Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Jason Hitesman on September 22, 2010 at 2:47pm

On my 2nd build I initially just screwed the fingerboard to the neck with some small brass screws. But after about a month I noticed the neck was starting to warp so I took it off, and glued it on.

Not sure why I have so many neck warping problems. My first build was just a poplar neck and it warped like mad with 3 strings even though I've heard others say they've done poplar necks with 3 strings with no warping. (it was an unusually long neck which may be part of the problem.) But my second was an oak neck and oak fingerboard and it still started to warp until I glued the fingerboard on.

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Permalink Reply by Mark on September 23, 2010 at 3:54am

It's a kind of ingeneous idea, but I think there might be easier ways to make a guitar that's good for both types of playing. It would result in a complicated neck and I have my doubts about how well the magnets would hold the fingerboard. My feeling is it's probably simpler to have some sort of system for raising and lowering the strings

One possibility is an adjustable or replaceable bridge combined with something to lift or lower the action at the nut end. There are plenty of adjustable bridge designs in the world. As for nut-end adjustment, for a while now I've been working on a system that works in conjunction with a "zero-fret". Hopefully a diagram should appear below...

...OK, I tried to get the image to appear here but for some reason the HTML doesn't seem to work, so the following is a link to where I've posted the diagram.

http://www.cigarboxnation.com/photo/string-raising-system-for-use

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Permalink Reply by ChickenboneJohn on September 23, 2010 at 4:35am

A simple nut riser device as Mark suggests is by far the easiest way of doing this...plus a glued-on fretboard give the neck an awful lot of extra strength and stability. Also, a fretboard on it's own is a pretty unstable piece of wood..unless you are thinking of machining it out of something more dimensionally stable like phenolic or aluminium. It's a very involved way of dealing with things compared with a slightly taller nut. There was a device called a "slide slammer" made by Andy Manson which would flip between regular and raised action at the nut, but it never caught on. I supply some of my guitars with a small ally angle riser which can be slipped over the nut, and adds just enough height to stop clattering the frets with the slide.

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Permalink Reply by rich poulin on September 23, 2010 at 5:40am

Thanks for the feedback folks.
Ya, I was wondering about the stability issues.
I just googled "extension nut" after a few failed searches and found the device Chickenbone John was referring to available at StewMac (http://www.stewmac.com/shopby/product/4596). That's a far better option. Oh well, I guess I'll expend my creative energy on some other guitar bits.

BTW it's great to have such a responsive and creative community to use as a soundboard for all our crazy ideas.

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Permalink Reply by ChickenboneJohn on September 23, 2010 at 5:48am

Yes, it's time-honored little device that's been around since the 1920s I guess. I'm sure I've seen discussions on the idea of swap-out fretboards somewhere before (so you can go fretless, fully fretted, diatonic, microtonal etc), and I'll bet somewhere somebody has actually done it..but can't guess how they've got round the various technical issues...so if you still want to have punt at it, I'm sure someone, somewhere will tell you how they did it.

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Permalink Reply by Jason Hitesman on September 23, 2010 at 5:50am

With some form of neck reinforcement (either laminated out of multiple pieces, or a truss rod of some sort) and good mechanical attachment of the fretboard I imagine it could be done successfully. Just have to get extra creative and keep thinking outside the box to find a solution that works for your ideas :)

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Permalink Reply by Ginwheel Johnny on September 23, 2010 at 4:05pm

Hey all,
Seeing as CBG's are so inexpensive to make why not just make 2? One fretted and the other fretless?

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Permalink Reply by rich poulin on September 23, 2010 at 4:29pm

I'm working on build #7, #8 and #9 right now...this neck was a thought for #10. I've done "real" fretted, nail frets, toothpick frets, fretless, diatonic. I figure very garage needs a convertible, right?

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Permalink Reply by Josh Gayou (SmokehouseGuitars) on September 24, 2010 at 4:34am

Just get a nut extender. Magnets will slide and result in sharp/flat notes.

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Permalink Reply by Bluesheart on September 27, 2010 at 12:12pm

I hear what folks are saying about magnets/sliding/warping etc, but It sure seems like a great idea. I have toyed with the idea of changeable fretboards myself, maybe standard and dulcimer or some kind of minor mode. Sure looks worth exploring to me. I think your idea of strong/small magnets is brilliant! if the steel insert in the fret board could be shaped right, they would help w/warping? Some sort of pocket or latch for board to slide into would cure the magnet slip potential. I say go for it, or turn your head while I steal your plans! ;-0

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Permalink Reply by rich poulin on September 27, 2010 at 7:56pm

Steal away...in the meantime I've got to sell a couple guitars and make a bit of cash for some aluminum, and maybe a tube of 2P-10 glue to hold it all together. If anyone tries it out, let me know how it goes.

Bluesheart said:

I hear what folks are saying about magnets/sliding/warping etc, but It sure seems like a great idea. I have toyed with the idea of changeable fretboards myself, maybe standard and dulcimer or some kind of minor mode. Sure looks worth exploring to me. I think your idea of strong/small magnets is brilliant! if the steel insert in the fret board could be shaped right, they would help w/warping? Some sort of pocket or latch for board to slide into would cure the magnet slip potential. I say go for it, or turn your head while I steal your plans! ;-0

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Permalink Reply by Bluesdog on September 27, 2010 at 8:44pm

Why not just build 2??

You could reinforce the neck with a metal T-bar or square rod (like old martins) and put the magnet's in the fretboard. that should stop warping a little and make a nice base for your magnets to stick to.

If you cut the slot in the neck where the rodd goes and make it a little deeper than it needs to be, put in the rodd and make a filler-strip so its level with the face of the neck and glue that strip to the back of the fretboard you'd have a nice anker to keep your fretboard from sliding around. Insert the magnets in the filler strip attatched to the fretboard and presto, your system works!

You would have a little gully in your neck when you take the fretboard of for slide playing but at least when you put it back on your intonation will be correct.

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