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Bolt Nut Confusion -- On or Adjacent to the Fretboard?

Hello,

I have some 5/16 " black steel threaded rod from C.B. Gitty that I had planned to use for the nut and bridge on my first build. I had wanted to glue a 1/4" fretboard onto the neck for a through-box design. I was going to affix the nut right where the neck and fretboard meet, but there appears to be a problem:

Now, I can taper the end of the fretboard, obviously. Would that help/solve the problem of getting the string height correct at this juncture? I suppose I saw a lot of nice builds on here with a bolt nut in this location, but I fear that it might be too low, with or without a tapered fretboard. Am I wrong, do I need a bigger bolt, can I shim the nut, or will the taper work? (On a related note, are folks typically super gluing the bolt nut when it is placed in this adjoining position?)

Could I attach the nut as shown below on the fretboard itself? I have not seen too many builds like this. I would have to notch the fret board, unless the string tension and the 5/16 " size themselves would hold the nut in place like this.

Thanks in advance for any pointers!

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Permalink Reply by Rouxdy Blues on May 12, 2013 at 6:07am

You can shim, or you can cut a slot in the fingerboard to whatever your desired depth would be. No tapering...

Or, if fretless you could set it on top as per your pic for some really high action.

The issue is the distance between the nut and the bridge.... if your fingerboard is already slotted, your choice has been made... do what it takes to set it at the right distance. Otherwise, it's your preference.

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Permalink Reply by Jose Cruise on May 12, 2013 at 6:58am

Thanks, Rouxdy Blues.

Not sure if I'm going fretted or fretless yet (probably the latter), so the fret slots have not been cut...

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Permalink Reply by Dan Sleep on May 12, 2013 at 8:49am

You could also use the threaded rod just to guide the strings, and put one piece of jumbo fret wire right at the end of the fretboard, in what is known as a zero fret. You just place the zero fret where you want your actual nut lined up, and measure your scale length from there. All you would use the threaded rod for is to keep the strings from moving back and forth, and to maintain spacing.

Probably more work than you want to undertake, but still an option.

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Permalink Reply by Dan Sleep on May 12, 2013 at 8:49am

And BTW, fretting is not that hard. Check the videos on my page here, I have a beginner's video that may help out a bit.

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Permalink Reply by Jose Cruise on May 12, 2013 at 9:21am

Thanks, Dan, I'll check out that fretting vid!

One question: How many millimeters is it off the fretboard to the highest point of a regular fret versus a jumbo one?

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Permalink Reply by Dan Sleep on May 13, 2013 at 1:18am

I am not sure on the actual measurements, I just know that using a jumbo fret puts the string height at almost the perfect height above the fret board.

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Permalink Reply by Craig Mayhem on May 12, 2013 at 4:52pm

If you have a round file you can sink the bolt into the fretboard material. Because a bolt is round, the strings will hit it in the middle. That's where you'd measure from when calculating scale length.