Can you hear the difference between GUT and METAL frets?

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This one was so much fun to do! Thanks again Brandon!

Wind player's perspective here: The sustain change was noticeable right away, but there's one other part of the sound that stuck out to me - the articulation. The gut came across with a more percussive attack, the metal frets with a little more time spent in the course of the attack. In the wind world, we'd probably call the gut one kind of a "d" tongue, and the metal frets a short "th" tongue on the attack. (When wind players talk like this, we're just making comparisons from what our tongue is doing while playing to the way you'd speak these syllables.) I'm hearing two things contributing to that: The upper part of the sound of the actual string being plucked (finger slipping off the string) speaks from the metal-fret instrument more clearly, a quick little "sh" sound. Also, the high parts of the sound, which are more full on the metal-fret instrument, take a moment to settle in - this may be more in the hearing of the sound than the playing. Since guitar is a plucked string, it will have inharmonicity (like a piano or cimbalom) and the overtones, the higher they are, the further out of tune with the fundamental they are. My guess is that when the ear puts the sound back together, it takes a little bit longer to sort out these extra highs, and categorize them as of one sound. The ear naturally puts together harmonics and groups them up if they're all in the same series, but the brighter an inharmonic sound is (the more highs), the harder that would get, since the higher parts of the sound are further out of tune than the lower ones. Anyway, terribly glad to hear this excellent comparison, and thanks for making it happen!

Welcome to another installment of the Midwest Classical Guitar Cinematic Universe

I liked the mellow, slightly muted sound of the gut frets more during simple testing -- scales, quick chords -- but the musical piece made more sense to my ears with the metal frets. That's why it's so important to test the full range of what you play when testing out different guitars/strings/gear (and frets!). Something might sound better in isolation, but still end up wrong when used in context.

brandon always have positive vibe, really positive. Attitude, tonality, gesture, good player, teacher, educator, and always sharing, the set and editing also very good.

would be interesting see who a classical music sound like on a fretless guitar

You can do microtonal stuff if you place your own frets :)

i love the gut fretted guitar, full of intimacy, it is a kind of mystical. I can imagine that it does fell less comfortable. The smoothness of the sound is also a great depth, it has more three-dimensionality, plasticity. Fragil and lovely, difference like between a modern Steinway and a pre-war Bechsstein. These "old" sounds needs higher sensitivity, and could be that you confronted with wolf tones, the romantic repertoire definitely wins with these gut freds.

the metal fretted guitar has more "air" on the higher frequencies, more resonant and yes, has more singing factor. but for some reason, I love the sound of the gut fretted version. it sounds... organic for me.

If anybody sees this guy and is deeply confused because you recognize him but can't figure out where from; he's the luthier that so kindly guided Rob Scallon through building a guitar.

So THAT is how Carcassi #7 is supposed to sound! Gotta hit the books a little more on that one, oof!

There's nothing better than seeing both of you talk guitars :D

Being hispanic this reminds me of how vihuela(mexican vihuela not spanish)players and guitarra de golpe players actually do this quite commonly in now even in modern times

It definitely sounded more medieval with the gut frets. So even if this isn't designed for that, maybe it would be an option for someone trying to play more medieval pieces without having to learn the original instrument. Interesting either way and the explanation regarding the gut frets absorbing some of the energy made total sense.

Back in the 80s, a local luthier made a couple guitars he described as "primitive" guitars. I thought they looked like some kind of Latin American instrument one might have had made by a local craftsman rather than trained luthier. One had gut frets, the other had bone frets. Both had distinctive voices that were very much unlike a lute or modern classical guitar. I guess in some ways, they were instruments in search of a tradition. It's a pity the market doesn't really have much demand for such retro innovations. I don't know what happened to the instruments. I presume they're sitting in someone's collections somewhere. The luthier himself long since retired and would be quite old now, if he's even alive.

This Man is really a different kind of a Master of Classical Guitar!! 🔥👑

Super fun Video, and you two vibe so Well together!

honestly a really nice concept, it would be interesting to see gut frets on the entire guitar, for example designing a guitar with holes on the neck and the body specefically for movable frets

moving/adjusting the frets to get micro tones like on a fretless instrument like the oud would be really cool.