30-string Contra-Alto update, part 2
The 30-string Contra-Alto guitar has been through some transformative changes in the past year or so. I discussed some of the transitions in this blog post . Back in January, I dropped it off with my friend Laurent Brondel to do a fret level on the 18-string side. The 30 is now 14 years old, so it was time. Laurent does beautiful work, and is one of only about two or three people in the world I'd trust to work on one of my instruments. I picked it up from him this week. The frets were not only leveled, but also beautifully crowned. The crown is the top surface profile of the fret surface. Imagine in the fret side-view or cross-section that the top of the fret surface is arched or in a half-circle. That's how a fret should be crowned. In other words, not flat and squared-off on top, but perfectly arched and rounded. The proper crown accomplishes a few things: Improved intonation. Cleaner fretting in terms of sound and te...
