Straight From the Bench

Straight up: we built this one. Every other box on this site gets the meter. Fretsmith doesn’t — grading your own tool is a sponsor’s thumb the size of a fist, and we wrote a whole scale about that. So no score. Just what it is, told straight.

What it is

The reference and calculator we keep on the bench, for guitars and basses both. If a maker doesn’t publish a number, the app says so instead of making one up. Same religion as the reviews, different room.

What’s inside

• Setup Checklist — the pre-flight, before a screwdriver touches the guitar.
• Brand Specs — 620-plus verified spec sheets across 47 manufacturers: scale length, nut width, radius, wire gauge, whatever the maker actually publishes. Nothing filled in to make a blank field look answered.
• Truss Rod — quick-lookup adjustment reference by rod type, so “righty tighty” isn’t a guess.
• Diagnosis — three decision trees: tuning stability, fret buzz, and acoustic neck angle & action.
• Reference — pickup magnet types, tonewoods, nut & saddle materials, and a blank measurement sheet for whatever’s on the bench right now.
• Tuner — a native phase-tracking engine, not a web-audio guess. A=440 reference tone included.
• Calculators — string tension at pitch for guitar and bass, nut slot depth, intonation compensation, unit conversion, truss-rod direction.
• Contact — support, and a replay of the first-run tour if you blew past it.

This is a reference tool for people who already know how to do the work. It shows what the manufacturer publishes and runs the math — it doesn’t replace training, and we’re not liable if you damage an instrument using it. If you’re not experienced with this kind of repair, don’t attempt it.

The thirty-sixth chamber part

Thirty-five chambers is learning the craft. The thirty-sixth is giving it away — and Fretsmith is ours: everything the bench taught us, boxed up and handed over. You buy it once, like a screwdriver. No account, no subscription, no signal required. It works in a dead-zone basement, which is where the good amps live anyway.

Get it

$9.99. Once. iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Android — the same reference on every screen in the shop.

Who it’s for

Working luthiers, bench techs, and anyone who’s ever set an action by feel and regretted it by Tuesday. If you’ve never touched a truss rod, start with the reviews. If you have — this is the other half of the site.

If we did score it, it’d be a 36. Which is exactly why we don’t.

Elsewhere: Fretsmith on Facebook · 36 Chambers of Tone on Facebook