Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Slow Slough Guitars on June 7, 2014 at 5:52pm

Have a long lead from the tail to the bridge? Sounds like the bridge is going to need to be in the middle of the box

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Permalink Reply by the anonymous pick on June 7, 2014 at 6:55pm

if  you    still  can,   ..   use a longer  neck  ,  move  the bridge  forward  and  the   whole scale (and fret board )  with  it  . 

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Permalink Reply by Sawbones on June 7, 2014 at 6:56pm

Id run it,but if its a customers box,call him.

How in the box do you put the bridge?And how far back.As long as the scale looks right w/ the neck and fretboard/neck your good.Must be measured tho.

11"+ boxes always work for me.

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Permalink Reply by Ron "Oily" Sprague on June 7, 2014 at 7:45pm

I just used FretCalc to see where 18, 20, 22 and 24 frets clear of the box would be, and the bridge.

Fret Nut to Fret Fret to Fret
1 1.375" 1.375"
2 2.673" 1.298"
3 3.898" 1.225"
4 5.054" 1.156"
5 6.146" 1.091"
6 7.176" 1.030"
7 8.148" 0.972"
8 9.066" 0.918"
9 9.932" 0.866"
10 10.750" 0.818"
11 11.522" 0.772"
12 12.250" 0.728"
13 12.938" 0.688"
14 13.586" 0.649"
15 14.199" 0.613"
16 14.777" 0.578"
17 15.323" 0.546"
18 15.838" 0.515" <=.You'll have 6 frets overlapping the box (still partly playable), with the bridge 8.662" in from the joint
19 16.324" 0.486"
20 16.783" 0.459" <=.You'll have 4 frets overlapping the box (hardly unusable), with the bridge 7.617" in from the joint
21 17.216" 0.433"
22 17.625" 0.409" <= You'll have 2 frets overlapping the box (hardly unusable), with the bridge 6.375" in from the joint
23 18.011" 0.386"
24 18.375" 0.364" <= You'll have 0 frets overlapping the box, with the bridge 6.125" in from the joint

Basically, your bridge will be somewhere approximately between the center of the box, to about 3/4 of the box length in from the neck joint, depending on how many frets you want to overlap. I really don't see the problem on a 12" box, unless you are going to cover up some particularly stunning graphics (use a narrower bridge), or destroy them by cutting a center soundhole, and the client wants to preserve them. I build my own boxes at 12 to 13" long, and normally use a 25.5" Strat scale, because that's what I'm used to, but there's no reason you can't use 24-1/2" on that size box.

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Permalink Reply by Slowpaw Steve T on June 7, 2014 at 8:46pm

12.5 " is a big box, if you run the 25.5" scaled fretted neck in to the box the frets would be difficult to reach, I would cut the frets at the edge of the box, the bridge will remain in the best position down near the tail and chances are those ultra high notes will never be used anyway with fingers, but if you really need them a slide will get to 'em...(-;

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Permalink Reply by The Phrygian Kid on June 7, 2014 at 9:29pm

besides scale length another key factor you gotta decide when designing a guitar is what fret do I join the body at ??

most acoustic guitars join at fret 12 or 14..

I gotta be honest, it boggles my mind that you have 6 replies here and yet you've not published this number and nobody has asked you for it.. (although AP gets it when he says move the whole assembly North a couple clicks...)

there is no standard number here..

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Permalink Reply by Ron "Oily" Sprague on June 8, 2014 at 12:04am

It's implicit in my response to him, and analogous to pick's: that's why I mentioned 18 through 24 frets clear of the body, all of which are doable at 24-1/2" with a 12.5" long box - pick how many you want clear of the body from the above numbers; otherwise, at 12-14 frets clear of the body, your bridge, as you well know, will either be sitting on the end of the box, or fall off the edge for 24-1/2" scale.

So, just to satisfy the Kid and everyone else's, including my, curiosity, how many frets DID you do, at what fret were you planning on attaching the neck to the body, and where would you like your bridge on the top of the box? I usually figure out where I want my bridge first, approximately, then measure the scale length from there up the neck toward the head stock, before I cut scarfs, relieves, or anything else, during an initial dry fit.

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Permalink Reply by The Capo Kid on June 8, 2014 at 12:52am

I've just done 3 license plate builds with 12.5in boxes , 2 are fender scale one has 17 frets to the body and the other has 19 frets to the body and the last build is a Gibson scale with 18 frets to the body , I think it's down to how many frets do you use use .

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Permalink Reply by Ron "Oily" Sprague on June 8, 2014 at 2:49am

Zackly.

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Permalink Reply by The Phrygian Kid on June 8, 2014 at 3:01am

well....

it may be down to how many frets do you use?, but id say not really, no..

cos it moves the bridge, which is why we're talking about it!  :)

also, some might consider it foolish to build around the parameters of how they currently play, because some may intend to work on improving / expanding their playing...

just my opinion, but the top 10 frets on a strat are not an optional extra like power windows. (although its true there are 21 and 22 fret models, which undoubtedly dilutes the argument and makes me look foolish lolls)..

if you're really hung up on wasting fret wire of course you needn't fret the whole way..  But hey throw Mr Gitty the extra 25c.  Lord knows he earns it

oily heh sorry of course ur right and i know ur a smart dude.  but who the fk has time to read all your stuff?? heh..

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Permalink Reply by Ron "Oily" Sprague on June 8, 2014 at 4:42am

Well...You did ;-). Ok, so not how many you use, but how many do you INTEND to use, perhaps? Many frets as are made available, is one way to look at it. There's other builders here who only fret 12, and have leftover neck clear of the box. Maybe they got tired of fretting, or maybe they play slide in only a few positions, or they're intending to install 4 humbuckers in a row without cutting into the box face, like funky Teisco...hmmm. That could work...

But meanwhile, I also notice Jimbo is not back with his answers yet...perhaps he's in the shop working something out...or sleeping on it...

Interesting discussion. Food for thought, and all that. On a completely unrelated note, how do you make your ginger beer? ;-)

Oh, wait, Jimbo's back...

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Permalink Reply by Jimbo Cawthron on June 8, 2014 at 3:05am

http://www.cigarboxnation.com/photo/ronnie-s-cbg-3?context=user

it is a neck through design like this.

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