hello, I'm going to finish my first cbg, but I have a doubt: must the strings be parallel to the handle? or the height of the bridge can it be larger than the height of nut to be easier to strum?
Thanks and excuse me for my pour english ;)
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The nut slot needs to be at least the height of your frets if you have them. I stack popsicle sticks or scrap wood and tune up an old string to get the bridge height I like and then make my final bridge from those measurements.
Hi. Personally I think its a matter of taste. You can use standard height, for instance, my acoustic guitar has 0.035 of an inch at the nut, and 0.075 at the last fret, but I built my first CBG much higher than that, since I wanted to learn slide playing, and I'm not so good at it so far. The extra height gives me room for error, without much change in sound. I hope my point, and other people's point of vue, will help you determine what you would like.
thank you very much for your advices! :)) As this is my first cbg, I'll try to keep the proportions Ron indicates, but I'll let fretless. i Will follow tour advice L.J. : the bridge a little higher than the nut. ... so I increase my chances of play "fair" with it ;). for the following, I will try to make a second cbg with frets, with all the precision that it takes to build it. I'm,impatient to finish my first cbg, and slide Wotherspoon it :)). It's really great to be able to have your advices so fast, and tank you for the métric translation Ron :)
Since you are from Belgium, you'll want this in metric:
String height at nut (above first fret): 2 mm
String height above 12th fret: 3 mm
Others recommend the thickness of your last (thickest) string at the first fret, then half again as thick (that's 1.5 x) at the 12th fret. That's for fretted necks; for unfretted necks on which to play slide, you can go with a larger distance, 3-4 mm above neck all the way from nut to bridge above the fretboard.
The Capo Kid > Ron "Oily" SpragueFebruary 22, 2013 at 5:31pm
Hi as this is my first build and being used to building 6 string electrics , i've set the strings to 1mm above the 1st fret and 2mm above the 12th fret is this too low to play slide on ?
I like the bridge a little higher than the nut. You have to worry about it being too high if it is fretted. But if your building fretless the height is more of a comfort issue.
Replies
The nut slot needs to be at least the height of your frets if you have them. I stack popsicle sticks or scrap wood and tune up an old string to get the bridge height I like and then make my final bridge from those measurements.
Wade
Hi. Personally I think its a matter of taste. You can use standard height, for instance, my acoustic guitar has 0.035 of an inch at the nut, and 0.075 at the last fret, but I built my first CBG much higher than that, since I wanted to learn slide playing, and I'm not so good at it so far. The extra height gives me room for error, without much change in sound. I hope my point, and other people's point of vue, will help you determine what you would like.
String height at nut (above first fret): 2 mm
String height above 12th fret: 3 mm
Others recommend the thickness of your last (thickest) string at the first fret, then half again as thick (that's 1.5 x) at the 12th fret. That's for fretted necks; for unfretted necks on which to play slide, you can go with a larger distance, 3-4 mm above neck all the way from nut to bridge above the fretboard.
Hi as this is my first build and being used to building 6 string electrics , i've set the strings to 1mm above the 1st fret and 2mm above the 12th fret is this too low to play slide on ?
I like the bridge a little higher than the nut. You have to worry about it being too high if it is fretted. But if your building fretless the height is more of a comfort issue.