Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Diglydog on September 14, 2012 at 6:32am

I use the fret calculator at:

http://www.manchesterguitartech.co.uk/fret-and-nut-calculators/fret...

and then an ordinary steel rule and a pencil. Ideally I use 24.5" but have also used 24" and 25.5".  That said, I have very limited experience and use 24.5" out of personal preference. Not sure what is officially 'best'. If you're going to print off a scale template, make absolutely sure that your printer scaling is right or you may not get what you expected !

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Permalink Reply by BUGGY (C) on September 14, 2012 at 6:45am

Its my understanding that its the rule of 18th

I.e take the bridge to nut length and an 18th of it is the first fret position, then distance left  the next frets is an18th of the remaining diatance to the bridge etc

 etc etc

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Permalink Reply by Diglydog on September 14, 2012 at 6:54am

Probably :-)  All I do is plug the scale length and the number of frets I want into the calculator and it tells me the distance from the nut to each fret, and the distance between frets. I've never done any sums. 

There was also a link in one of the discussions to a compensated fret calculator to correct for string stretch when fretting. I've started to look at scales and string height and stretch and tuning etc but it made my brain hurt :-\

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Permalink Reply by James on September 14, 2012 at 7:58am

http://www.harborfreight.com/hand-tools/calipers-dial-indicators-mi...

bug this is what i have used on 4 builds, it is the perfect tool, im sure you can fine this in the uk or on ebay,  my advice to you would be do not try to print off a template, if you want perfect. my builds are 25" scale

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Permalink Reply by James on September 14, 2012 at 8:11am

https://www.cbgitty.com/cubecart/fretting-guide-download/fretting-g...

here is CB Gitty's fret guide down load, bug every thing you will ever need to know is here , where why what etc fret stuff !!! this is what i did

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Permalink Reply by Ron "Oily" Sprague on September 14, 2012 at 9:45am

You wanna fret scale ruler in the UK? Why? Is something wrong with the Queen?

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Permalink Reply by Diglydog on September 15, 2012 at 2:25am

Nothing wrong with the Queen, Oily, she's an excellent ruler.  However, I suspect that the Queen is Imperial and that Bug may want the modern metric equivalent :-)

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Permalink Reply by BUGGY (C) on September 14, 2012 at 10:41am

Thanks guys this is great stuff and really helpful...

 

Shane recomends a nife sharpening grinding stone for doing the edges of frets ideally from the £1 shop eventually moulds its self to the perfect shape.

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Permalink Reply by Mark on September 14, 2012 at 11:24am

Much better to calculate the measurements and then mark out using an ordinary steel rule.
There's plenty of spreadsheets and calculators out there - if you have trouble finding one I could e-mail you the one I use. The online calculators mentioned look like they'll do the job.
The thing about dividing by 18 is a rough approximation - there are better methods. But don't get hung up on ultimate extreme accuracy because there's a limit beyond which most people won't be able to hear a difference.

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Permalink Reply by Michael Fred Johnson on September 15, 2012 at 12:28am

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Permalink Reply by BUGGY (C) on October 18, 2012 at 8:15pm

Well I finally ordered my fret scale rulers....so we will see if that improves things..

I think one of my issues was the nut as I was using was a bolt and it was offsetting my scale

I made a small guitar once and if you go off the trad scales, rule of 18th works

Ie an 18th of the distance left from nut to bridge,

gives you first fret position,

then an 18th of the distance from first fret to bridge,gives you the second fret position etc etc

But that one below makes it simple ...going to try it later ..

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Permalink Reply by BUGGY (C) on October 18, 2012 at 8:22pm

I like James Idea of big calipers, so its accurate, as you cant measure to this level of accuracy on a ruller.

Michael are you saying the distance becomes larger if the nut to fretboard measurement is bigger as im not quite getting measurement AC ? 

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