Discover True Temperament: News, Players, & Products

Hollie Heller 19 May 2025

In a world where the pursuit of perfect intonation has driven guitarists to the brink of obsession, is there truly a way to escape the inherent compromises of traditional fretting? The answer, as the industry and a growing number of discerning musicians are discovering, lies in the innovative realm of "True Temperament."

The quest for sonic perfection has always been a cornerstone of musical creation. For guitarists, this often translates to a relentless pursuit of flawless intonation the ability to play chords and melodies that ring true, without the subtle dissonances that can plague even the most well-tuned instruments. Traditional guitars, employing frets that are evenly spaced along the fingerboard, are inherently limited by the compromises of equal temperament, a tuning system that sacrifices pure intervals for the sake of playability across all keys. This means that while a guitar may sound "in tune" in a specific key, it often exhibits subtle imperfections in others, leading to a less-than-perfect sonic experience. But that is being challenged by the latest innovations.

Key Feature	Details
Concept	A revolutionary fretting system designed to improve intonation on guitars, offering a more accurate and harmonically pure sound.
Innovation	Utilizes "curved frets" that are precisely positioned to account for the physical properties of vibrating strings.
Benefit	Allows any target temperament to be implemented, resulting in improved intonation and a more accurate musical experience across the fretboard.
Target Audience	Guitarists seeking ultimate accuracy and tonal precision, producers, and musicians across various genres.
History	Created by Swedish inventor Anders Thidell, developed with luthier Paul Guy, with significant breakthrough in 2019 when major guitar brands adopted the technology.
Notable Users	Jazz legend John McLaughlin, and various artists and guitar manufacturers.
Technology	Takes into account factors like string length, tension, and mass to define optimal fret placement.
Impact	Offers a dramatic new fretting technique to implement any temperament on the guitar while preserving full playability, leading to improved recordings and performance.
Products	True Temperament offers fretboards, necks, and complete guitars.

True Temperament presents a paradigm shift, a different approach to fretting that promises to revolutionize the way guitars are made and played. Instead of relying on the uniform fret spacing of the traditional system, True Temperament considers the physics of a vibrating string, accounting for factors like string length, tension, and mass. This leads to a critical observation that the fretted string has a shorter length, greater tension, and less mass. These factors influence intonation in subtle but significant ways.

The core of the True Temperament system lies in its use of curved frets. These are not a cosmetic modification but a meticulously calculated design. Instead of straight, parallel lines, the frets are carefully curved and positioned to compensate for the inherent inaccuracies of equal temperament. This innovative approach makes it possible to implement any temperament on the guitar while preserving full playability, and this is what makes the concept so ground-breaking. By precisely positioning each fret, True Temperament aims to deliver optimal placement for each fret for each string all along the fretboard.

The result is an instrument that plays in tune across the entire fretboard, regardless of the key or the complexity of the chords. For the recording artist, this translates into cleaner tracks, a more polished sound, and a significant reduction in time spent wrestling with intonation issues. Live performers can experience greater freedom and confidence, knowing that their chords will ring true even in challenging tunings or complex musical arrangements.

While most people initially associate True Temperament with the high-gain world of metal, its benefits extend far beyond. Its ability to deliver accurate intonation makes it equally valuable in genres such as jazz, classical, and acoustic music, where the subtle nuances of intonation are often paramount. In the words of satisfied customers, the True Temperament frets "just make all these worries go away."

The story of True Temperament is one of innovation, perseverance, and a relentless pursuit of perfection. The Swedish inventor Anders Thidell, collaborated with veteran guitar luthier Paul Guy to bring the initial concept to life. They recognized the inherent limitations of traditional fretting, which is the foundation of all fretted instruments, and sought to overcome them. Years of research, development, and refinement led to the creation of the True Temperament system, a revolutionary new way to construct guitar fingerboards with curved frets that tune accurately along the whole neck.

The breakthrough for True Temperament came in 2019, when several famous guitar brands began producing guitars equipped with the True Temperament system. The market was expanding, and a reconstruction of the company was undertaken, including new investors, a new board, and a new CEO. This marked a turning point, as the technology gained wider acceptance and recognition within the guitar community. The True Temperament system is now present in the offerings of several of the world's leading guitar manufacturers.

The technology is not just about frets; it is a comprehensive approach to building the perfect instrument. True Temperament offers fretboards, necks, and complete guitars with a new approach to fret scaling that allows any target temperament. The company's commitment to quality and innovation has earned them a reputation for excellence within the industry. The singularity true temperament looks, plays, feels and sounds like no other guitar in the world.

One of the most frequently asked questions about True Temperament is: what does it actually mean? The easy answer is that the True Temperament fretting system is a revolutionary new way to construct guitar fingerboards with curved frets which tune accurately along the whole neck. By making the frets follow the natural curves of intonation, the guitar can finally achieve a level of precision and accuracy that was previously unattainable. The team calls it dynamic intonation.

The impact of the True Temperament system is being felt across the music world. Professional musicians and recording artists are embracing the technology, praising its ability to enhance the overall sound and playability of their instruments. With the added precision, the strings vibrate more freely and loudly. Jazz legend John McLaughlin is known to utilize True Temperament guitars on occasion. He utilizes a fairly large guitar collection, but he has a Godin with True Temperament frets that he uses in the studio and live.

The system is designed for guitarists seeking ultimate accuracy and tonal precision. It features True Temperament frets on a rosewood fingerboard, ensuring perfect intonation across the entire fretboard. Without a doubt, these are the hottest and coolest electric guitars on the market right now.

The Strandberg Boden+ NX 6 True Temperament electric guitar is another example of True Temperament's impact. It features Strandberg's flagship design and is outfitted with the True Temperament fretting system for unmatched tuning accuracy and intonation. Combined with features such as the new neck heel and arm bevel carves for improved comfort, and the EGS Rev7 hardware, which enhances tone and sustain, as well as making adjustments easier, the Boden+ NX True Temperament is the pinnacle of Strandberg's design and innovation concepts.

Another aspect is the Thidell Formula One temperament. This gives you [\u2026] which allows each position to be in tune, regardless of the key the guitar is played in. Designed to be an evolution of and replacement for the older Mean Tone and True Temperament 12 Tone models, it represents a significant leap forward in the pursuit of perfect intonation.

The concept of True Temperament can be applied to various guitar models. The True Temperament 650 mm fretboards can be used for acoustic classical nylon guitar models, provided that the position of the bridge saddle is straight and that the dimensions of the nut width and width at the 12th and 20th fret correspond to what True Temperament has stated in its specifications.

The future of the True Temperament is bright. With its ability to deliver superior intonation, the system has earned the respect of guitarists and industry professionals.