So tomorrow is the expected delivery date of my fret wire, and hopefully the start of my build (the neck bit at least), now I'm sitting here thinking "How the hell do I start a neck???". I have a 1"x2"x3' poplar strip for my neck, and a 1/4"x2"x3" red oak strip for a fretboard. I got the fretboard template from C. B. Gitty, and I know I'm supposed to use that as a guide for the fret placement, but I don't know where to actually star considering the "Scale" is from nut to bridge but I don't have a nut (Doing a zero fret) or a stable bridge (using a free floating piece of copper pipe). What do I do?
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look at the box, put a bit of painter's tape about where you want the bridge, lay the neck out next to it and go through the scale templates, lay out the one you want on top with the bridge at the bit of tape, shift it a tad to account for the fact the bridge will be 1/10 to 1/4 off after adjusting the intonation, start making pencil marks for where the stick meets the box ends, where the bridge sits on the neck, where the nut/zero-fret sits, headstock space above that....
Thank you much! Combining that with what Russell said should make this fairly simple. So again, thanks!
First off...Welcome Roland, glad to see young people involved and interested, especially in today's modern "get out of my way---technology oriented--hand it to me on a platter" minded young people today, present company(and many others) excluded.
Which brings me to this, I think you should introduce yourself a little more, to include age. Why?? Most here whom will be giving advice, will not know your level of experience handling power tools or hand tools, or what you even have available to you, or whether this is a lone venture, or if you have help and guidance.
Now don't take this as being treated different, but you could be 12yrs old, doing this on your own, and get advice to use a power saw and...well, we all want you to have the same amount of fingers you started with LOL.
So please...what tools are available to you, what tools have you had some training on, and if you prefer not to mention age, that's ok, but advice on a build could be more helpful with this info, no offense intended.
Don't worry about having all the latest greatest power tools either, the whole point here is that these git's can be made with simple hand tools, but even they need to be handled in a safe manor.
Please don't take this wrong, I'm only posting this because of a statement you made about your age in the Glass Git's thread you started.
Welcome again, looking forward to seeing your first build.
Rich
p.s. if I'm out of line, I'll delete this post.
No no, it's all fine, no worries! Currently 15, 16 soon. Have access to a table saw, a handheld circular saw, multiple hand saws, a scroll saw, multiple handheld drills, a drill press, a belt sander, plenty of grinders, and of course pliers and screwdrivers and such. Basically if you can name it, I can probably get it. As far as experience goes, I have a fair amount with it all, except the table saw.
Your zero fret is the nut so measure from that. What I did/do is determine the scale length. 25 inch is popular For reference a Les Paul is 24.75 and a Stratocaster is 25.5, Measure your box and figure the bridge at 1/3 to 1/4 the distance from the rear of the box. Add 5 to 6 inches for the headstock and about an inch a half out the back for a neckthru design. That should get you started. Don't worry about the length until you have the neck done, you can cut it to length before installing in the box. Google Cigar Box Neck and watch videos by Glenn Watt and others.
Russ
Hey Russell, thank you so much! My biggest dilemma was figuring out where the bridge would end up at, and you've solved that issue for me. Thanks again!