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Question about scale lenght and fretting

I have started to build my first cigar box guitar and downloaded a plan/template for Gibson Scale 24.562” (623.87mm) from http://www.cigarboxguitars.co.uk

I used the template to fret the neck, but when starting to measure where the bridge would be I realized that the measurements on the template didn't match the measures in the diagram. It seems like it's less distance between every fret on the template. Hence it would be a shorter scale length than the plan said it would be.

What should I do? Can I still use this fretted neck if I can figure out the correct scale length, and how would I do that?

The plan I used is this: http://www.cigarboxguitars.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/2475-sc...

The measures in the diagram on the right doesn't match the template on the left which I cut out and used as guide when sawing the notches for the frets.

Best regards,

Rob

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Permalink Reply by Dan Sleep on September 25, 2014 at 1:27am

Here is two beginner videos that I created a while back that may help:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yu6eqI8420k

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6GGqXfcJoI&list=UU0dVzhX6Ijc3A...

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Permalink Reply by JL on September 25, 2014 at 2:52am

I agree with wayfinder, if you measure from the nut to fret 12, that's half the distance to the bridge, even if the chart and the template are not a perfect match, if the template is at least in correct proportion (each fret shortens the string by the twelth root of two) it should work.

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Permalink Reply by Ron "Oily" Sprague on September 25, 2014 at 4:31am

Ok, you've already cut the frets. Presumably, you've also installed the neck. Place (don't glue or screw; clamp it for now) your fretboard on the neck, starting with where your nut is supposed to go,mand mark that spot. Then measure the distance from ther to the 12th fret. Take that measurement and double it. Then measure that distance from the nut to the end of that distance on your box. That is approximately where your bridge will go. Use a floating, not glued down, bridge, so that you can adjust string intonation. Forget about matching template to calculator for this build. Do better on the next one ;-).

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Permalink Reply by Robo T on September 25, 2014 at 4:42am

Thanks for all your answers and information. Much appreciated!

I've measured from nut to 12th fret and it's 300.5 mm so I guess it means the scale length in total will be 601 mm. Hopefully the template has correct proportion and hopefully my measurements are correct. Good to know I can round to nearast 1/4 mm, even though I find it a bit difficult even with 1/2 mm with my basic tools. ;)

Thanks again!

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Permalink Reply by Robo T on September 25, 2014 at 4:48am

Luckily I haven't installed the neck yet! I don't have a fretboard, I am making the frets on the neck.

Good tip about a floating bridge, I will sure try that!

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Permalink Reply by ChickenboneJohn on September 25, 2014 at 5:44am

Printing out fret templates can be quite inaccurate, and looks like you've already found that out. Loads of people use printed templates with no problems, but it's much more accurate and reliable to use a fret calculator (like on the StewMac site), with a good metric steel rule and a sharp pencil (or better yet a sharp scriber or knife) to mark the positions. Learning to set out accurately like this is a useful skill to acquire and will stand you in good stead. I'm always amazed that people think that a printer will be 100% accurate for this sort of job - I've never used this technique - I've always measured, because that's how I was taught to do woodwork...with a keen eye and a scribe you'll be able to mark to .25mm, which is probably more accurate than most people can cut by hand anyway. Last year I went from hand slotting fretboards to a table saw and CNC cut jig, but simply because of the need to make fretboards in bulk for my own builds and to supply other guitar makers. Up to that point, hand slotting a 'board was fine for me. The advice about using a floating bridge is good..and watch out, because although the theoretical scale length will be 2 x the nut to 12th fret..the actual scale length will be slightly longer because in the real world you need to add some compensation to get it to play in tune, due to the fact that the very act of pressing a string to the fret will ever so slightly bend the note up, causing it to play sharp. Adding compensation allows you to get the intonation more accurate, and a floating bridge is the easiest way of doing that.

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Permalink Reply by Slowpaw Steve T on September 25, 2014 at 6:49am

best way is to buy a professionally precut fretboard and use it as a template - been using a 25.5" (Strat/Tele) template for two or three years, correct spacing every time! :-)

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Permalink Reply by Robo T on September 26, 2014 at 12:10am

Thanks again for the good advices.

I've been watching some of your Youtube videos, ChickenboneJohn, really good info there. I've been wondering a lot about the string height and your video answered my questions.

Great forum, this! :)

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Permalink Reply by Mark on October 28, 2014 at 8:18am

No need for fancy fret calculators or print outs or scale rules.....throw them all away and do this........decide what scale length you want and divide that number by 17.817. That gives you the placement of the first fret then employ the tangent line method. All you need is a square and a set of dividers to get placement of the rest of the frets. The tangent line method is illustrated somewhere here in the more recent posts.