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Old 06-02-2019, 08:32 AM
gstring gstring is offline
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Default Fretboard Marker Dots

Do you use them and what do you use them for ?

daniel
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Old 06-02-2019, 09:03 AM
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Do you use them and what do you use them for ?

daniel
Fret board marker dots can be used for visual orientation if the player requires a little help in that area from time to time while learning a piece. They are also a traditional way of adorning the fret board with decorations and sometimes they follow a theme that is represented on other areas of the guitar.

I play many tunes that require a capo on different locations so I sort of turn them off in my mind most of the time.

I don't know what other use they would have other than decoration and orientation.
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Old 06-02-2019, 11:18 AM
stanron stanron is offline
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It depends on how much of the fretboard you use. If you stay within five frets of the nut or capo you won't need dots. When I played lead electric guitar dots helped me find positions all over the neck. When playing acoustic in a standing position it's the edge markers that are most useful. I can't see the actual fretboard unless I lean forward.
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Old 06-03-2019, 10:17 AM
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Do you use them and what do you use them for ?

daniel
Hi Daniel

Placemarkers…
a student told me once they didn't see the need for dots to help them keep track of where they are on the neck, and I mentioned that I teach arrangements eventually which are challenging enough to force one to keep track of where they are playing on the neck!

These days the dots are pretty uniform in location…frets 3, 5, 7, 9, 12, 15, 17, 19

Frets 15, 17, 19 are an octave higher than frets 3, 5, 7.

A couple of my guitars have double dots at frets 7 & 12 (all of them have double at 12th). You can occasionally find acoustic steel strings with no fret markers, and many classical guitars have none.

I once had a guitar without markers, so I added them to the bass edge of the neck so I could see them and keep track.



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Old 06-04-2019, 10:40 AM
SouthpawJeff SouthpawJeff is offline
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If your talking about dots on the face of the fretboard, I don’t use them as I can’t see them when I play.
The dots on the edge however I still need. Not for simple first position stuff, that’s pretty easy to get used to. But pieces where I go up the neck, and especially making jumps from say 1st position up to the 8th fret where the visual aid helps.

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Old 06-04-2019, 10:53 AM
guitararmy guitararmy is offline
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I have a hard time seeing the side fret markers on my guitars, and have grown quite dependent on the fretboard markers. On the few guitars I have that don't have them, I've stuck stickers on the fretboard (my favorite are the small numbers and letters that used to come with blank videocassettes)
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Old 06-04-2019, 11:48 AM
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Side dots help locate where your fingers need to land when your are moving your fretting hand around from place to place in multiple fret spaced jumps.
On the other hand they can throw you off if you occasionally use a capo on certain frets (most commonly perhaps on frets one or three).
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Old 06-06-2019, 08:25 AM
dkstott dkstott is offline
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It's considered blasphemy in the classical world, but I add side markers to all my nylon string guitars at 5, 7, 9, 12 & 15

You can get rub on marker at String by Mail. They're great for trying out where you want to add them before making a permanent decision

They sell them in several different styles.

https://www.stringsbymail.com/rosett...dots-7878.html
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Old 06-06-2019, 09:15 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SouthpawJeff View Post
If your talking about dots on the face of the fretboard, I don’t use them as I can’t see them when I play.
The dots on the edge however I still need. Not for simple first position stuff, that’s pretty easy to get used to. But pieces where I go up the neck, and especially making jumps from say 1st position up to the 8th fret where the visual aid helps.
This.
I don't see the markers on the fretboard face. The side dots give me visual confirmation of where I am, when moving up and down the neck.
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Old 06-06-2019, 11:20 AM
LyleGorch LyleGorch is offline
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Like the look of fretboard markers
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Old 06-07-2019, 09:45 AM
harpspitfire harpspitfire is offline
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mine were too small so dabbed some write-out over them, of course i could care less what i do to my guitar or what it looks like- i just want it to benefit me, so the larger marker dots are a great tool for me
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