I built a Lowebow copy with 30" scale, FFCF.
Yeah. Measure your strings and go from there. Seems silly but get your design right and standard strings might reach.
I recently saw the tail stop made from nails that the tail of the string ball hole fit. If you get that into the design it might let standard strings stretch a bit further.
Working out fret placement is easy.. Scale length x 0.9438743127 (fret 1) x 0.9438743127 (fret 2) etc etc..
Check your 12th is in the middle.
Oh and think about strengthening the neck.
Yup, answering myself on a side note but I'm getting stuff ready for a 27-28 inch 4 stringer.
One of the things I need is a T section bar trus rod for the neck.
I also need preparation for neck curvature and fret level off to deal with that extra large bass string vibration so that it clears the frets near the heel of the neck. Good luck making yours, I know I will need it making mine.
I'm nearing completion of mine.
I can't see any way of getting pictures onto this post, it seems pretty random on this website and it is extremely annoying. I will have to attach them at the bottom somehow.
I figured the best way to do this, considering string length, was to make it headless with the tuners at the tail stop. This would give me the best option to increase my overall scale length without having to use non-standared strings.
I embedded a 50cm long 3/4 x 3/4" aluminium T section bar down the length of the neck as I wanted a 3cm x 3cm D section neck where the nut is down to a 4cm x 3cm D section where the neck enters the body.
This should give me a string spread of 8mm at the nut to roughly 11mm at the bridge. (Mine is 4 strings. I feel that it would need some reinforcement to prevent bowing.)
It isn't completed yet but I can tell just now that it's going to be a monster of a guitar to play with the first 3 frets having a spread of roughly 4&1/2 inches.
Pictures in the reply to this post when I can get them online.
Very cool! The photos of the aluminum extrusion give me a better idea of how you reinforced the neck. How did you mill a space for it? I like the idea of tuners at the bottom and would like to see a photo of their position on the interior. How's play?
It's not finished yet. I need to find some form of string fixing at the nut. I was going to use nails but I have a feeling that I will hate this and there is a very good chance they will bend and the string will slip off them. I'm thinking of a metal plate with holes.
This guitar is a first for me and is purely experimental. I'm not sure how it will turn out :)
Have you started your design yet?
On a side note..
When I fretted this, the space between the nut and the first fret is 1&1/2 inch, the distance between the nut and the third fret is 4&1/2 inches!
This is 28 inch scale. It's a monster and looks more like a bass guitar than a normal guitar.
Just something to consider.
Heres some shots of the insides, sorry I can't show how I did this more clearly as it's nearing completion. Basically I took a 2cm x 4cm block and halved it, then cut out a channel to fit my tuners then put the two halves back together again. I hope you can make it out.
There's also a shot of how I fixed my strings to the top of the neck, not sure if I will build a spacer nut as the strings are pretty much fixed in place. To change strings you pull the pin out from the loops. Not a great design as you have to loosen all the strings just to change one but I was pressed for space and didn't want it too complicated.
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