Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by John Sawyer on December 22, 2016 at 4:42pm

No rules is right... so far so good... would like to see it when it's done...

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Permalink Reply by Uncle John on December 24, 2016 at 1:49pm

Right on Mr. Finder.

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Permalink Reply by Timothy Hunter on December 22, 2016 at 9:28pm

been thinking of the "no rules" motto and i have come to the conclusion that it is false. controversial i know but i had to say it.

joking aside there is 1 and only 1 rule that cant be ignored. the rest you can do as you wish ,use any material you wish.

so what is this mysterious 1 rule you ask?

"Thou shalt make the distance from the Nut to the Twelfth fret equal to the distance of the Twelfth fret to the Bridge and this distance shall be half of the scale length" 

P.S. is that spelling of 12th right? spell checker says it is...

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Permalink Reply by Wichita Sam on December 23, 2016 at 3:43am

Timothy,  

I'm going to blow up your premise.  I have a friend who built a CBG with 17 frets per octave.  He said it was really good for Blues improvisation.

"BOOM"!

the best and Merry Christmas,

Wichita Sam

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Permalink Reply by Timothy Hunter on December 23, 2016 at 7:56pm

in that case because he is not using the standard western scale of 12 notes per octave the rule gets rewritten as "for 12 read the number of notes per octave. " in your friends case the 12th fret is renamed the 17 but it is still 1/2 the scale length. if you were to go to the sub continent and south asia then they have 22 notes per octave. BUT you can not defeat the laws of physics. 1 octave higher is double the frequency and 1/2 the string length.

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Permalink Reply by Wichita Sam on December 24, 2016 at 5:51am

of course you're right. just having fun. Happy New Year too.

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Permalink Reply by Uncle John on December 24, 2016 at 1:49pm

True, but I have seen that rule broken.  Probably to poor effect.

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Permalink Reply by darryl kernaghan on December 23, 2016 at 12:36am

The no rules ethos is substantially correct, as in construction methods and materials aren't bound by any formula, but that has really applied since someone first struck a hollow log with a stick, since then, accoustically anyway, the search has been on for the "right" materials, and the bestest best, might still be found, but sadly if you want your instrument to work mathematically, there's still only a couple of pathways, and probably only one on a fretted stick and box. that's in the conventional sense, fanned frets, and different scales etc can be far from what's normal, but there's rules there too

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Permalink Reply by Timothy Hunter on December 23, 2016 at 7:58pm

fan frets still use the same formula. its just that the base strings use a longer scale length than the treble string.  you just have to pick a fret in the middle somewhere to anchor them both too. this fret will be 90 deg to the neck like normal frets... i think most fan frets use the 12 although a lot of pictures of fan fret bass guitars i have seen seem to anchor around the 7th fret 

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Permalink Reply by Paul Craig on December 23, 2016 at 12:04pm

No Rules, but results can be mixed. Do what you want with what you want doesn't always turn out for the best. A adjustable wrench will work on tightening/loosening a bolt, it will also strip the head and cause busted knuckles in no time flat.

Necks can be the hardest part of a build and most any type of wood or other material can be used. Some choices of material are better than others. Example: Soft Pine - if your building a neck out of 1 piece without a trussrod, don't expect too much unless it's a 3 string and not used on a Bass. Poplar, Maple, Oak, Hickory, Mahogany and other hard woods are a better choice.

Multiple pieces/lamination's add strength. Trussrods can be non-adjustable steel rod, aluminum channel or graphite rods. Adjustable trussrods are a great thing to have in necks made of soft woods as well as hard woods. I recommend a trussrod of some type on a neck with a scale length of 20" or more for more than 3 strings.

Use a good wood glue. Elmers Wood Glue Max, Titebond and others out there.

Not all construction methods are great. Those strings have a lot of pressure on the git and a badly put together one will fold up or break.

So there are some rules.

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Permalink Reply by Bluesheart on December 24, 2016 at 3:03am

Hey this made me come up with a new saying. Correct me if I'm wrong please, " You can ignore physics, but physics will not ignore you."

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Permalink Reply by Uncle John on December 24, 2016 at 1:50pm

:)

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