At first the fingerboard was flush with the top. That gave me some problems so I have raised the neck by 6mm (the thickness of the fingerboard). I had to put an insert in behind the neck and the end is visible as a half circle piece at the base of the neck.
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Thanks for the comment. I agree with you about the mistakes. Half of the fun of this whole thing is the learning and the mistakes are a big part of that. The wood is mahogany from a very old bookcase (I wasn't the one who cut it up, so my conscience is clear).
Yep the best laid plans..you should see the carnage of my latest build....the guitar that went PiNNNggg! But thats what is so great about CBG building - the creativity of the need to repair the errors. t\Hey the wood on the neck is spectacular what is it?
The irony is that I (and probably others) spend ages working out the "best" design. Once problems arise the solution often throws something up which is better that originally planned. So much for my hours of pondering.
The extra clearance under the strings has really made playing easier particularly as I am using finger picks. They were always hitting the top of the box. It did a lot for the pickup volume too.
But it's cool how by fixing the part you didn't like (fingerboard level with top) you gave the neck a pretty heel. A lot of my noisemakers have lovely little added details that are no more than me trying to fix something horrible.
My CGB was built with the fingerboard flush with the lid, as per instructions I found in "Make" magazine. Won't do that again! There isn't much clearance, and the bridge/saddle is probably too thin. Ah well, wait until my next one.
Hi Mark. It's 2mm sheet. Quite hard. Also if I am able to make it the way I want I will cut a keyhole slot and the strings will be coming out of the part of the plate that is flat against the box (have to make a space for them to move into that space). In that case there will be very little tension on the upturned part. Thanks for the information. I will try bending it the way you describe.
I bent the plate for for my bridge by sticking it in a vice (taking care to get it lined up squarely) and then pushing on the protruding bit with a block of oak that I had lying around - through skill or luck I got a nice tight and even bend. Many years ago I was taught to use a fly press for such tasks but sadly I don't have the space or money for one of those at the moment.
With brass sheet I guess a lot depends on how thick it is - it ought to be easier to bend than steel of the same thickness but will it be rigid enough to resist bending once under load from a set of guitar strings?
Thanks Mark. Your Montecristo instrument looks excellent. As it happens I want to use adjustable bridges similar to the one on your Montecristo. How did you bend the metal for the plate? I have some brass sheet that I want to use.
Nice job. That neck is a beautiful piece of timber with a really nice finish.
Personally I don't have a problem with a fingerboard meeting the box at the same level as long as other asepcts (eg. the neck angle and bridge height) are set appropriately so there's enough clearance between the strings and soundboard. Having said that, I went with a raised fingerboard on my latest build (which incidentally used one of those Montecristo boxes).
Hi Rodney. Thanks for the comment. Raising the fingerboard has really made it much more pleasant to play and also boosted the sound and tone from the under-saddle pickup.
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Hi Penny.
Thanks for the comment. I agree with you about the mistakes. Half of the fun of this whole thing is the learning and the mistakes are a big part of that. The wood is mahogany from a very old bookcase (I wasn't the one who cut it up, so my conscience is clear).
Thanks Alan.
The irony is that I (and probably others) spend ages working out the "best" design. Once problems arise the solution often throws something up which is better that originally planned. So much for my hours of pondering.
The extra clearance under the strings has really made playing easier particularly as I am using finger picks. They were always hitting the top of the box. It did a lot for the pickup volume too.
But it's cool how by fixing the part you didn't like (fingerboard level with top) you gave the neck a pretty heel. A lot of my noisemakers have lovely little added details that are no more than me trying to fix something horrible.
My CGB was built with the fingerboard flush with the lid, as per instructions I found in "Make" magazine. Won't do that again! There isn't much clearance, and the bridge/saddle is probably too thin. Ah well, wait until my next one.
With brass sheet I guess a lot depends on how thick it is - it ought to be easier to bend than steel of the same thickness but will it be rigid enough to resist bending once under load from a set of guitar strings?
Personally I don't have a problem with a fingerboard meeting the box at the same level as long as other asepcts (eg. the neck angle and bridge height) are set appropriately so there's enough clearance between the strings and soundboard. Having said that, I went with a raised fingerboard on my latest build (which incidentally used one of those Montecristo boxes).
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