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Permalink Reply by BrianQ. on March 16, 2022 at 4:43am

Both doable. Go to the “Search” box at the top of the page & type those two in & it will probably lead you to discussions & pictures pertaining to them? I have used toothpicks on lots of builds, basically you can saw/file a shallow channel in the neck to receive the toothpick or sand the bottom of toothpick flat before gluing? Only hard thing is leveling them, use some extra fine sandpaper for this, they can get taken down too fast with more coarse grits? The slower the better? On the Bridge, all you do is file a groove & glue the nail in, lower the Bridge by flat sanding the bottom of it?  Simple :) good luck 

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Permalink Reply by BrianQ. on March 16, 2022 at 4:55am

Also, I’ve tried smaller fence nails with good success, but thicker nails gave better sustain?

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Permalink Reply by Ghostbuttons on March 16, 2022 at 12:57pm

I’ve done a few Offset neck for instance. I’ve also used Cocktail skewers.  As BrianQ noted, sanding to level the frets can be touchy. I tended to sand the bottom of the fret so that it didn’t wobble when I glued it to the fretboard.  I’ve also done the Nail on wood bridge.  I found that filing a channel in the wood let the tension from strings keep the nail in place without glue.  Keep in mind I’m a little more rustic than some builders here. I work off of a card table with hand tools since that is what space allows. So there is probably better advice out there.

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Permalink Reply by Matthew Borczon on April 2, 2022 at 11:43am

I just posted a video of a cookie tin banjo I made with toothpick frets, they work great for me. You can look if you get time.

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