Thanks for all the good feedback and yes on my 25” V.S.L it's a bit of a stretch for the 1-2-4 chord for me on my 25” diatonic. I can do it but it's definitely uncomfortable. I need to practice stretching more.Okay that answers my question thanks. Don't know if I'm ready for a chromatic. I’m just playing with the idea at this point maybe I'll stick with what I have
chromatic V.S.L.
I have, and prefer, chromatics. The one I use the most has 23" VSL.
If you can play on a 25" VSL diatonic, you can play a 25" chromatic. The frets are the same distance apart, just some are missing on the diatonic. It should not be a problem unless you play up the scale alot, eg. frets above 10 on a 25" VSL
It would probably help understand this by comparing fret spacing between different VSL at the 'tight' end. There's really not much of a difference until the VSL's are significantly different.
This is a good calculator for comparing.
Jon, the only answer I can offer is "kinda, sorta, not really, maybe." This is all a matter of preference.
Yes, the frets themselves get smaller on a chromatic and for playing higher up the neck, we might want a longer VSL to enable our Fred Flintstone-like chubby fingers to get in there to fret the strings.
However, the challenges of stretching to reach chords--the reason many of us prefer shorter VSLs--does not go away. I think of the 1-2-4 A chord in a DAd tuning as the test case. Can you comfortably fret that chord? On my 25" dulcimer, it is very comfortable, and I can even move my thumb up to the 5th fret for melody notes while still holding down the 1 on the bass and 2 on the middle. On my 27" dulcimer, I can fret the 1-2-4 chord, but it is a bit of a stretch, and I can't get up to that 5th fret with my thumb. That issue is the same whether the fretboard is diatonic or chromatic.
The muscles in our fingers do indeed stretch over time, but your comfort level fretting chords is largely a function of the size of your hand, so there is no universal "ideal" VSL.
In order to maximize your ability to finger chromatic frets higher up the fretboard, I would suggest you determine the longest VSL that allows you to fret that 1-2-4 chord comfortably.
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Dusty T., Northern California
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As a musician, you have to keep one foot back in the past and one foot forward into the future.
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Hi kids. Just me Jon again. I have a question about chromatic V.S.L. I know that the trend with the diatonic set-up is to go with a 25 inch V.S.L to make it easier for reaching the frets. So following that logic I would think with the chromatic you would want the maximum V.S.L Since there are so many extra frets The longer V.S.L is better in order to make the spacing of the frets further apart?. I guess I'm asking what is the ideal V.S.L for a chromatic setup anybody out there with any ideas Like all ways THANK
