Forums

First Build Fret Frustration

Posted by Doug Patterson on August 25, 2011 at 9:33am in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion

Just completed my first build, a three string, and am very happy with the results . . with one frustration: frets and tuning.  I built and fretted to a 24" scale.  The overtones are perfect on fret 12 but the octaves only play on fret 11, throwing everything off.  I've played with the bridge placement (a lot!) and rechecked my measurements, but everything is askew.  If I place the bridge so that the octave is on fret 12 then the overtone plays on 13.  I intend to learn to play slide on this guitar so I suppose I can live with the relativity but I don't want to make the same mistake (whatever it is) on my next projects.  Any words of advice from the master builders here?

 

Many thanks!

You need to be a member of Cigar Box Nation to add comments!

Join Cigar Box Nation

Email me when people reply –
Follow

Replies

  • Dan Sleep August 25, 2011 at 8:28pm
    Glad you got it fixed...
  • Wes "I'm Baaaaack" Yates August 25, 2011 at 7:47pm

    We aim to please...

     

    -WY

  • Doug Patterson August 25, 2011 at 7:45pm
    Well, you guys were right . . string height.  I lowered the nut and the bridge and everything is now A-OK.  Many thanks for the advice and lesson learned!
  • Dan Sleep August 25, 2011 at 10:39am
    I am with Wes on this one, sounds like string height. Can you post a side picture of the neck so we can see the string height at the nut? And if you haven't seen it already, check out my fretting video on my page here on CBN.
  • Wes "I'm Baaaaack" Yates August 25, 2011 at 9:56am

    BTW, you will get opinions and answers on this. DO try them all!

     

    -WY

  • Wes "I'm Baaaaack" Yates August 25, 2011 at 9:50am

    Check the scale also check the string height. If its too high, that will put excess tension on the strings and make it go sharp. If you play slide, fretting and intonation would be less of a problem. You don't need to put the strings all the way to the frets for a slide. In fact, when you do slide, you only need to rest the slide on the strings. Not really push them down.

     

    Excess string height at the nut are my biggest problems. Makes the 1 - 4 frets sharp. Thus I decrease the nut-to-1st fret distance by 1/32". 'Diane in Chicago' and I do that. Works out real well. If you have proper intonation at the 12th but the notes are sharp around those frets, it sounds like string height.

     

    -WY

This reply was deleted.