Multiscale (Fanned-Fret) Fretboards: What They’re For, and What They’re Not

Multiscale fretboards (often called fanned frets) are showing up everywhere in modern metal, prog, and extended-range guitars and basses. They look like a radical new invention, but the concept is old—Renaissance-era wire-strung instruments like the orpharion and bandora already used a scalloped fretboard and effectively different string lengths from treble to bass.

This post is meant to cut through the marketing and explain what multiscale is actually doing, what problems it solves, and what it doesn’t magically fix.

What a multiscale fretboard is (in plain terms)

A multiscale fretboard uses different scale lengths for different strings. The bass side is longer; the treble side is shorter. The frets “fan” to connect those different vibrating lengths into one playable layout.

So if a guitar is listed as 27"–25", that typically means:

• the low string side (bass) is ~27"

• the high string side (treble) is ~25"

Strings in between end up with their own in-between scale lengths.

What multiscale is for

1) Tension balance (the real headline)

For a given tuning and string gauge, longer scale = higher tension (all else equal). That’s why baritone guitars exist in the first place.

Multiscale lets you do this selectively:

• Longer bass scale helps low strings stay tighter and clearer.

• Shorter treble scale keeps high strings from feeling overly stiff and can keep the top end from getting ice-picky.

2) More predictable low-string behavior (often described as “better intonation”)

Marketing loves to say multiscale “fixes intonation.” Reality:

• It does not replace accurate fret placement, setup, or saddle compensation.

• What it can do is make very low strings behave more predictably (less flub, less weirdness from stiffness/inharmonicity), which can help intonation land in a less-compromised place in real playing.

3) A design tool for extended range

Once you go 7/8/9 strings (or very low tunings), a single scale length becomes a compromise either way:

• long enough for the low string usually makes the highs feel tight and harsh

• short enough for the highs makes the lows floppy

Multiscale is simply a cleaner way to manage that compromise.

What multiscale is NOT

1) It’s not automatically “more ergonomic”

Some players find the fan lines up with their wrist angles in certain positions. Others find it awkward—especially near the nut on aggressive fans, or if they’re deeply habituated to parallel frets.

Also, it’s objectively false to claim ergonomics has nothing to do with it in modern usage—many proponents and builders explicitly market comfort/hand-angle benefits, and there’s even published discussion framing multiscale as an ergonomic innovation.

The accurate version is:

• Primary effect: tension/response balance across strings

• Ergonomics: subjective, design-dependent, and not guaranteed

2) It’s not a shortcut past good design and setup

Multiscale doesn’t rescue:

• bad fretwork

• poor nut slotting

• unstable trem systems

• sloppy saddle placement/compensation

• inappropriate string choice for the tuning

3) It’s not inherently “better”

It’s a trade. You get a more optimized tension map, and in exchange you accept:

• a learning curve (usually mild, sometimes not)

• chord shapes that look different (even if they finger similarly)

• design choices that can be great or terrible depending on execution

How multiscale is laid out (the parts consumers should understand)

The two reference scale lengths

Multiscale layouts are usually defined by two scales:

• bass-side scale length

• treble-side scale length

Everything else is interpolated between those two lines.

The “perpendicular” (neutral) fret

There is typically one fret that’s perpendicular to the centerline—often called the neutral fret. That’s the point where the instrument briefly feels most “normal.” From there, the frets fan in opposite directions.

You can slide the fan forward or backward

If you keep the same two scale lengths but slide them relative to each other, you move where the neutral fret lands:

• closer to the nut

• mid-neck

• closer to the bridge

Yes, you can place the neutral fret essentially anywhere, and you could push it beyond nut/bridge geometrically—but in normal guitar building there’s rarely a practical reason to do that. (It’s usually just making the layout harder with no payoff.)

The buyer advice that actually matters

Multiscale is confusing for consumers because two instruments can share the same published scale numbers and still feel wildly different.

Before buying, you want to know:

1. What tuning is this multiscale optimized for?

2. What string gauges does the builder expect?

3. Where is the neutral fret and why?

4. How extreme is the fan at the first fret? (this is where people bounce off)

5. Is this design serving function—or serving a spec-sheet trend?

And yes: try before you buy if you can. Multiscale isn’t automatically hard, but specific implementations can be.

The Bezard Multiscale Philosophy

In my own guitars, multiscale is applied with a simple, testable philosophy: with a readily available string set, is the bass side too loose or the treble side too tight? That’s the first question. From there, the design goal is straightforward—only lengthen the bass side or shorten the treble side where it’s practically needed, and only by as much as the problem demands. I’m not interested in pushing the fan farther “because multiscale.”

Finally, once the scale lengths are set, I make a deliberate comfort choice: I aim to place the neutral (perpendicular) fret relatively close to the nut. That keeps the upper register—the far end of the fretboard where a lot of lead work and high-position chord voicings live—feeling familiar and intuitive, while still getting the tension and response benefits where they matter most.