# Fretsmith — Luthier's Bench Reference > Luthier's Bench Reference (iPhone/iPad app by Matthew Read.) - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/fretsmith/id6777278923 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`) - Developer: [Matthew Read](https://appshunter.io/developer/6777278925) - Category: Reference, Music - Price: $9.99 - Age rating: 4+ - Requires: iOS 16.0 · 2 MB - Languages: American English - Released: 2026-06-10 - Data updated: 2026-09-09 - User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/fretsmith/id6777278923/reviews.md ## What is Fretsmith? FRETSMITH — THE LUTHIER'S BENCH REFERENCE Built by a working luthier who got tired of guessing. 623 guitar and bass models across 47 brands. Every spec verified against manufacturer documentation, model by model. Where a maker doesn't publish a number, Fretsmith says so instead of making one up. One-time purchase — less than a set of strings. No subscription, no account, no ads. It works offline, in a shop with concrete walls and no signal. WHAT'S INSIDE • Brand Specs — 47 brands, 623 models. Scale lengths, nut widths, fretboard radii, truss-rod tools and access points, saddle-slot dimensions, nut materials, and the model-specific traps that cost you an afternoon. Vintage models included. • Setup Checklists — 12 job-aware checklists in working order: electric, acoustic, bass and classical, plus fret levels, refrets, nut jobs, Floyd Rose and neck resets. • String Tension Calculator — exact plain-steel math and published unit-weight data for wound strings, including phosphor bronze. Any gauge, any tuning, any scale. Balance a set and size total neck pull before you buy the strings. • Nut Slot & Intonation Calculators — file-target slot depth, and the exact saddle-compensation direction and distance. • Measured-Spec Comparison — enter your measured relief, action and nut-slot depths. Each is flagged against the model's published spec and the typical working range, so you know what's off before you pick up a tool. • Acoustic Diagnosis — identifies a neck reset before you file the saddle away chasing it. • Diagnostics — tuning-stability and buzz decision trees, plus a truss-rod quick lookup with direction and tool by brand. • Reference — magnet types and pickup heights, 32 tonewoods with tone tags and CITES status, nut and saddle materials, and an action/relief/nut table across 16 instrument types. • Chromatic Tuner — a native pitch-detection engine with an A=440 reference tone. No clip-on, no second app. • Printable Spec Sheets — hand the customer a professional record of the work and the measurements. FOR PROFESSIONALS Fretsmith is a reference tool for trained luthiers and technicians. The procedures it documents can permanently damage an instrument if performed incorrectly. Always verify on the actual instrument; when in doubt, consult a qualified professional. ## Chart rankings - #199 in Top Paid · Reference (US App Store) ## Version history (last 4 releases) ### 12.90 — 2026-08-27 THE TUNER HAS BEEN REBUILT The pitch-detection engine has been rebuilt for accuracy, particularly on low strings. It holds within about a cent on a usable signal, and when it isn't sure it shows nothing rather than a number it can't stand behind. • A proper analog needle dial. The scale is drawn as an arc, so the needle actually points at the value it reads — including at the extremes, where a straight scale would lie. • Placement guidance in the tab. A phone microphone hears the octave above a low string more strongly than the string itself, so where you put the phone matters more than people expect. Near the 12th fret, not across the bench. • A cleaner display: the note, the verdict, and the needle. DATA CORRECTIONS • 13 tonewood hardness and density figures corrected against published reference data. Indian rosewood, laurel and ebony were the significant ones — Indian rosewood had been listed as harder than Brazilian, which is the wrong way round. • Every one of the 623 model spec sources now cites the manufacturer. FIXES • Prefilled customer-spec fields no longer truncate at an inch mark. • Instrument Profiles now read measurement ranges correctly. CLEARER ON SCREEN • Disclaimers consolidated into one wording — short where it is guidance, full where it carries weight. • More room for content: smaller header, less dead space above it. • The string tension explanation is broken into blocks you can actually scan. • Cross-links between tools that were isolated from each other. SMALLER • Dead code and unused fonts removed. The app is lighter, and so is every print job. ### 12.78 (9) — 2026-07-16 Version 12.78 (9): We made a new logo. It says the same thing the old logo said, but in gold. It was already in gold. It's a better gold now. The app icon used to be hard to read. It said "Fretsmith" but you had to trust us. Now it says it bigger. When you open the app, the logo dissolves in, sits there for two seconds, and leaves. We timed it. Two seconds is the right amount of time to look at a logo. The tuner used to have a label above it that said "Tuner." You were already looking at a tuner. We took it down. Also, in case you missed it: spec sheets and checklists print. They come out clean, with the date on them. Paper doesn't need a battery. We checked. ### 12.75 — 2026-07-08 Version 12.75 A lot happened since 11.5. The Tuner got rebuilt. It used to crash. Now it locks onto the note, holds still, and keeps reading as the string fades out — the way a tuner is supposed to. There's an A=440 reference tone in there too, for when you'd rather hear the note than stare at it. Brand Specs went from 39 brands to 47, and from 280-something models to 623. More than double the models. I didn't plan it, it just kept happening. Every number is still checked against the manufacturer. We don't guess. Guessing is just being confidently wrong. Old guitars are in here too. They didn't stop existing when they stopped selling. New: punch in your measured relief, action, and nut-slot depths, and it tells you how far off you are from the maker's spec. It doesn't sugarcoat. It's a number. First time you open it, there's a quick tour. It shows you around, then it leaves. It's not clingy. There's a new splash screen too. That's the part before the app. Now it looks like it meant to do that. Still works offline. No account, no ads, no subscription. You pay once, like a normal object. ### 11.5 — 2026-06-11 No release notes. ## Related topics [gibson electric](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/gibson-electric) · [gibson connect](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/gibson-connect) --- *Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-09-09.*