The idea of worrying about accuracies of better than half a millimetre seems pointless to me. If you've got your frets within half a millimetre then you really are doing pretty well. For example, at the 7th fret position on a neck with the typical Fender scale-length of 25.5 inches, half a millimetre is equivalent to about 1/50th of a semitone. Now there are plenty of other factors that affect the tuning or intonation of a guitar and some of those will have a much greater effect than 1/50th of a semitone.
The really important thing to remember is what Old Lowe has mentioned - don't measure the position for a fret from the fret immediately before. Always measure from the same fixed point - usually the nut or "zero fret" position (but the centre-line of the bridge is sometimes an alternative). If you locate each fret from the one before then all the errors you make become cumulative, so that by the time you get to the higher frets you could easily be several millimetres out. Most of the fret calculating spreadsheets and similar aids will give you a series of measurements for each fret from the nut - that's the way to do it.
As an afterthought... even on the best profession guitars, given that the width of fret wire can be a couple of millimetres and there is often a slight flat on top from stoning, I wonder how precisely the actual position of fret-to-string contact matches the theoretical position of the fret.
I had already cut my frets before you guys posted the links to the software that prints out the cut lines.
Well I went ahead and printed to my scale. My cuts were precise. less than 1/2 mm accurate. I was so proud of my old eyes :)
It matters a whole lot!
But not really just try to get em as close as ya can a mm here and there isnt a big deal but if you measure from that first mm mistake and go to the end then you have a few extra mm's
Thats why I use a stick with the frets marked on it as a ruler so I can hold it up next to the neck im working on and double or triple check my lines before I cut them.
I'm glad our 2 cents are the same currency. I was beginning to think my 2 cents made no sense. Just to throw in my credentials for this method, I'm an instrumental music teacher that often judges festivals/competitions. A number of other music teachers have played my instruments and are impressed by the intonation (meaning there's nothing wrong with it. You know how music divas are...). I don't think that I possess any great ability to eyeball between mm marks but maybe I am just that incredible! That's unlikely. If I can do it, anyone can. After my one instance of my nut slot traveling backwards as I cut it, I've really liked doing a zero fret. I know that statement alone could start a new thread. It should also be noted that the longer the scale length, the less accurate the frets need to be. Have you ever tried to set up a mandolin? NOT the most fun thing in the world. (This is also why the soprano trombone is so much harder to play with good intonation than a tenor trombone) Along with the inaccurate of the pencil lines (unless you're using a scribe) you should also take into account the rigidity of your mitre box if you're using one. Mine sucks. Its fine for frets since they're shallow but any big cut makes me want to kill myself.
Roosterman said:
May aswell put my '2 cents' in too...
I use a regular steel ruler to measure out my frets. I too work to the nearest 0.5mm ie. If it says 64.1mm, I mark 64mm, if it says 64.62371mm, I go 64,5mm.
Bear in mind your pencil line is about 0.3mm thick!!! I agree with Josh - most folk playing CBGs are not going to be playing with 0.1mm each time they slide! (Cue angry responses from pro players lol) If they do, it is more a result of 'playing with their ears' than whether the frets are to within 0.137mm accurate!
Just make sure you measure each fret from the nut and you wont go far wrong :o)
Replies
How good can you can line the saw blade over the pencil line anyway?
The really important thing to remember is what Old Lowe has mentioned - don't measure the position for a fret from the fret immediately before. Always measure from the same fixed point - usually the nut or "zero fret" position (but the centre-line of the bridge is sometimes an alternative). If you locate each fret from the one before then all the errors you make become cumulative, so that by the time you get to the higher frets you could easily be several millimetres out. Most of the fret calculating spreadsheets and similar aids will give you a series of measurements for each fret from the nut - that's the way to do it.
As an afterthought... even on the best profession guitars, given that the width of fret wire can be a couple of millimetres and there is often a slight flat on top from stoning, I wonder how precisely the actual position of fret-to-string contact matches the theoretical position of the fret.
The link needs some text to make it clickable.
Well I went ahead and printed to my scale. My cuts were precise. less than 1/2 mm accurate. I was so proud of my old eyes :)
I'll be using that software from now one though.
But not really just try to get em as close as ya can a mm here and there isnt a big deal but if you measure from that first mm mistake and go to the end then you have a few extra mm's
Thats why I use a stick with the frets marked on it as a ruler so I can hold it up next to the neck im working on and double or triple check my lines before I cut them.
Makes a nice print out for your fret markings. Just enter your scale length (nut to bridge) and how many frets you want, and you're good to go.
No files to download, no incompatibility issues either.
Roosterman said:
http://www.fretfind.ekips.org/2d/
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