Looking for info on Novax guitars

[Stephen Landry]

I've had a recurring interest in the fanned fret concept for years now. I checked out the past threads on Novax guitars and fanned frets in general, but was looking to see what other info was out there. Is the intonation better than with a regular guitar? Does the tension feel more even across the strings? Is it, as someone in a past thread said, harder to chord, or to play higher up the neck? Do fanned fret guitars have a different tonal "vibe"?

What about Novax guitars in general? Are they well built, etc? The designs are a little odd compared to tradition - how do they feel, sound, etc? I'm really drawn to the semihollow expression (mahogany w/ spruce top), maybe with the extended range neck.

Thanks in advance for any info you can give?

[Stephen Landry]

Gonna bump this once just in case anyone has some comments, or even just some comments related to my questions about fanned frets in general.

Thanks!

[olectric]

Hey Stephen--

I used to have a Charlie Hunter Novax 8 string guitar. It was a total blast to play; I got to the point of being able to walk bass lines and play chords behind them. I sold it because I wanted some other guitars, and I just didn't have the hours to put in trying to master an entirely new instrument (I was in grad school).

Regarding the fanned frets, they're awkward if you watch your left hand a lot, but they feel just fine if you don't look. The intonation is supposed to be incredible due to the independent scale lengths per string. All my current guitars are Feitenized Andersons, and I didn't really notice a superior intonation with the Novax. The tension on the guitar strings was very low...I think the high E's scale length was a little over 23".

Novaxes are pretty cool, and I think they sound great, but over $3k for a minimally-featured instrument is too much for me to want another one. I've never played a 6 string Novax or a guitar retrofitted with a Novax neck. BTW, I got the CH used for $2k. Hope this helps!

--Justin

[Sam Evans]

I bought a replacement neck and built a "Tele" (now my only guitar) around it. I think the necks are a little expensive, but I loved the results so much I sold my other single-scale instruments. For me, it's not an intonation issue, but a huge increase in what I percieve to be clarity. Note seperation is heightened and close intervals sound much more distinct. All this is anecdotal. I have no way to quantify my impressions.

I've played a CH, and thought it was very well built. I could not find any obvious flaws, but I didn't own the instrument. Ralph and Bill are customer oriented. They've helped me many times with neck installation questions, and they've been quick with quotes. I wouldn't hesitate to have Ralph build a custom instrument for me. My only hold up is Saul Koll. He does great work as well and is quite a bit less expensive. I've narrowed it down to these two for my 7-string. Stupid dilemas.

Call Ralph or Bill. They're busy, but they truly do want you to be happy and get EXACTLY what you want.

SE

[Strung Up]

I can't answer all of your questions, as I only played one unplugged several years ago, but I can say that they're EXTREMELY well-built. Definite a cut above 'regional' builder quality with regards to woods, fit, finish. No visible flaws or fixed mistakes. Don't recall tension, intonation was good to excellent, chording was, if anything, easier than the 25.5" scale that I have on everything. The mixed scale length definitely seemed to solve the problem of getting non-flubby bass register without getting strident upper register for 'jazzy' chords.
At the time, the kicker for me was that if you bent notes below a certain position on the neck by pushing towards the bass side, the note goes flat instead of sharp. Too much for my little pea-brain at the time.

[Sam Evans]

I haven't noticed the upper register notes going flat on bends. I'll check and see if my guit does it. The angle of the frets is much less severe down there though. I'll report back.

[Strung Up]

LOWER register notes go flat when you bend by pushing towards the bass side.

[Sam Evans]

I haven't noticed it on either end of the neck while pushing up. I'm not doubting your experience, just relaying mine.

[olectric]

Originally Posted by Strung Up

LOWER register notes go flat when you bend by pushing towards the bass side.

Sorry, I don't understand how a string goes flat when you increase the tension on it (i.e., bend it). Bending a string any direction results in an increase in tension, so the pitch goes up. Maybe I'm just :NUTS, but I'm not understanding you here.

[Stephen Landry]

Thanks for the info. Is bending or jazz chording "weird" or more difficult on a fanned fret guitar? I guess one of my concerns is whether any techniques or anything like that are more difficult or unusable . . . do things get cramped up top?

[Strung Up]

Originally Posted by olectric

Sorry, I don't understand how a string goes flat when you increase the tension on it (i.e., bend it). Bending a string any direction results in an increase in tension, so the pitch goes up. Maybe I'm just :NUTS, but I'm not understanding you here.

Pitch is a function of string mass, tension, and length.
Way smarter minds than I have the exact formulae and variations for this as it applies to stringed instruments. (Charles Tauber, for one, if I recall.)

Mass stays the same.
Bending on a regular fret guitar changes tension, and string length is only slightly longer.
On lower register positions on a fanned fret guitar, if you're bending towards the bass side, you're bending into a longer scale length, and thereby increasing the string length. Look at a Novax, and you get the idea.

There's probably some string guages (=mass in the above) where this has no or minimal effect, but on the guitar I played, I bent a C on the G string 5th fret towards the low E string, and the pitch went down.

[olectric]

Originally Posted by Strung Up

On lower register positions on a fanned fret guitar, if you're bending towards the bass side, you're bending into a longer scale length, and thereby increasing the string length.

Yeah, that would be a problem. I see what you're saying now. :AOK I never had that issue on my Novax CH because I never got to bend strings...it was more of a comping instrument (unless you're a mad wizard like Charlie Hunter).

[Sam Evans]

Seems logical, Strung Up. Maybe the increased tension is able to overcome the increase in scale length enough to get you into the needed pitch.

[snarkle]

I bought a Novax-necked Klein Electric a couple of years ago—mostly because at under $2K Canadian it seemed like a huge bargain, and I do like a deal. At the time, I thought the fanned frets might trip me up, but it took virtually no time to adjust to them and I've come to love the way the guitar sounds more in tune than almost anything else I've played. The idea of having more tension on the bass strings and less on the treble also works for me—especially as I use a few slack-key-style tunings. The low E goes down to C quite comfortably.

I've played a couple of non-Klein Novax guitars and noticed the same thing with them...definitely worth checking out if you're after better intonation and a more "open" sound.

[Luke]

While the idea of string the Novax more similarly to a piano is appealing, other options exist for guitar such as the Feiten system and the newer Earvana yielding similar results in pitch correction.

I have owned two Novax guitars, both were built very well. If you look at your left hand it will play trick on your brain.

Ultimately the benefit of the fanned frets is the merging of a Fender and Gibson scale length if you so desire. Ralph wanted tension and response of the lower strings of a Fender's 25.5" scale length and the lower tension of the higher three strings similar to a Gibson's 24.75" scale length. Of course a PRS basically solves the same issue at 25" scale length.

In a nutshell, the low E and A strings sound very Fendery. The D and the G sound PRSish. And the B and high E sound Gibson like. If that is your idea of perfect tone, it's available.

If you just seek better intonation, buy an Earvana nut for $40.00.

Of course you can alter your tensions similarly by simply altering string gauges, buying a bottom heavy set that instead of being 10~46 is 10~54.