New things you can do with a guitar fret template

Posted by Alan Roberts on March 27, 2010 at 12:36am

We have a LMI template for a 25.5" scale guitar fretboard. But a friend told me that this can be used for 25.5" dulcimer, too. "A dulcimer is just a guitar fretted without sharps and flats," he said. So I checked the fret calculator and saw that 

Inches -- Dulcimer -- Guitar 

2.762     1st             2nd

5.261     2nd             4th

6.397     3rd              5th

 

So just use the 0, 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 16, 17, 19 guitar frets for dulcimers.

 

But wait, folks. Now for the WEIRD part. I can use a 25.5" guitar scale to make a 13.5" scale soprano ukulele fretboard, too. If I use the 11th guitar fret as the 0 fret on the soon-to-be uke soundboard, I can use the next 12 fret stops to cut frets. I called up the StewMac fret calculator to check this (and double-check for yourselves). If I subtract the distance from the 1st uke fret from 12th fret, I get 11.992 (the distance of the 11th guitar fret). Subtract the 2nd uke from the 13th guitar, you get the same number. Errors build up, so that by the time you get to the 10th uke fret minus the 21st guitar, you're up to 11.996 -- an error of 0.004 inches.

 

I can live with that.

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Replies

  • Chuck Dubman March 28, 2010 at 2:01am
    Why not fret a dulcimer with a full chromatic set?
  • Chuck Dubman March 28, 2010 at 2:00am
    You can shorten any scale by tilting it.

    David West said:
    You can use the template you have to make many other scales. For any musical instrument scale, the 12th fret is exactly 1/2 the distance from the nut to the bridge. If you put a capo on any fret, it acts as a new nut...count up 12 frets...that is your new halfway point. If your scale has 19 fret marks, you can make any length scale tht would come from having the nut at the first fret...second fret...and so on. You could use it for baritone guitar, baritone uke, tenor uke, concert uke, mandolin, mandola, or soprano uke, or balilika. The dulcimer use you found is cool. I built a dulcimer when I was 16, (49 now)the nut and bridge were movable and have both moved...I forgot it's relationship, now I will just find the what would have been the 12th guitar fret, and work in both directions..lol.
    Thanks,
    Dave
  • David West March 27, 2010 at 7:57pm
    Cool Huh...lol
    Dave

    Alan Roberts said:
    David West said:
    You can use the template you have to make many other scales. .
    Thanks,
    Dave

    (pours a second cup of coffee, sharpens pencil, warms up calculator) So, with a 25.5" scale template, I can skip down to the second fret at 2.782" and make that my 0 fret and end up with a baritone uke with a scale of 22.718. I ran this through the StewMac calculator and checked the fret to fret distances...
    So I'm just going to make up a spreadsheet then. If you start at fret number N, you will end up with a fretboard with a scale length of X, making it a (baritone, tenor, standard, soprano) uke. While I'm thinking about this, the LMI has a SECOND set of notches on the other side for a 24.625" Gibson neck. That would give me LOTS of choices. When all is said and done, I'll go with some decimal that has a rational fraction ... the 22.718 is close enough to 22 23/32."
  • Alan Roberts March 27, 2010 at 7:27pm
    David West said:
    You can use the template you have to make many other scales. .
    Thanks,
    Dave

    (pours a second cup of coffee, sharpens pencil, warms up calculator) So, with a 25.5" scale template, I can skip down to the second fret at 2.782" and make that my 0 fret and end up with a baritone uke with a scale of 22.718. I ran this through the StewMac calculator and checked the fret to fret distances...
    So I'm just going to make up a spreadsheet then. If you start at fret number N, you will end up with a fretboard with a scale length of X, making it a (baritone, tenor, standard, soprano) uke. While I'm thinking about this, the LMI has a SECOND set of notches on the other side for a 24.625" Gibson neck. That would give me LOTS of choices. When all is said and done, I'll go with some decimal that has a rational fraction ... the 22.718 is close enough to 22 23/32."
  • David West March 27, 2010 at 1:05pm
    You can use the template you have to make many other scales. For any musical instrument scale, the 12th fret is exactly 1/2 the distance from the nut to the bridge. If you put a capo on any fret, it acts as a new nut...count up 12 frets...that is your new halfway point. If your scale has 19 fret marks, you can make any length scale tht would come from having the nut at the first fret...second fret...and so on. You could use it for baritone guitar, baritone uke, tenor uke, concert uke, mandolin, mandola, or soprano uke, or balilika. The dulcimer use you found is cool. I built a dulcimer when I was 16, (49 now)the nut and bridge were movable and have both moved...I forgot it's relationship, now I will just find the what would have been the 12th guitar fret, and work in both directions..lol.
    Thanks,
    Dave
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