I was looking for a way to mark out the frets on a lap steel I'm building and thought this might be of some use to others building any type of fretless guitar.

After marking out and cutting the slots like I would do if using fret wire, I used a hacksaw to widen the slots out to hold a 4" plastic cable tie. The hacksaw blade was the perfect size.I cut the slot deep enough to allow 3/4 of the cable tie to set in the slot. I then drilled out the fret markers and used white glue to install the ties and markers. Simply run a bead of glue over the slot and push the tie down and across with your finger. This will spread the glue evenly in the slot. A damp paper towel was all that was needed to clean the glue off the board.After allowing the glue to dry, I cut off the ends of the cable ties and sanded everything flush going up to 320 grit. A palm sander could be used to knock the plastic ties down even with the board, but I simply used a sanding block. The plastic works down pretty fast. A few coats of Danish oil to seal the board and this is the results.These cable ties come in many different colors and are pretty cheap to buy. As the picture above showed, I cut the large markers out of a medium black pick with a 1/4" paper punch.

I'm very happy with the way it turned out. You could put a thin strip of wood on each side of the board to give it a binding look and cover the ends of the ties, but I'm leaving this one as is. I hope this has been helpful and someone gets some use from it.

Views: 14349

Comment

You need to be a member of Cigar Box Nation to add comments!

Join Cigar Box Nation

Comment by steve whittle on June 28, 2016 at 1:26pm

Nice idea, going to do that one of these times.

Comment by Kirk Bolas on June 28, 2016 at 11:11am
I think this is a pretty cool idea. For a lap steel, slide only, home built, this offers a lot more than just painting the lines on. I reckon that if the relief for the ties was cut a little deeper so as the tie was almost flush with the surface of the board, I could do this same thing with the oil can body fretless bass I'm building. Whatever protrudes could be sanded down flush and the surface sealed with the appropriate can-o-liquid plastic clear sealer for a smooth feel as the left hand fingers move up and down the neck, lookin' to hold the strings in place for the desired notes. I've seen these zip ties in glow in the dark colors, so using those on my fretless would look cool on a dimly lit stage and make it easier to play as I could confirm my positioning...under the black lights that some venues offer...über cool.
Comment by Bert Bennett on June 28, 2016 at 8:33am

Interesting ideas.  May give this a try.

Comment by Philip Hale on June 28, 2016 at 4:50am
Great idea I just did one with Ali wire and it was a bitch to do but I'm pleased with the outcome. Will try this on my next, thanks for sharing. Mine are just for markers as well but yours look real tidy.
Comment by Paul Craig on November 29, 2015 at 9:09am

They wouldn't last long fretting as the string would chew them up pretty fast. Just for looks and reference. You can use nails or wooden skewers in place or "frets" if fretting is too much to handle yet.

Comment by Rooster Reaves on November 29, 2015 at 6:02am

Do these work ok if you want to fret and play slide?

Comment by Paul Monaco ( Whittling Guy) on November 23, 2015 at 5:28pm

Thats a GREAT way to do frets!  If you want another way to make frets on a mahogany fretboard use split bamboo skewers and glue them in using a hacksaw. I use small pieces of 1/4 in dowels for markers.  This is a picture of my lap steel fretboard

Comment by Taffy Evans on November 23, 2015 at 12:20pm

I've always inlaid maple into fret slots when making a fretted bass fretless, but thought this was a bit too much work for a simple CBG, so this idea is great if I do a fretless CGB. One could use a different coloured fret marker instead of a position marker dot.

I've always referred to them a fret markers and the dots as position markers.

Cheers Taff

Comment by Graham Wedepohl on November 23, 2015 at 8:18am

OK, looks great. much nicer look that the pen I used on mine. ;)  Will have to give it a shot on my next fretless one.

Comment by Paul Craig on November 23, 2015 at 8:15am

It works like a fretless, the lines are there for reference.

The Essential Pages

New to Cigar Box Nation? How to Play Cigar Box GuitarsFree Plans & How to Build Cigar Box GuitarsCigar Box Guitar Building Basics

Site Sponsor

Recommended Links & Resources


Forum

crossover guitar.

Started by Timothy Hunter in Other stuff - off topic, fun stuff, whatever. Last reply by Timothy Hunter Mar 21. 11 Replies

Tune up songs

Started by Ghostbuttons in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Timothy Hunter Mar 9. 5 Replies

Duel output jacks

Started by Justin Stanchfield in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Taffy Evans Mar 8. 6 Replies

How to Get Your Own Music on Spotify

Started by Cigar Box Nation in Feature Articles. Last reply by Southern Ray Feb 21. 2 Replies

CB Bass Guitar

Started by Mi Rankin in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Justin Stanchfield Jan 27. 5 Replies

Latest Activity

A.D.EKER commented on A.D.EKER's video
Thumbnail

Im Troubled (Tribute) Mc K Morganfield by BCB - A.D .Eker 2024.

"Thank you Poorness ! for loving it ! appreciated!"
15 hours ago
Southern Ray replied to Timothy Hunter's discussion just came accross this pickup idea on youtube.
" Very interesting. Thank you Timothy!"
15 hours ago
Kent Thurston updated their profile
15 hours ago
Southern Ray posted a photo

Punch Project!

She now sports gold metal CBGitty knobs, speaker and an Artec 2.5 watt speaker. Finished this in…
16 hours ago
Southern Ray posted a photo

Project Punch!

Gonna finally get back on this long-delayed project that is more than half complete. (The matching…
16 hours ago
Poorness Studios liked A.D.EKER's video
18 hours ago
BrianQ. left a comment for Rob (Uker) Porras
"Hope this helps?"
18 hours ago
Doug Thorsvik commented on Doug Thorsvik's photo
Thumbnail

Dueling Flatheads

"I appreciate the kind words Papa D! I have always loved the look of these cigar boxes. Glad to have…"
21 hours ago
A.D.EKER commented on A.D.EKER's video
yesterday
A.D.EKER posted a video

Im Troubled (Tribute) Mc K Morganfield by BCB - A.D .Eker 2024.

The recorded History By Alan Lomax for the library of Congres of the Blues, from Mc Kinley Morganfield (Aka Muddy Waters) the in this take recorded Tribute ...
yesterday
Papa D commented on Doug Thorsvik's photo
Thumbnail

Dueling Flatheads

"Beautiful..Nice work Doug.."
yesterday
Papa D commented on Papa D's photo
Thumbnail

american1 Sun Glo

"Thanx AGP & Doug..  4 more coming soon"
yesterday

Music

© 2024   Created by Ben "C. B. Gitty" Baker.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service

\uastyle>\ud/** Scrollup **/\ud.scrollup {\ud background: url("https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/963882636?profile=original") no-repeat scroll 0 0 transparent;\ud bottom: 25px;\ud display: inline !important;\ud height: 40px;\ud opacity: 0.3 !important;\ud position: fixed;\ud right: 30px;\ud text-indent: -9999px;\ud width: 40px;\ud z-index: 999;\ud}\ud.scrollup:hover {\ud opacity:0.99!important;\ud}\ud \uascript type="text/javascript">\ud x$(document).ready(function(){\ud x$(window).scroll(function(){\ud if (x$(this).scrollTop() > 100) {\ud x$('.scrollup').fadeIn();\ud } else {\ud x$('.scrollup').fadeOut();\ud }\ud });\ud x$('.scrollup').click(function(){\ud x$("html, body").animate({ scrollTop: 0 }, 600);\ud return false;\ud });\ud });\ud \ua!-- End Scroll Up -->