Ive made a 3 string, its all good to go, but I'm stuck at the bridge and nut part ... are there set measurments to make each or is it a case or trial and error, It will be used more for picking rather than slide so I figure the action needs to be slightly lower..?
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David, I assume you know the fret calculator at Stew Mac to check string length and compensation. If this was done right it might have to do with the action at the nut, if it is too high (which is perfect for slide playing) and you try to fret notes especially the ones close to the nut the string gets stretched a lot and sounds out of tune. But should be ok when played with a slide.
One of the things I do initially when slotting the nut is I take a sharpened pencil and lay it flat on a belt sander and sand it to the halfway point where the tip or point of the pencil is still valid. I can lay the flat sanded portion of the pencil on top of the frets with the lead touching the face of the nut. I can slide the pencil across the frets and leave a pencil line on the nut the height of the fret wire. With that visible line I can rough in the string slots without worry. For final slotting I lay a feeler guage on the fretboard in front of the nut that equals the height of the fretwire with a minor allowance for error and file the slot down until my nut file hits metal. If you find that you have a slot that is too low and you buzz on the 1st fret you can put a drop of super glue in the slot and let it set up and re cut it.
I level and recrown and polish my frets before I do anything to my bridge/saddle.
What does a zero fret do?
A zero fret establishes string height without having to be so meticulous about cutting the string slots in the nut
Thx Ms. Charlotte.... So is zero the same height as the other frets or higher?
It should be slightly higher. Was thinking about a zero fret for my current build but it fell out of my head for a minute and I cut the fretboard already, too short of course.....next time then...
Thx... now I wonder if I could put one on a fretless..well except for the zero one
Jan,
Personally, I can see no reason for the zero fret to be higher. Think about it, every time you fret a string, that fret becomes "zero". If you capo, the fret in front of the capo becomes "zero". If you can fret a string without creating a buzz then there is no reason why you would want to increase the string height unless it was to increase volume or some other issue. There are players who intentionally tune their guitars 1/2 step down and capo in the first fret to make the guitar easier to play and my brother is someone who does this.
David,
if you are fretless, assuming you are still talking guitar and intentionally making the instrument slide only then don't be afraid to go with a higher action. According to Dan Erlewine the string height off the nut on a square neck resonator/slide guitar is 3/8". The last instrument I built was a fretless and my string height at the nut was about 1/4", which is pretty high and I loved it. The first person to play it bought it.
Well Jan the problem im having is that i can tune the guitar open but when you try to fret play so to speak the scale seems off..even though its fretless and you should play it as a slide.. theres got to be something im not doing. My bridge is a floater and i can't seem to find the sweet spot. The string height at the nut is about 4/32 and the bridge is around 3/8. Ive built several but this one stumps me a little...lol
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