Why fingerboard marker at 10th fret?

bluesukeguy

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I see this asked many times. Not really any answer. Here's how I think. Early Martin ukuleles have a single marker at 5, double at 7, and single at 10. With the first string of a uke tuned to A, the double 7th marker tells you where to be in sync with the 12th fret of a guitar. The next marker of a guitar at that point is G, or three frets up. Hence 3 up from 7 is 10, and not a marker dot at 9th fret. The same holds for a mandolin and a mandola...
 
I don't know the 'why' of it but mandolin and banjo forums are also puzzled why guitars adopted 3-5-7-9 rather than 3-5-7-10 which is standard for banjos, mandolins and ukuleles.
 
I don't know the 'why' of it but mandolin and banjo forums are also puzzled why guitars adopted 3-5-7-9 rather than 3-5-7-10 which is standard for banjos, mandolins and ukuleles.

I always heard that the 3-5-7-9-12 markers were more for showing where harmonic intervals are on the fretboard. No idea whether that's true or not, but they do line up.
 
Pentatonic Minor Scale, aka Blues Scale
 
3 5 7 10 12 15 <- My preference. I'd also like it if more companies would use a double marker at the 7th fret as well as the 12th.

I know that it's annoying when I pick up my Ohana TK-35g and it has a 9th marker when all my others have a 10th. Eventually they changed the TK-35g and the new ones have one at the 10th fret now. Strange.

I've resorted to putting fretboard decals on my instruments with no markers, or with markers in places I don't like.
 
Hmmmm ... neither my mandolin nor my mandola had any fret markers when new, soon fixed that ;)

My balalaika has a fret marker on the second fret, then 5, 7, 10 and 12

My Antoria J200 clone guitar has a marker on the first fret !!

I get the impression there's an amount of style and fashion as well as practicality involved here ;)
 
The markers at the 5th, 7th and 12th frets make sense. They are the main harmonic points for the neck. 9th or 10th make little sense. 3rd, I'm not sure.
 
I just use the fret markers to locate a fret on a long slide (i.e. moving up or down several frets) at a glance. Other than that I don't think of them at all and try not to spend too much time looking at the neck at all.

John
 
Because decimal system? :confused:
 
I like the markers on top of the fretboard where I can see them. The ones on the front are just for looks.

It depends on your playstyle. I play with my instrument tilted back towards me quite a bit, or with my head leaned over towards the sound-hole (I like to hear it!) and I use fretboard markers constantly.
 
The markers at the 5th, 7th and 12th frets make sense. They are the main harmonic points for the neck. 9th or 10th make little sense. 3rd, I'm not sure.

9th fret is another harmonic interval, which is the same as the harmonics on the 4th fret. 3rd fret have harmonics an octave higher than the ones on the 7th fret.

10th fret has no harmonic content.
 
My model 1906 Curtiss Parlor Guitar has 10th fret marker. At some point in the early part of the last century guitars switched to 9th fret...further adding to this mystery of marker mayhem...
 
My balalaika has a fret marker on the second fret, then 5, 7, 10 and 12


My Balalaika has only 5 7 and 12...but I suspect that it is a bit ropey anyway.....
 
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