I picked up a used Mid-east brand Lavta on the cheap.
After fitting a new nut and pegs it plays well enough but the frets have obviously been moved. Does anyone know of a pitch reference for the
intonation of each fret?
Thanks in advance.al-Halabi - 10-22-2020 at 02:55 PM
What is the lavta's scale length and how many frets are on it? evening1 - 10-22-2020 at 05:00 PM
What is the lavta's scale length and how many frets are on it?
27" (68.5cm) nut to bridge. 27 fretsal-Halabi - 10-23-2020 at 07:38 AM
I attached a chart that includes the precise measurements for fretting a lavta with a scale length of 680mm. You should be able to use it to adjust
your frets even though your scale is slightly longer. The chart has the measurements for 26 frets, but you may be able to figure out where the extra
fret you have was originally placed, or use only 26 frets (which are today standard for the instrument) by pressing the extra fret against an adjacent
one or against the 26th fret at the end of the neck.
Good luck.
Attachment: lavta fretting chart.pdf (103kB)
This file has been downloaded 176 times
Brian Prunka - 10-23-2020 at 08:11 AM
Hi al-Halabi, are you sure those numbers are right? The numbers for 720mm look about right but the numbers for 680 don't match up with 720 (for
instance, Muhayyer should be ~227, not 221).
Since fret positions are ratios to the total string length, you should be able to get the ratios by dividing the fret position by the length. Then
multiply by whatever the new length is. For instance, muhayyer is 240/720 =1/3, so on 685 it would be 228.33
You may find that inches are helpful if the scale length is really 27", as this means muhayyer is at 9 inches exactly.
A table showing ratios would be more helpful here.Brian Prunka - 10-23-2020 at 11:50 AM
Looking through the forums, Adam Good has posted a spreadsheet that allowed for calculation — no longer available but I'm sure he'd help you out if
you contacted him:
I'll contact Adam Good and see if he can dig up the spreadsheet.evening1 - 10-26-2020 at 01:13 PM
All,
Adam Good was kind enough to send me the Tanbur fret location spreadsheet.
I'm attaching it here for others to use.
Simply input the new string length.
