Fret Position Calculations

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 35.000 34.000 33.000 32.000 31.000 30.000
fret number 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.
To see the measurements and calculations involved please click here Measurements and Calculations