I want to practice making frets with let's say nails or bamboo or any other suggestions? First I need to figure how to build a cbg that has not too high raised strings. All my fretless slides have been perfect. I'm not sure how to keep the strings from being to high. On one build I did a neck through and glued a second piece of wood to try and keep the strings low enough....the neck ended up even with the body but when I put strings, nut and bridge (screw bolts) on they still ended up high like a slide guitar...something I'm missing...I wanna fret guitar...
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on my first cbg i used toothpicks, but hindsight being 20/20 id just get some bulk fret wire from cbgitty. its cheap and plentiful. frettn is actually a lot easier than it seems. youtube is full of vids showing how to do it and i can definitly recomend dan sleeps vids also. the real trick to frettn is gettn your scale correct. i now have a fret rule i got from stew mac, but before i got that i used to mark my fret positions out by placing the fretboard up to the neck on my 6 string SG. (not a gibson but one of the silvertone knock off copies).
If you want low action and proper intonation on a fretted, you gotta angle the top of the neck back (down) from the top of box. About 2-3 degrees is good, especially if you then angle the headstock back by about 12-15 degrees from the neck. It also helps to have a fretboard that sits above the box; most people seem to use 1/4" hardwood for this purpose, because it holds fret tangs well. If you wanna practice, get a piece of poplar for a practice neck, and a cheap box.you can shim the neck back from the tail end to achieve your 2-3 degree down angle. The Phrygian Kid uses a neat trick, by cutting a scarf joint in the tail end of the neck, then sliding the resultant wedge until you get your neck angle right.
Then you can try fretting with...bobby pins. The flat ones. Use super glue; if you screw up the fret measurement, you can pop em off and start over. You can also use bamboo skewers, or finishing nails. Or you can go straight to Dan's vids, and learn how to do fretting properly.
Dans videos ...I was sent a link but maybe doesn't work on a mobile device...
Someone please send again....sorry and thanks as usual gotta make one fretted and learn
"get a piece of poplar for a practice neck, and a cheap box.you can shim the neck back from the tail end to achieve your 2-3 degree down angle. The Phrygian Kid uses a neat trick, by cutting a scarf joint in the tail end of the neck, then sliding the resultant wedge until you get your neck angle right.
Shim the neck down???? What does that mean.
What's a scarf joint? Can I have hit? Just kidding but really
I have a regular drill and some hand saws...a few chisels..
I know it's been down without power tools. I've seen incredible results...
I'm not trying to be a smart ass but how do you do the about not necccessrily what do you do as you be explained already.
Replies
on my first cbg i used toothpicks, but hindsight being 20/20 id just get some bulk fret wire from cbgitty. its cheap and plentiful. frettn is actually a lot easier than it seems. youtube is full of vids showing how to do it and i can definitly recomend dan sleeps vids also. the real trick to frettn is gettn your scale correct. i now have a fret rule i got from stew mac, but before i got that i used to mark my fret positions out by placing the fretboard up to the neck on my 6 string SG. (not a gibson but one of the silvertone knock off copies).
Then you can try fretting with...bobby pins. The flat ones. Use super glue; if you screw up the fret measurement, you can pop em off and start over. You can also use bamboo skewers, or finishing nails. Or you can go straight to Dan's vids, and learn how to do fretting properly.
Someone please send again....sorry and thanks as usual gotta make one fretted and learn
Shim the neck down???? What does that mean.
What's a scarf joint? Can I have hit? Just kidding but really
I have a regular drill and some hand saws...a few chisels..
I know it's been down without power tools. I've seen incredible results...
I'm not trying to be a smart ass but how do you do the about not necccessrily what do you do as you be explained already.
Proper Prior Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance.
Get a piece of paper and draw it all out before you start.
If you look at my page here on CBN, I made some beginner videos that should help a bit.
Basic Neck Layout
http://www.cigarboxnation.com/video/basic-neck-layout
How To Fret A Neck
http://www.cigarboxnation.com/video/how-to-fret-a-neck
String Action and Height
http://www.cigarboxnation.com/video/how-to-fret-a-neck