FretCalc

Musical instruments are precisely crafted to be easy to hold, master, and emit the right sound effects. Although it can get a little tricky to get all values right when building a musical instrument, there are computer applications to help out. For instance, FretCalc is the type of program to use to properly calculate the distance between frets.

Once installed, the application can be launched without having to go through a system restart. The interface is pretty intuitive, with a table layout on the side to clearly display frets and positions, as well as a separate section in which you provide the necessary input details.

Several details are required to have the table filled with appropriate values. The properties panel lets you write down the scale length in either inches, millimeters, or common. Needless to say that you also need to provide the number of frets, again with choices regarding dimensions used in measurement.

Calculation methods are decent, with the possibility to either pick from standard sets or customize the mode. In case you switch to dulcimer calculus mode, half frets become available for selection, with standard values to include in the process. All settings are shown in a dedicated panel to help obtain a preview before calculus.

At the press of a button, the appropriate table fills up with values based on input, displaying fret numbers, distance from nut to fret, as well as fret to fret. Unfortunately, there’s no built-in option with which to save the table to file, but you can turn the print function to your advantage by installing a virtual printer.

To sum it up, FretCalc is a precision application with the help of which to create frets for dedicated instruments without the risk of any errors. Although there’s no actual preview for better support, the table of results provides enough data to get you started.