Hi There,
I enjoy woodworking and decided to make a small guitar for my brother. I've got a couple of construction questions and I'd appreciate any help.
1.I just learned that there is a difference between a fretboard and a guitar neck. In professional guitars, it seems the fretboard is used to hide a truss or to show off a nice wood on a budget. It doesn't seem there would be that much tension with the three strings. Is the fretboard necessary?
2. I ordered the "Fretting Scale Length Template" from CBGitty.com. With normal woodworking patterns, you size the patterns to fit the project. However, these templates that I ordered are already to size. Would most people cut the template out, lay it on their guitar neck, mark both sides of the template in pencil, and then cut the frets?
3. CBGitty.com also sells a plywood miter box called a "fret-cutting jig." What is the advantage of this over a traditional miter box and square jig? Will one of these suffice for cutting the fret trenches? Is there something special about a "fret-cutting jig?" (I have seen the very expensive jigs used by the pros and there is no way I'm investing in one of those!)
Thanks for your interest and help.
-Mart
Tags:
The saw I intended to use is .022". It's a real go-to for any general purpose cutting and it is fantastic for dovetails and finger joints too. Japanese saws are very popular right now and I'm all for them!
Good advice on the fretboard. I'm hearing you say something similar to Taffy, which is to be careful with the height of the strings. I like the idea of using a prettier wood like zebra or kingwood, but I also like the idea that these little guitars are mostly functional and made out of necessity.
Thanks again, Oily!
--MB
I had to have I little chuckle reading this thread, been there done that.
Must have been 40 odd years ago, trying to find the best saw for fretting. I posted a few through the ages. Now I use the Stumac circular saw and their fretting pull saw.
Back in the day I tried increasing the set on the saw for a wider slot, or removing the set of the teeth to get a finer slot. Happy days!
Cheers Taff
There is no way I'm going to start filing down teeth. You're a committed man, Taff, I'll give you that! --MB
Cutting the slots for the frets was very easy thanks to everyone's advice. I used a Japanese saw which is always a pleasure to use. To keep it straight, I just put the neck into a traditional miter box (I think a $5 plastic miter box would be fine). For each slot, it took just a few quick pulls of the saw to get sufficient depth. I'm sure all those Spanish guitar makers have a better technique, but this worked very well! Thanks, everyone!
Started by Timothy Hunter in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Southern Ray 22 hours ago. 1 Reply 2 Likes
Started by Timothy Hunter in Other stuff - off topic, fun stuff, whatever. Last reply by Timothy Hunter Mar 21. 11 Replies 2 Likes
Started by Taffy Evans in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Southern Ray Mar 10. 1 Reply 3 Likes
Started by Cigar Box Nation in Feature Articles. Last reply by BrianQ. Mar 9. 4 Replies 3 Likes
Started by Ghostbuttons in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Timothy Hunter Mar 9. 5 Replies 1 Like
Started by Justin Stanchfield in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Taffy Evans Mar 8. 6 Replies 0 Likes
Started by Ken I in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Brian partington Mar 8. 8 Replies 0 Likes
Started by Southern Ray in Cool gear discussion - that's not cigar box related. Last reply by Southern Ray Mar 6. 5 Replies 0 Likes
Started by Taffy Evans in Other stuff - off topic, fun stuff, whatever. Last reply by Taffy Evans Mar 5. 4 Replies 2 Likes
Started by Nomad Jack in Performances, How to Play, Lessons, Concerts. Last reply by Southern Ray Mar 2. 6 Replies 1 Like
Started by Justin Stanchfield in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Carl Floyd Mar 1. 15 Replies 0 Likes
Started by Joe in Performances, How to Play, Lessons, Concerts. Last reply by Carl Floyd Feb 29. 13 Replies 0 Likes
Started by Chance in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Southern Ray Feb 22. 12 Replies 1 Like
Started by Cigar Box Nation in Feature Articles. Last reply by Southern Ray Feb 21. 2 Replies 4 Likes
Started by Brad in Cool gear discussion - that's not cigar box related. Last reply by Southern Ray Feb 19. 6 Replies 3 Likes
Started by Jacob Shook in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Southern Ray Feb 16. 10 Replies 0 Likes
Started by Southern Ray in Performances, How to Play, Lessons, Concerts. Last reply by Southern Ray Feb 16. 2 Replies 0 Likes
Started by Skeesix in Performances, How to Play, Lessons, Concerts. Last reply by Skeesix Feb 6. 2 Replies 1 Like
Started by Timothy Hunter in Other stuff - off topic, fun stuff, whatever. Last reply by Steve M Jan 31. 9 Replies 0 Likes
Started by Mi Rankin in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Justin Stanchfield Jan 27. 5 Replies 0 Likes
Posted by Vlad on March 6, 2024 at 2:32am 5 Comments 2 Likes
Posted by billy jones bluez on February 28, 2024 at 2:09pm 0 Comments 0 Likes
Posted by billy jones bluez on February 17, 2024 at 11:00pm 0 Comments 0 Likes
Posted by Vlad on February 11, 2024 at 1:06am 1 Comment 1 Like
Posted by billy jones bluez on February 8, 2024 at 4:05pm 0 Comments 0 Likes
May 11, 2024 from 11am to 8pm – Speakeasy Grill
0 Comments 0 Likes© 2024 Created by Ben "C. B. Gitty" Baker. Powered by
Cigar Box Nation is presented by C. B. Gitty Crafter Supply, your one-stop-shop for Cigar Box Guitar parts and accessories!