Comment

Comment by Bill Harbour on May 8, 2011 at 1:08am

you guys that play slide only...would you take a measurement at the first and twelve fret...fret to string. from you measurements I can come up with an average. thanks.

Comment by Wichita Sam on May 7, 2011 at 3:27am

Bill,

 

My best recommendation is to build  a second CBG just for picking and fretwork.  A "compromise" instrument at this point will only slow down your learning.

 

the best,

 

Wichita Sam

Comment by Mark Bliss on May 7, 2011 at 2:28am

Theres a broad range for personal preference.

So far I havent found that happy medium. But my slide technique is very novice at best. So far low enough to play fretted is too low for slide for me, and vice versa.

So I would suggest starting high if you want to play slide. As you progress you can lower the action to suit.

Comment by Bill Harbour on May 7, 2011 at 2:22am

does anyone have any recommendations for setting the action? mine's a 24.75 scale neck. I want to both play slide and fret the cbg. thanks

Comment by Wichita Sam on May 6, 2011 at 8:11am

OK DC.

 

Now you have the basics, you can varying it to suit your personal taste.  The single dots don't have to be centered... I do quite a few with the singles closer to the top (bass) side of the neck and the double dots with one centered and one in line with the singles.   You can vary the size of the dots  1/4 (big) at octave and 7ths and 3/16 elsewhere.  And you can vary color.  I've done several flag themed CBGs with red and white and even blue dots.

 

And, of course you're not limited to dots... welcome to the world of inlay...

 

the best,

 

Wichita Sam

Comment by Dilly Crisp on May 6, 2011 at 6:18am

Thanks Wichita Sam. Thats exactly what I was looking for. The position markers. I had used Stew-Macs fret calculator but could find no info on markers. Once again thanks very much.

Comment by JonBouye on May 6, 2011 at 5:56am

Lesson learned. Last week I went to the lumber shed and picked up some 6' pieces of poplar to do the neck for my next build. I checked it out to make sure it was nice and flat, no bows, etc. I got sidetracked and didn't get back to it until yesterday. I put it on the bench and it had a sustinct bow in it.

 

I learned to never stand a blank on it's end. Lay it flat, on spacers to let the air circulate all around. Having never worked with wood before I am developing a healthy respect for those in the trade. Sure glad I found this out before the rosewood and mahogany arrived.

Comment by Wichita Sam on May 5, 2011 at 10:53pm

DC,

 

Do you mean fretlines?  or, position markers?  If your talking about where each and every fret would go on the fretboard relative to the nut there are lots of discussion on it.  search "fretting"  also you can use the StewartMacDonald fretting  calculator  http://www.stewmac.com/FretCalculator . 

 

If you are asking about position marker placement (position markers are those dots on the fretboard and/or the side of the neck that gives the player cues as to where they are positioning their slide or fingers relative to the number of frets) there are several schemes.  The most common scheme for position markers are between frets, with single markers just short of (on the nut side of) fret # 3, 5,7, 9, 15,  17, 19, etc and double markers at 12 and 24 (if you have that many frets).  some schemes don't use position markers at 3 and 15.  some schemes will use double markers at 7 and 19 as well as 12 (which is the octave).

 

this ought to get you started.  hope this helps..

 

the best,

 

Wichita Sam

Comment by Dilly Crisp on May 5, 2011 at 6:14pm

I have just built my first fret board 25.5" scale. I am having trouble locating info on where the fret markers should go, any help would be really appreciated. Thanks

Comment by Bill Harbour on May 5, 2011 at 8:08am

Mark:

 

Yes...the depth of the nut is very excessive.  I've got to cut it and the bridge way down, but as you suggested, will do it in little steps.  I may add glue a little wood to the buttom of the nut slot.  Maybe that'll help strengthen it.  Another drawback of having a nut to thick is that it gives me less room on the headstock for string trees of some sort.

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• …
• 226
• 227
• 228
• 229
• 230
• …
• 300
• Next ›
• Page