Thanks for the advice Rand. I too am a little nervous about the fret wire thing even though I've read and studied the subject a bunch and have a pull saw and fret wire in my shop! I don't know why it's so intimidating but you gave me the push I needed!! I vow to build a (practice) fretted fingerboard within the next few days!
Looks like you got all the basics of CBG building down good. Maybe adding frets is the next thing for you to learn. I spent (maybe wasted) a year avoiding real fret wire because of the illusion that they are difficult to do, so I used electricians' tie-wraps, then cut bamboo skewers, and cut nails before finally trying real fret wire. I use a standard coping saw which leaves a groove the right size for fret wire. Have fretted 5 instruments with it so far, and had good results. As far as depth goes, when the trailing edge of the coping saw's thin blade is level with the fretboard I stop sawing. I also have a razor saw, but it leave too thin a slot, so I use it to mark where the frets should go as it leaves a finer line than a pencil. Well, maybe you are into Delta Blues and slide guitar and have you use for frets. I can't find my way around a CBG w/o frets.
Comments
Looks like you got all the basics of CBG building down good. Maybe adding frets is the next thing for you to learn. I spent (maybe wasted) a year avoiding real fret wire because of the illusion that they are difficult to do, so I used electricians' tie-wraps, then cut bamboo skewers, and cut nails before finally trying real fret wire. I use a standard coping saw which leaves a groove the right size for fret wire. Have fretted 5 instruments with it so far, and had good results. As far as depth goes, when the trailing edge of the coping saw's thin blade is level with the fretboard I stop sawing. I also have a razor saw, but it leave too thin a slot, so I use it to mark where the frets should go as it leaves a finer line than a pencil. Well, maybe you are into Delta Blues and slide guitar and have you use for frets. I can't find my way around a CBG w/o frets.
-Rand