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Permalink Reply by Randy Webb on January 12, 2010 at 5:23am

Thats what I used on my latest. And it's fine for me...

I actually used a bass guitar nut and the precut grooves are what the strings rest in. (just had to shave the sides of the nut cause they stuck out a little.)

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Permalink Reply by Julian Perry on January 12, 2010 at 5:39am

Hi Tim, I'm no expert, but I've built three cbg's so far, all with 4 strings and all using 45mm (1 3/4") wide necks. I've found I can space the strings 11-12mm (7/16"ish) apart at the nut and have a few mm left on each side of the neck for rounding off. This works great for me and is far wider spaced than a regular 6 string. Hope that helps a bit.....

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Permalink Reply by Tim Fleischer on January 12, 2010 at 6:02am

Thanks Julian that helps. And I assume noo truss rod of any kind?

Julian Perry said:

Hi Tim, I'm no expert, but I've built three cbg's so far, all with 4 strings and all using 45mm (1 3/4") wide necks. I've found I can space the strings 11-12mm (7/16"ish) apart at the nut and have a few mm left on each side of the neck for rounding off. This works great for me and is far wider spaced than a regular 6 string. Hope that helps a bit.....

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Permalink Reply by Tim Fleischer on January 12, 2010 at 6:02am

Thanks Randy. Do you use a truss rod of any kind?
Randy Webb said:

Thats what I used on my latest. And it's fine for me...

I actually used a bass guitar nut and the precut grooves are what the strings rest in. (just had to shave the sides of the nut cause they stuck out a little.)

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Permalink Reply by Randy Webb on January 12, 2010 at 6:05am

No, and the neck is straight as an arrow. Although, there is a quarter inch ftretboard glued on top, but the back is pretty well rounded now, and still no give. It's made out of oak.
Tim Fleischer said:

Thanks Randy. Do you use a truss rod of any kind?


Randy Webb said:

Thats what I used on my latest. And it's fine for me...

I actually used a bass guitar nut and the precut grooves are what the strings rest in. (just had to shave the sides of the nut cause they stuck out a little.)

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Permalink Reply by Wes "I'm Baaaaack" Yates on January 12, 2010 at 7:18am

Nope.

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Permalink Reply by Ronnie Retherford on January 12, 2010 at 11:13am

I use the standard 1x2 red oak with red oak fret board and no problems thus far.

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Permalink Reply by Tim Fleischer on January 13, 2010 at 1:49pm

I want to thank everyone for the input on the 4 string neck width, truss rods, etc. You helped me make up my mind to build a 4 stringer this time. I'm going to use a 1 X 2 oak neck with a 1/4 inch poplar fret board. I'm hoping that will be substantial enough for 4 strings. I made this pretty cool bridge out of a cheepo tele bridge and I really dig this "Magna" box...it's made very well. I can't wait to get it done. Though I've promised myself on this one to take my time and consider it a "winter" project. We'll see how that goes. Thanks again all!!!

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Permalink Reply by Julian Perry on January 13, 2010 at 10:47pm

I haven't used a truss-rod on any of my builds so far, and the first two didn't have added fretboards either and show no signs of bowing at all. I use an open G tuning and 4 strings. You can get some flex if you physically try to bend the neck whilst playing hard, which gives a nice tremelo effect, but only if you do it intentially.

Tim Fleischer said:

Thanks Julian that helps. And I assume noo truss rod of any kind?

Julian Perry said:

Hi Tim, I'm no expert, but I've built three cbg's so far, all with 4 strings and all using 45mm (1 3/4") wide necks. I've found I can space the strings 11-12mm (7/16"ish) apart at the nut and have a few mm left on each side of the neck for rounding off. This works great for me and is far wider spaced than a regular 6 string. Hope that helps a bit.....

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Permalink Reply by Wes "I'm Baaaaack" Yates on January 14, 2010 at 11:47am

If you want/need a truss rod of sorts, I've used 1/8"x1/2" bar stock from Lowes or HD. Works really well and adds a little weight to the neck. NO bending whats so ever. Take a look at my pics and you can see how I do it.

-WY

Tim Fleischer said:

Thanks Julian that helps. And I assume noo truss rod of any kind?

Julian Perry said:

Hi Tim, I'm no expert, but I've built three cbg's so far, all with 4 strings and all using 45mm (1 3/4") wide necks. I've found I can space the strings 11-12mm (7/16"ish) apart at the nut and have a few mm left on each side of the neck for rounding off. This works great for me and is far wider spaced than a regular 6 string. Hope that helps a bit.....

• ▶ Reply