Bass guitar the 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th fret and 12th fret (the 12th fret being the octave of the open string) and on the octave-up equivalents of the 3rd fret and as many additional positions as an instrument has frets for. Typically, one marker is on the 3rd, 5th, 7th and 9th fret positions and two markers on the 12th fret. The long scale necks on Leo Fender's basses—with a scale length (distance between nut and bridge) of — set the standard for electric basses, although "short scale" instruments, such as the Höfner 500/1 "violin bass" played by Paul McCartney, and the
Fret verb, meaning simply "to press down the string behind a fret". "Fretting" often refers to the frets and/or their system of placement. Pressing the string against the fret reduces the vibrating length of the string to that between the bridge and the next fret between the fretting finger and the bridge. This is damped if the string were stopped with the soft fingertip on a fretless fingerboard. Frets make it much easier for a player to achieve an acceptable standard of intonation, since the frets determine the positions for the correct notes. Furthermore, a fretted fingerboard makes it easier to