of notes for ever key you wanted to play in. Or is this something specific to just guitars?

now do a bend :D

possibly a ridiculous question so apologies in advance because this is all brand new to me, but would a microtonal true temperament guitar work?

It sounds AMAZING, BUT you'd need a guitar for each key.

If you use alternate tunings does the temperament get fucked up

The chords sound nice but I kinda like the dissonance that equal temperament adds

Calling it “true temperament” is kind of confusing because he speaks about just intonation tuning, right?

If a normal guitar is good enough for jimi hendrix, its good enough for me too

Is this closer to just intonation.. With a slightly flatter major third/sixth on most chords and maybe a slighty sharper minor third and minor sixth??

Still working of affording a decent guitar so these frets are still far away for me, but I get why these will be really helpful. A guitar that has good tone AND is in perfect tune can really inspire the player. They are easier to play, practice and compose on too.

Hi, I would like to know how I could get to try a guitar with these frets or if someone is making them available or even if a guitar maker is fitting them to any available models please ?

Can enybody tell if string bending up to 3-4 semitones doesn't sound weird on such frets? Can you still be accurate with your bends?

So, I would assume these frets are tempered to 12 tone equal temperament rather than something more consonant? How does it handle dropping a semitone?

Does this mean you can tune your guitar to perfect fourths now? or is this based off of the equal tempered pitches of the open strings?

Do they make true temperament necks for alternate tunings and different string gauges? I imagine trying to tune down or tune to drop D would mess things up quite a bit?

I always thought I was just tone deff or crazy!!! my mind is blown

The most common problem is the G string, particularly on classical guitars, which due to its relative thickness and lower tension compared with other strings, nearly always has to be set flat in order to avoid gross sharpness when played as a major third higher up. But this can be somewhat compensated for by inserting a small fret at the G string below the nut. That makes open G sharper so you can then flatten it for the open G and it won't go so sharp when fingering higher. The goal should be to at least match the equal temperament tuning of a piano, but of course the piano sounds more acceptable because it has richer overtones on the lower notes. Richer overtones somewhat hides the anomolies in tuning better than most guitars. That is why a guitar with overdrive or distortion can sound acceptably in tune while a plain, unamplified guitar is perceived to be almost untunable unless you re-tune for a given piece.

Damn. On 5 guitars I always re-tune the G and B string, depending on what chords or notes I play and depending if solo or rythm, or depending at which fret I play. I got used to the imperfection, but it sometimes can be annoying indeed.

BEAUTIFUL TONE!