Music & Techniques by Chris Vaisvil

Conversion of 12 equal acoustic guitar to 18 notes per octave

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before the refret

after the refret

I purchased a Woods by Samick DW-15 acoustic guitar for $50 at the local Guitar Center. After some discussion with my friends on the tuning list I decided to go with 18 edo which is a tuning I’ve used before on keyboards and liked. As opposed to me 11 EDO stick this was done with “real” hardware – fret wire and purchased fret saw. The process is well documented with commentary on my Facebook page which in theory can be accessed here:

Part 1 – removing frets
Part 2 cutting new slots and re fretting
Part 3 – usable guitar

When I was done I made 3 pieces of music for show and tell using a Dean Markley soundhole pickup. I personally like the flippertronics one best.

Acoustic 18edo with loop station

ole style metal with drum loop

faux flippertronics with ebow on acoustic

Comments

2 responses to “Conversion of 12 equal acoustic guitar to 18 notes per octave”

  1. admin

    Hi Bill, 18 edo is an abbreviation for equal division of the octave – thus the tuning you are used to could be said to be 12 edo or 12 equal divisions of the octave. As to the logic – 12 equal divisions of the octave is a relatively new invention of western European tradition. While it imparts the ability to modulate freely, it does this at the expense of making the tuning of thirds far from Just Intonation. Other equal divisions allows for the same modulation freedom but use intervals that cannot be found in 12 equal. Some people like that sort of think just like some people prefer food or colors. Its all personal preference that is difficult to follow because of the dominance of 12 equal instruments. So people like myself resort to commissioning or building instruments myself with different tuning. Have a good day!

  2. Bill Kibby-Johnson

    My training in tuing and musical acoustics leaves asking what you could mean by “18EDO”? I have not come across this term or abbreviation in half a century, is it a new term? I ask because I have come across a piano with 18 notes per octave, and am struggling to understand the logic behind it.

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