I have been asked to build a 17" scale mando. I was told that I could cut a 25.5" board at the 7th fret to get the scale. My question is whether I cut it at the 7th fret slot and the 8th fret then becomes the 1st fret, or is it cut it at the 6th fret and the 7th becomes the first fret. I think I know the answer but just want to double check before chopping up a $40.00 board.
Thanks
Andrew
The octave is the 12th fret. Measure from the "1st" (ie 6th and/or 7th)fret and double the measurement and you will have the scale length....pick which the fret closest to your desired scale length of 17".
Yep, your 7th fret. Cut it off there. That's your new "zero fret" or nut. Measure the new 12th fret, as Jeff said, and it will be 8.5", or half of your new 17".
Thanks guys. Thats what I thought but wanted to "measure twice" before cutting.
Andrew
One quick question: if you're starting with a commercial board, will it have enough higher frets to do the job after you've lopped off the lower ones?
LMII sells fretboards slotted to, among other scale lengths, 17". You can get a reasonably priced Macassar ebony board for about $10, and the slotting price is $9. So unless your 25" board has some serious flaws below the 7th fret, why ruin it? Also, as already mentioned, you will be left with only 14 or 15 fret slots on a typical pre-slotted guitar fretboard. You will either have to cut the upper slots yourself, or settle for an abbreviated fretboard. Why make things difficult for yourself?
This might be useful - an excel spreadsheet, with lmii's templates and a couple of lookups to find just this sort of thing. It's zipped because it's half a meg unzipped:
www.dunbarhamlin.com/CustomScaleFretTemplates.zip
Cheers
Steve
(edit - replace the .zip with .xls to retrieve it unzipped)
LMI will cut you a board to just what you want, using that same method on one of their new boards and standard scale lengths. It will have however many fret slots you specify. (they will ask) It won't come to you as a chopped off board, but full length and added slots to your specs. They just shift the pattern you want to start at up to the end and add more slots on the other end. It will come with about a 1/4"~5/16" overhang on the north end you can use as a zero fret spacer, or cut it off and use it typical mandolin style...
If you use the old one, and cut it down correctly, it will work just fine as long as it has enough frets to suit you..
Ron
My wife says I don't pay enough attention to what she says....
(Or something like that...)
In answer to your original question, make sure the intonation on the guitar is acceptable first. If the board is already off, I think you could double the 12th fret distance to get the starting point. If the bridge is movable, you need to make sure it is where it belongs and then measure from the guitar bridge up the neck till you get to a fret that is as close as possible to the scale you want and cut it at that fret slot. That is where the leading edge of the nut will go, and whatever the next fret is will become the first fret for the new board. If it doesn't come out exactly at 17, (it might, I didn't check) measure what it is anyhow, and save that measurement for when you set up the bridge on the new instrument. You could also probably count down to twelve from the new end and get your dimension that way if necessary.
If the guitar fretboard has a zero fret, you'll have to take that into account instead of measureing off the nut.
You'll have to just deal (however) with any pre-existing fret markers if they aren't right for the new board.
Some of the other folks will likely throw you some more tips.
Ron
My wife says I don't pay enough attention to what she says....
(Or something like that...)
My customer wanted 19 frets, so obviously this isn't going to work. The reason he wanted to use a guitar board was because he could get one from StewMac with a compound raduis. I don't know that the two frets will make that big of a difference to him. I shot an email off to him, so I guess we'll wait and see. THanks again.
A board with a compound radius is a section of a cone. Buying one for a guitar and then lopping off a big chunk might still leave you with part of a compound radius, but not much of one. Why would anyone with a mandolin need a compound radius anyway? Lots of string-bending?
"Why would anyone with a mandolin need a compound radius anyway?"
Because the guy that wants it is writing the check.
It's for a 5 string electric. I'm going to check around an see who will make one. Just out of curiosity, why did you mention string bending Paul? Is that easier on a radiused board?
That's the original rationale for a compound radius, and it addresses an alleged possibility to buzzlessly bend strings way up the neck when the action's really, really low. More radius by the nut, less up at the other end.
And maybe this guy really needs it, if he's playing a five-string. Whatever. Jimi Hendrix managed to bend strings quite well long before the fashion was even invented. But if it's what he wants, by all means, do it.
I have no experience with them but you might check with Allen Guitars and Mandolins. They offer custom fret slotting and radiusing services. They are home to the fairly well know Allen tailpieces.
Bill Snyder
Allen's work and prices can't be beat, but it's notable they state they don't offer compound radius boards. "We have capacity for large runs. Custom radius also available. No compound radius available. Please specify the radius you want 7.25", 9.5", 12", 14", 16" or 20"."
I also appreciate their comment about radiusing in general: "To accomplish this by hand would take from 1 to 2 hours. The only question to ask is, what is your time worth?" I can do it in under an hour by hand, but it is a lot of work.
Well, I can't find anyone to make one, so its either go with a short neck or a straight radius. If anyone knows anyone that will make one let me know. Thanks Again.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks