Fretbase Now Goes to 11
Wednesday, November 19th, 2008
We’re writing to let you know about some big improvements on Fretbase.
In the beginning, we wanted to build a website and community for guitarists built on a database of important guitar-related info. In fact, the “base” in our name refers to that database. (And “Fret” refers to the frets in a guitar – not what our families have been doing since we started this venture.)
Today we launched the Fretbase database along with a number of other useful features. We’re fired up to tell you about them.
- Fretbase now has over 24,000 pages devoted to your favorite guitars, artists and songs. What this means is that you can now get detailed information and photos of the Gibson Les Paul and hundreds of other guitars. Or maybe you want more detailed information about the guitars and songs played by Eric Clapton. Fretbase has that too. Or perhaps you just want to see some bedroom rockstars play Stairway to Heaven. Check.
- The entire database was built on a wiki (user editable) platform. So if you notice a guitar, artist or song that is missing, you can add it to Fretbase in no time. It is O.K. if you don’t have all of the relevant info. Just add your item to Fretbase and our expert editors will do the rest.
- Fretbase now has tens of thousands of guitar tabs integrated into the site. If you are just looking for a good place to get tabs for the Beatles’ Blackbird, Fretbase is the place to go.
- As a consumer of guitar-related stuff, we wanted to make it easy for you to find the stuff you need. The site now has pages on great local retailers – like Gryphon Stringed Instruments in Palo Alto, links to latest promotions from online guitar stores (see the top right of our top page), and links to download the songs you are trying to play – like Sweet Home Alabama - from iTunes and Amazon.
- Most importantly, Fretbase has enabled comments and discussions on every guitar, artist and song on Fretbase. So if you want to talk to other people that have a Fender Stratocaster or if you want to get tips on how to play Hotel California, Fretbase is the place.
Most importantly, we want Fretbase to be useful for all guitarists. If you have feedback, we’re eager to get it. Just post in our comments.