I want to build a GBG using the bridge and tail piece used in a Les Paul, well that style. With a les paul the neck angles back something like 14 degrees, or their abouts. My understanding is the bridge is high so then the strings will be to high off the frets, so the tilt back of the neck will fix this.
Am I on the right track here is this the thinking or it their something else going on that I am missing. Tilting the neck back with a through neck will add a element of complication to things.
Cheers Ron.
Replies
You guys can use your math if you like but it makes my head hurt!
With a mason's level, or any straight edge that's long enough to reach from nut to bridge, I can measure the string height across the neck and make neck angle, or bridge/nut, adjustments as needed.
If the neck angle is correct, laying the straight edge on the frets from the nut should just miss touching the bridge.
John
If we consider the strings the hypotenuse of a right angle triangle, and the plane of the soundboard the adjacent side and the height of the bridge the opposite side then we can use simple trigonometry to calculate the desired angle.
Desired angle (in radians) = sin (bridge height/ string length from join to bridge)....
= tan (bridge height / length of soundboard from neck join to saddle)
Because I often do 24 frets clear of the box I get less bridge height from a steep angle than a lot of you guys who join at fret 14 or whatever an have the saddle right near the box end..
I assumed Ron meant 1.4º
Guitar neck pockets are generally cut at 2º.
At 14º, I figgure the bridge would need to be a couple of feet tall!
John
Sorry guys I have missed the mark, yes thinking of headstock numbers, sharp eyes and minds here are a good thing.
"For those of you who aren't familiar with the construction of a Les Paul guitar I'd like to explain a bit about the neck angle. On a Les Paul the neck glues into the body on an angle somewhere between 3.5 and 4.5 degrees. The reason for the angle is the strings need a little height so they can properly align with the bridge of the guitar. I also suspect that playing comfort might figure in to the equation although I have had a number of guitars that use a straight angle that are comfortable to play. In fact most electric and almost all acoustic guitars have zero neck angle."
I have also found mention of 3-5 degrees, 4 degrees should hit the mark. With a zillion copies and about as many modles of the orginal this could be a bigger range, but that would bring into question what is a Les Paul, since this is CBG's we dont need no stinkin rules, so rock on. I guess it could a cigar box paul, or a les box guitar Cheers Ron.
Cheers Ron.
WRONG..
Pretty sure Leo Fender pioneered the perpendicular neck. I may be wrong, but I can tell you for a fact that most guitars have the neck angled in for sure. Good luck finding an acoustic guitar with a zero neck angle. The reason the les Paul features an angled neck is because it is from Gibson, who were already making top end guitars and mandolins.. And who created the archtop guitar. Consider that the les has had three very different bridges in its sixty year life.. It's more like the bridge was designed to fit this neck angle. Take a look at the guitars older cousins like violin family, even banjos.. Tall bridges make a soundboard louder
Phrygian Kid, is it really the height of the bridge making the soundboard louder or is the downward pressure on the bridge being greater because of the steeper string break angle on the bridge that makes it louder, If you could make bridge higher without any more pressure on the board would it really sound any different?
Ok it's a tall bridge and all the properties that this entails ok???
Same as heavier strings do not have more tone before you tune em to pitch...
; ), just wanted someone to say it outloud, lol. I have had musicians and music store owners tell me that the higher bridge is louder, when asked why I get the same answer, I don't know it just is. LOL. Point being, a flat neck to box can be just as loud, you just have to build it right.
By the way I am not partial to either one, both have there place.
Will always be louder
And have a better, more woody tone..
NOTE.. We are talking specifically about bridges with a separate tailpiece, so the bridge pushes down on the soundboard. Integrated designs like a flattops with the pins etc are therefore the string tension is trying to pull them off the soundboard, and are an entirely different beast
The downside is this...
It's marginally trickier to build, that's all
Tell you what..
I will do a build blog soon and show you all my little secrets.
You save up two boxes the same..
And then take te Pepsi challenge :)
No need I get it. Would like to see your secret tricks though. The down pressure from string angle is one reason I make my tailpiece like I do, get the string closer to the bridge, better angle. Its all geometry. Here is a new thought, do you think the length of string behind the bridge effects the sound? hmm, that you could only get with a high bridge (longer) if i make any sense.
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