I have just finished a 4 string acoustic, my first build. I used the mandolin tail piece from CBGITTY.
1- strings are 1/8" at the first fret
2--Strings are 3/8" at the last or 20th fret.
3- when holding down a string on the fret it seems to go dead or flat?
4- the scale I used was a 25" scale.
Are the strings to far above the fret board??
Replies
Glad the advice helped. You have to watch your frets they can cause you some grief given a chance and it is real easy to get your nut and your bridge too high when building. However, even off the shelf commercial guitars need to be setup before they will play right.
As for learning to play, there are some good videos on how to play in the how to play group. Also you might want to check out Keni Lee Burgess's videos he sells on ebay. How do you have your four string tuned? I have mine tuned to Dgbd, like a banjo without the 5th string. This gives me the ability to play slide and fret chords like a banjo. Keni Lee's has a good CD on playing the 4 string cigar gox guitar set to this tuning.
The biggest thing is to have fun with it. Remember, a large number of songs are only 3 chords played I IV V.
Glad the guitar is sounding good.
Brian Hunt.
Thank you, I had a couple of frets too high. Went with smaller bolts for bridge and neck. I also lowered the tail piece to help get the strings lower. All this lowered the strings and it sound pretty good. Now I should learn how to play a guitar??
Thanks,
Rich
I will double check my fret height and I can readjust the bridge or nut also.
Thanks for the advice.
Are your frets level and the same height. If they are not level, then you may need to level them with a file and then re-round and polish them. You can check them with a straight edge to make sure they are the same height without any frets standing too high or too low.
On string height, your strings should sit on your nut so that the bottom of them is set at about the same height from your fret board as the height of your frets. I use a half pencil to measure this height by drawing a line on the nut while the flat side rests on the frets. Don't get the strings too low at the nut, or they will buzz on the first fret. You can tell this is the case if you fret a buzzing string at the first fret and the buzz dissapears. Also, if you have your string height too high at your nut, it will increase string tension when you fret at the first fret and make it harder to play, plus it will adversely affect intonation.
The Low E should sit a little higher than the High E. Adjust this thought as necessary for the number of strings you are using on a cigar box guitar and their gage or thickness. On a regular electric guitar the string height is often set at 2mm on the low E and 1.5mm on the high E. On an acoustic 3/32 - 5/64 of an inch on the low E and 3/64 to 5/64 of an inch on the high E is a common set of ranges. In metric these measurements would be around 3.2mm for the low E and the high E will be around 2.7mm. I happen to like my action a little higher at the 12th fret to allow for slide with less chance of clicking the frets with my slide, but not so high it affects my intonation.
String action height is often a matter of preference. I have a friend who likes his action so low on his electric lead guitar that I can't hardly take my fingers off the strings without playing an unintentional note, but he is a much, much better player than I may ever be no matter how much I practice. If you have a light touch, you can get away with a lower action than a player that has a heavier touch.
hope this helps.
Brian Hunt.
The strings sound a little high for fretting, but ok for slide.
Which fret does the string go dead or start buzzing on? This could be due to one or more of the frets behind it being too high.