Hi fam,

I recently picked up a new (used) guitar that I’ve been hunting down for over 16 years. It’s a 22-fret guitar, and the guitar that it is replacing is the exact same, but it has 24 frets.

I figured this would be a good opportunity to do a video on the differences between 24 and 22-fret guitars. There is a quick synopsis of the points in the video below.

So what are the main differences between 22 and 24-fret guitars? There are three main differences for me.

1 - The feel and sight of a 22-fret guitar can be quite different from a 24-fret guitar. Most of my guitars are 22-fret guitars, so bouncing to the occasional 24-fret guitar is very disorienting to me. If that’s not a problem for you, either a 22 or 24 will work great.

2 - The style of music you are into may make a 24-fret guitar more appealing. I like a lot of metal, fusion, and progressive rock music where 24-fret guitars might be essential. If you are not into those styles of music, then a 22-fret guitar will work just fine.

3 - Tone is the final consideration between a 22 and a 24-fret guitar. When you add two extra frets to a guitar, the neck pickup gets pushed forward a little bit. Many tone connoisseurs say that this shifting of the pickup changes the tone, but it doesn’t make a big enough difference to sway my decision one way or the other.

Feel free to leave your opinions and questions on 22 vs. 24-fret guitars in the comments below.

Cheers,

Nate

P.S. I hope you are working on your version of White Christmas!