Fretboard thickness

[ndy9691]

Hi everyone,

If a typical thickness for a flat fretboard is 3/16",when you radius a fret board (I'm using a 12 radius) do you try to maintain the 3/16' thickness thru the center of the board? This will then give a thinner edge.Thinner near the body do to the taper of the board.

Or do you try to keep the thinnest part of a radiused board (close to the body)no less than 3/16?

Or do you try to keep the edges consistant and the center will change thickness?

Thanks Dale

[amowry]

I try to keep the thinnest areas 3/16". If you go thinner than that you don't have a lot of meat left under the fret slots. If you use a compound radius you can maintain 3/16" all along the edge, but with a simple radius the edges at the tail end of the board will be thinner than the edges at the nut.

[sunburst]

What Andrew said.
It's common for the edge of the 'board' to look tapered. Look at almost any guitar.

Some things to consider:
A thicker board will give you wider bindings, a stiffer neck, and a heavier neck, assuming the fingerboard wood is heavier than the neck wood, and since ebony and rosewood are heavier than maple, that's usually the case.

A thinner board gives a narrower binding, a less stiff neck, and a lighter neck.

I prefer to keep the 'board fairly thin (.020" in the center to start) and use other means of keeping the neck stiff.
In the past, I used thicker 'boards in order to keep the binding about the same width as on a flat 'board, but the necks felt too heavy, so now I use the thinner 'board.

[Jerry Byers]

Interesting question.

I'm assuming that everyone that sends their mandolin to their favorite luthier to radius the fretboard now has a fretboard of varying thicknesses. How does this affect tone? Volume? Certainly, the combined weight of the neck has decreased by some amount. Does fretting against a thinner board allow for more vibrations/buzzing? Also assuming a truss rod is installed, does a thinner board on the edges give "flex" and diminishes the effects of the truss rod.

Inquiring minds would like to know. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif

[sunburst]

The amount of wood between the back of the neck and the bottom of the fret slots has the biggest effect on stiffness of the neck. That doesn't have to change if the existing flat 'board is reshaped to a radius, unless the slots are no longer deep enough after radiusing and they have to be deepened. Even then, they only have to be deepened at the ends of the slots, so the total stiffness doesn't change much.
The fit of the frets in the slots makes some difference in the neck stiffness too, but the effect is about the same with a radiused 'board as with a flat board.

A "correctly" done reshaping of a flat 'board to a radius will leave the center of the entire 'board the original thickness, and only the edges will get thinner. They will look tapered if it's a radius, not so much if it's a conical section (compound radius).

There is little to no difference in loudness and/or tone from the shape of the fingerboard alone, though some players might get a different sound from a difference in the 'board profile because of the very slightly different pick direction relative to the string positions.
The truss rod works the same assuming the same position between the back of the neck and th fingerboard surface, and if it's a two way rod, it works about the same (almost) no matter where it is any neck.

In short, the only real difference in the neck is the shape of the 'board itself.

[acousticphd]

I'm considering having fingerboards planed or replaced on a couple mandolins. What is the starting thickness of common fingerboard blanks - are they like 1/4"? Suppose you wanted the feel of a deeper neck profile, or want to effectively deepen an existing profile? Could replacing the fingerboard with a thicker one add enough depth to the neck to achieve this?

[Antlurz]

From my perspective, a very slight change in actual thickness can feel like a lot more than it actually is. I think 1/4" for a blank is more typical, but it can vary with the supplier.

Ron

[Steevarino]

I have been supplying luthiers and repair people with fretboard blanks for some time now. My "standard" thicknesses are 3/16" for boards that will stay flat, and around .210" - .220" for those that will be radiused. It's not a lot of extra thickness, but it seems to be about the right amount of exra meat.

I have been making some fretboards lately that require a 12" radius, and this combination seems to work real well. Just enough so that you can grind away with the old radius block, and still have an adequate thickness left on the edges by the time you get your radius all the way across the width of the board.

Steve
www.cumberlandacoustic.com