So while asking about some other things I discovered I may just have another problem all together! (So I figured I should probably just start a whole new thread on this one lol)
From what i understood, I wanted to have the neck/frets just as close to flush with the box as possible... but now it seems I may have to raise the neck to being above the box quite a bit.... and/or lower the nut quite a bit as w
I'll post some pics below- I'd love to know what those experienced builders out there think! I would normally be a bit less cautious and just learn everything by trial and error- however I'm making my father a whole guitar/amp kit for christmas- and thus would like to avoid any MAJOR hiccups if at all possible!
The measurement of the entire neck is about 35 1/2 inches
From the marked spot for the bridge/bolt to the 12 fret down is 17 1/4" - then from the 12th fret up to the spot marked for the nut is about 12 1/2"
So far everyone has been extremely helpful! Looking forward to hearing thoughts!
THANK YOU!
Replies
the 3rd pic looks like the frets all sit lower than the box's lid, so yes, you need to do something to get them higher, at least so a ruler laid on the frets doesn't touch the box.
You could cut the nut slot deeper to use a bolt, but make sure the contact point of the string matches the original nut edge mark, which might be difficult with a bolt that thick, a huge cut could wander off-true. a much smaller bolt or machine screw, say like a 2 inch #4 machine screw would be easier to carve a matching nut slot.
Here's my approach to setting the action at the nut.
You don't need to do anything drastic to make that playable, as i said on your other thread, if you just lift the front of the neck till it,s flush or a touch higher than the box, and the tail 1/8th " higher again, with the angle you introduce you will be fine, of course that means removing a little bit from the top inside the box, and if you are worried about strength, you can glue a strip under the neck inside the box that will fill the gaps made when you lift it as well. a s for the nut, either a smaller bolt, or fill the current channel with a hardwood dowell, sand it back and cut a channel for a new nut I think there is something wrong with your measurements as well, that mark on the box doesn't look to be 5" longer to the 12th than 12th to the nut, but anyway if it's 12 1/2" to the 12th fret, your bridge needs to be 12 1/2" again from the 12th fret
OK- I'm going to mess with the measurements then- I just went off of where they had it marked... it's a cbgitty neck? I'll see where it would sit if doing the 12 1/2 inch thing for sure.
Thanks for your help- I'm going to try this first! I would have to do the least modifications this way- I don't think I'll have to remove anything from the box top, but we'll see! I'm pretty sure I can just raise the neck, and then the tail a bit more as you stated! I am going to have to wait til I get back on monday to play with it though :( lol
Sure is addicting! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR HELP!
Yup- I just stuck a string in it- it is too high...
I'm wondering if I can get away with just lowering the notch the nut sits in? Or should I raise the neck/frets higher? Or???
Dan is right, with a fretted neck, string clearance above the box is imperative to avoid problems. With your neck already fretted, you would need to figure a method to raise the overall height of the neck relative to the box, as if there was a 1/4" fretboard glued onto the surface of the neck. This will address the "strings hitting the box when fretting a note" issue.
The other question you have about the bolt style nut...perhaps instead of cutting notches to lower the strings (which would likely result in string fatigue/breakage/friction & loss of tuning stability), you could use a smaller diameter bolt that results in the strings at the first fret being no higher than 3mm above the top of the 1st fret, or about the thickness of a dime.
The further the player must press the strings down to make contact with the fret, the more likely that the pitch of each string will raise to being sharp, not in-tune.
Best wishes.
OK- thank you! :)
Unless I am building a fretless model, I always use an add-on fingerboard that is roughly 1/4 inch thick.
If you make the fretboard flush with the box lid, you run the risk of the strings hitting the box when you fret a string. An added bonus is that if you glue on a fretboard, you add structural strength to the neck.
You can put your frets directly onto the neck itself, but then you would have to notch the neck deeply enough to get it above the level of the lid. Then you would need to add a reinforcing piece to the back of the neck to make up for what you cut away. Much easier just to add a fretboard. You can get "scants" at your local home improvement store that are already 1/4 inch thick, and 1.5 inches wide, you just need to cut them to length.