Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by John Sawyer on March 1, 2015 at 8:04pm

Welcome to the addiction.  I've been in this mess of fine people for well over a year now.. it's a great place...  

As far as your question, this has come up a lot and there is some debate.  here's a recent rabbit hole that will keep you busy for a while.

http://www.cigarboxnation.com/forum/topics/neck-angle-mk-ii

The consensus is you don't need neck angle to get low action, but it is an option to get there.  There are lots of good builders here.  I am sure you'll find what you are looking for.

John

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Permalink Reply by The Phrygian Kid on March 1, 2015 at 8:23pm

Yes you're exactly right, a bunch of us do this, but a square fretless thing is very easy to make and its where most start, and many are very content to just keep making those.  each to their own, there are $85 CBGs and there are (a handful of guys who make) $900 CBGs and this is as it should be :)

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Permalink Reply by Slowpaw Steve T on March 1, 2015 at 9:11pm

i don't usually build with a high action for slide, only on fretless which appears higher -  i get the action as low as i can sounding sweet on fretted necks  (3mm at 12th), but there is no reason to raise the action fir slide, i can play slide on the lowest action guitars without any problems, it's not necessary :-)

you don't need to angle the neck, action is determined by nut height and bridge height...but the whole guitar should be straight.

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Permalink Reply by Robert Stapleton on March 2, 2015 at 12:05am

Thanks for all the responses and ideas!

I can see how an angled neck would not be necessary if the neck was higher than the top of the box. I guess it doesn't matter how you get there as long as the action is low.

John, I'll crawl down that rabbit hole this evening. Sounds like fun!

Here's another question. When I go to someone's page here on CBN, I see their activity but not their work. Am I missing something? Is there a page with pictures, videos, or the like?

Thanks again!

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Permalink Reply by Scott aka Farmer Ted on March 2, 2015 at 2:23am

Yep, each members page has a section on the left column, with choices for photos, videos, albums, etc. that he or she has posted.

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Permalink Reply by Robert Stapleton on March 2, 2015 at 2:30pm

Slowpaw Steve: Just curious, would the 3mm be measured from the fretboard or the top of the frets? To the bottom of the strings?

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Permalink Reply by Slowpaw Steve T on March 4, 2015 at 9:36pm

from the top of the frets to the strings...

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Permalink Reply by The Phrygian Kid on March 2, 2015 at 4:58pm

I always pitch my necks, I find it makes it much easier to dial in a very nice action and I also believe that it alters the string trigonometry in a way which in beneficial in terms of tone and volume.

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Permalink Reply by Richey Kay on March 4, 2015 at 6:44pm

The Kid is absolutely bang on right here... he kept telling me to try it, and when I finally did, I saw a massive improvement in volume, tone and playability. Nota bene.

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Permalink Reply by Richey Kay on March 4, 2015 at 7:09pm

Not too much science to it really, I use a 6.5mm fret board which sits proud of the box lid, and the through neck rests on blocks at either end of the box. The block at the back is slightly taller than the one at the front. I cut them at an angle so the neck rests flat on them and screw in from underneath.

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Permalink Reply by Richey Kay on March 4, 2015 at 11:00pm

I'll post some pics later

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Permalink Reply by Scott aka Farmer Ted on March 5, 2015 at 1:24am

With the tail end support block taller than the other block at the neck end of the box, the neck is given a back angle. Thus, the strings, as they run from nut to bridge, will follow the same line. Resulting in the strings increasing in height from where they begin at the neck end of the box, to the bridge. If both support blocks were identical in height, the strings would be the same height, with a flat orientation and not sloped upward, as in Richey's example.

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