How many frets and which string to use?

Posted by Justin Mantelli on August 1, 2011 at 12:55pm

Hey everyone! Just want to thanks a head of time for anymore help!

 

Im making my first cgb read a ton did alot of searching..but havent seen answer to these 2 questions.

In the free instruction it tell us what gauge Shane Speal uses but not which strings... I know to use acoustic but what strings do I use? The 6,5,4?

 

Also I see alot of people mention the online or fret making software. Now I understand to messure from my bridge to the nut to give me the scale but I dont understand how to I know how many frets to put into the program for my neck? Standard 3 foot neck.

 

Thanks everyone! Ill post pics of my first cbg!

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Replies

  • Mike Whisenhunt August 6, 2011 at 6:58pm

    Justin, I totally entered this world a few months ago on the same notion as you. 3 strings should be easier to master than 6. Well, what I've learned is that coming in with NO  guitar experience is actually a big strike against ya. Most everything you find online for learning to play (tutorials, tabs, etc) are assuming you're instrument has 6 strings. Remove 2 of them and alter the tuning and EVERYTHING changes. I've been struggling, I have a fundamental grasp on the theory behind making the guitar work. Mostly, when you figure out how to make it sound right (not necessarily good, but you'll know when ya find it) then it's all about intervals (these would be the frets). I would encourage you to figure out the hows and whats of frets and fret indicators. Good luck sir, this place is a wealth of knowledge. Study and I do mean STUDY pictures of the builds these guys do. You'll likely start off with a neck thru body, move on to something with a scarf joint, and then progress from there. All you answers are here, just poke around or ask.

     

    Regards,

    Mike

     

    p.s. millimeters are better for fretting than inches. find a metric rule or tape. has sped up my builds %50

  • Justin Mantelli August 2, 2011 at 2:24am

    I know frets dont matter but I dont even how to play a guitar and all the lessons (for cbg) I see use frets as a reference. The reason Im making a cbg it seems it easy to pick up but a life time to master...

    Thank you everyone for the help!

  • Mike Izzo August 1, 2011 at 10:10pm
    Hey - I'm a novice myself.  I'm working on my 3rd.  I think you should decide what scale you want and then see how that fits with your box.  The number of frets doesn't really matter unless you are a player who likes to play way up on the neck and try to reach those high notes (which don't sound as good on any of my builds).  Which strings to use depends on how you want to tune your CBG and other factors.  It's frustrating because there are no right answers when making a CBG. 
  • Jarmo Katajisto August 1, 2011 at 2:39pm

    I use usually, 4,3,2 strings with 3-stringer ( my latest CBG have still strings 5,4,3 )

     

    but 5,4,2,  or 5,3,2, are possible  too.

     

    I don´t use 6 string, ( 3- or 4- stringer ) too much tension to neck and machines.

     

    Bill Jehles Frett calculator is fine software and i use, so many frett what can i do to neck.

     

    if you use Bill Jehles software and you wanna make example 24" scale neck, it tell all what you need.

     

    http://www.bellyjellymusic.com/downloads.htm

     

    kind regards

     

    Jarmo

  • Tony Davies August 1, 2011 at 12:57pm

    Use a 24 inch scale neck makes life and maths a lot easier , think there is a pdf on here somewhere which tells you where to mark the frets.

     

    Tony

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