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Fret board to box join question.

Posted by Craig Howard on February 28, 2014 at 5:29pm in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion

To those of you that overlap your fret board onto the top of the box.(the lid) ..are you leaving a gap at all?

I have been puzzling out  this part of the design and have most of it figured except if I should leave a gap or not.

The neck will run thru but not out the back in my build.

I want to be able to remove the lid for access. It will not be hinged but may look as if it is. It will slide in and screw down. 

I would not want to glue the fret board to the box in anyway.

The run thru neck will have a gap to the underside of the lid.

I am favoring a gap and a short overlap of the fret board at the moment.  Maybe one longish fret space only.

An example of  someones  fret board that overlaps the box.

20140224_112321

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Replies

  • Slowpaw Steve T April 8, 2014 at 1:52am

    It would be necessary for a six string as the neck and heel are designed differently from a 3 or 4 string and need an overlap into the box, but for 3 or 4 strings this would be unnecessary and would hamper the action of the lid should you wish to move it. (-:

    306271372?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024

  • Turkeychicken April 7, 2014 at 11:05pm
    I built the guitar in the pic that you referred to. Actually the fretboard is not on top of the box like you suspect...
    I under cut the neck pocket, and then slowly and carefully file the opening until the neck fits good and snug.

    20131218_144206.jpg

  • Marcus Darwell March 1, 2014 at 1:55am
    Ive started making mine with a floating box so the overlap actually holds the box in place....as does the bridge. Prolly affects the acoustics somewhat but what the heck, it's a CBG ...........
  • The Phrygian Kid March 1, 2014 at 1:35am
    I generally find I can get a better result with the entire fretboard clear of the box, thus shunting the bridge closer to the centre by an inch or two. A little fingerboard over the box does look nice, but is it really practical on a big square box with no cutaways? I have done it with really big ones where I wish I had done some fretboard over the box, but that takes a pretty big box, and a decent scale length.
  • Richey Kay March 1, 2014 at 12:51am

    Interesting topic Craig. I've thought about this myself many times, and never done it. Wouldn't this mean you'd have to detach and slide out the neck if you ever  needed to get into the box (to fix electronics etc.)? I guess you could cut an access panel on the back though...306252984?profile=RESIZE_480x480

    On this one the lid is glued down for better acoustics, and there is a small access panel on the back.

    ...but I did cut out the box to accommodate the fretboard overlap306254177?profile=RESIZE_320x320.

  • Ron "Oily" Sprague February 28, 2014 at 11:02pm
    I have commercial gits built with a cantilevered fretboard over the soundboard (the gapped fretboard over the top). The idea behind it is to let as much of the soundboard vibrate as possible, as far as possible toward the edges where it is attached. On the relatively small sound chamber of a 9" x 6" x 1-1/2" CBG, I think it may not make that much tonal difference, other than aesthetic. But CBGs have a way of tossing theory into the scrap heap.
  • Bruce Myers February 28, 2014 at 5:35pm

    I have done a few the way you are talking about, I just leave enough clearance under the fretboard to slide the neck on and off without any damage or scuffing on the box lid. I let mine over hang about an 1-1/4" usually but there is no hard and fast rule regarding that.

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