What are fret position calculations for bass fretboards?
This table shows fret positions for bass fretboards calculated without taking string stretch into consideration. Please check Measurements and Calculations at the bottom of the chart.
| SCALE LENGTH | 35 | 34 | 33 | 32 | 31 | 30 | |
| fret no. | ratio (12th. root of 2) | nom. distance from nut | nom. distance from nut | nom. distance from nut | nom. distance from nut | nom. distance from nut | nom. distance from nut |
| 1 | 1.059463 | 1.964 | 1.908 | 1.852 | 1.796 | 1.740 | 1.684 |
| 2 | 1.122462 | 3.819 | 3.709 | 3.600 | 3.491 | 3.382 | 3.273 |
| 3 | 1.189207 | 5.569 | 5.410 | 5.250 | 5.091 | 4.932 | 4.773 |
| 4 | 1.259921 | 7.220 | 7.014 | 6.808 | 6.602 | 6.395 | 6.189 |
| 5 | 1.334840 | 8.780 | 8.529 | 8.278 | 8.027 | 7.776 | 7.525 |
| 6 | 1.414214 | 10.251 | 9.958 | 9.665 | 9.373 | 9.080 | 8.787 |
| 7 | 1.498307 | 11.640 | 11.308 | 10.975 | 10.643 | 10.310 | 9.977 |
| 8 | 1.587401 | 12.951 | 12.581 | 12.211 | 11.841 | 11.471 | 11.101 |
| 9 | 1.681793 | 14.189 | 13.783 | 13.378 | 12.973 | 12.567 | 12.162 |
| 10 | 1.781797 | 15.357 | 14.918 | 14.479 | 14.041 | 13.602 | 13.163 |
| 11 | 1.887749 | 16.459 | 15.989 | 15.519 | 15.049 | 14.578 | 14.108 |
| 12 | 2.000000 | 17.500 | 17.000 | 16.500 | 16.000 | 15.500 | 15.000 |
| 13 | 2.118926 | 18.482 | 17.954 | 17.426 | 16.898 | 16.370 | 15.842 |
| 14 | 2.244924 | 19.409 | 18.855 | 18.300 | 17.746 | 17.191 | 16.637 |
| 15 | 2.378414 | 20.284 | 19.705 | 19.125 | 18.546 | 17.966 | 17.387 |
| 16 | 2.519842 | 21.110 | 20.507 | 19.904 | 19.301 | 18.698 | 18.094 |
| 17 | 2.669680 | 21.890 | 21.264 | 20.639 | 20.014 | 19.388 | 18.763 |
| 18 | 2.828427 | 22.626 | 21.979 | 21.333 | 20.686 | 20.040 | 19.393 |
| 19 | 2.996614 | 23.320 | 22.654 | 21.988 | 21.321 | 20.655 | 19.989 |
| 20 | 3.174802 | 23.976 | 23.291 | 22.606 | 21.921 | 21.236 | 20.551 |
| 21 | 3.363586 | 24.594 | 23.892 | 23.189 | 22.486 | 21.784 | 21.081 |
| 22 | 3.563595 | 25.178 | 24.459 | 23.740 | 23.020 | 22.301 | 21.582 |
| 23 | 3.775497 | 25.730 | 24.995 | 24.259 | 23.524 | 22.789 | 22.054 |
| 24 | 4.000000 | 26.250 | 25.500 | 24.750 | 24.000 | 23.250 | 22.500 |
| 25 | 4.237852 | 26.741 | 25.977 | 25.213 | 24.449 | 23.685 | 22.921 |
| 26 | 4.489848 | 27.205 | 26.427 | 25.650 | 24.873 | 24.096 | 23.318 |
Measurements and Calculations
The table above shows fret positions for bass fretboards calculated without taking string stretch into consideration. When the strings are depressed at a given fret, they are stretched slightly. This makes the resulting note sharp. The position of the fret must be modified to make the fretted pitch accurate again.