Official Luthiers Forum!

I'm getting ready to make bridge templates, and I want to get the hole spacing right, so....

I know how irritating it is to play a guitar and have the strings 'slipping off the edge' (bad technique, no doubt) so I was wondering what your 'standard' distance between string and fingerboard edge was?

This assumes some bevel on the fret ends, but nothing more than 45 deg.
This is mainly for steel string acoustics, but I'd be interested in your numbers for classicals as well, if you have them handy.

Thanks.
John

1/8" from the edges of the E and e for me.

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JJ
Napa, CA
http://www.DonohueGuitars.com

4mm. More inset than most, but like you I hate guitars whose 1st string slips off the fret.

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Stay with the happy people.
--Reynolds Large

At the nut : 1/8" on the high E
               5/32" on the low E


The string spacing at the bridge equals the width of the fretboard at the 13 th fret ( a,compromise between a Gibson and a Martin i.e. 14th fret and 12th fret )




Craig Lawrence

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CRAIG LAWRENCE of AUSTRALIA
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Thanks, guys.
I appreciate the feedback.

Just because of the way I taper fretboards with my shopmade jig, I prefer to know the end width of the fretboard, not what it is at the 12th or 14th fret. I take the saddle string spacing, add 5mm, and thats thats the 21st fret width (for a 20 fret board). The nut can be whatever the customer requires. I know this makes very little difference, but with narrower nut widths the 12th or 14th fret number can cause the fretboard end to flare out by an extra mm or two - its mice n*ts, but its just the way I do it.

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Tony Karol
www.karol-guitars.com
"let my passion .. fulfill yours"

Tony-
I'll get out some drawing paper later today and figure this out a bit better (I hope). As I understand it, your technique (which makes sense) allows the use of the same bridge for different nut spacing? You work from the (standard) saddle spacing to get the fretboard width at the 21st ?

I'll figure out what this means for string spacing from fingerboard edge when I get out that drawing equipment!

Thanks.

John

John, if you have the Cumpiano/Natelson book, just go back and re-read their layout process. It's easy and just about fool-proof. Many mysteries are solved when you draw out your guitar plan full-size!

[QUOTE=CarltonM] John, if you have the Cumpiano/Natelson book, just go back and re-read their layout process. It's easy and just about fool-proof. Many mysteries are solved when you draw out your guitar plan full-size![/QUOTE]

Thanks, Carlton.
So you use the standard 1/8 inch string inset on both sides as per C&N? (they actually have it as 1/18 inch at one point in my copy, but it's 1/8..)

I can get everything else worked out once I decide on the inset value. Values so far in replies are from .095 to .160 inch- I'm just trying to get an idea of the most popular values. I'm also going to open up a few cases around here and check some commercial guitars as well.

Cheers
John

John, 1/8" inset at the nut is pretty much standard, and I think that's what you'll find on most factory guitars. If you do your layout the Cumpiano way (full size, I'm tellin' ya! ), you have your nut width determined first, and you'll inset your strings from that dimension. However, before determining neck width any further, you'll have to set your string spacing at the saddle, and draw your outer string lines from nut to saddle. THEN, finally, you can determine your fingerboard width. Assuming a 20-fret board, determine the imaginary 21st fret position--that's the end of your fingerboard. Draw a horizontal line at that point, say, 3" long, just to be safe. And finally, the payoff--at your neck/body join (14th fret) mark points 3/16" out from your string lines, draw lines from the nut width, through those body join points all the way to that 21st fret line, and there's your fingerboard/neck width! The extra 1/16" at the body assures that, as the strings get looser toward the middle of their span, they won't slip off the board. That's the Cumpiano way, and as beginners we can't go wrong following that method.

Whew! I'm goin' to Disneyland!

Thanks, Carlton.

I'm doing this 'backward' as I have the fingerboard ready to go with binding and will make the bridge 'to match'. but I understand exactly your instructions (and the C&N ones also).
Good point about the inset being greater at the mid-fretboard than at the nut- thanks.

Once I make a decision on the string inset, I'll be good to go.

Cheers
John

I've got one too, Hesh. Works for the saddle, too--especially for layout.

[QUOTE=JohnAbercrombie] I have the fingerboard ready to go with binding...Once I make a decision on the string inset, I'll be good to go.[/QUOTE]
Aha! I didn't understand that. Well, you can work the Cumpiano method in reverse. You'll still want to lay it out on paper, though. Just measure your fingerboard at the 14th fret (its finished dimension, of course), transfer it to your body joint and make a mark on each side 3/16" inward. Connect the dots from the nut to your saddle position, and see if it leaves you with the string spacing you want.

the sm sting spacing rule does not detemine the fb edge to string inset spacing, only the spacing between the string given two starting points.

whilst the 1/8" inset is very common, many hand builders allow slightly more on the bass iside since the string is thicker, just as the sm rule allows a greater graduation of the string spacing as you go from treble to bass.

the style of the player must be taken into account as well. a plain strummer can get away with a narrower inset, whereas the player who does a lot of pulloffs and bass bends may need more.

there is no one size fits all answer.

bother, i wish we still had our edit button.... those who recommend doing a full size drawing are so very right. it is all to easy to look at a plan and think you have all the information you need but you will probably find you are mistaken.

draw it out youself, full size, not cad, the old fashioned way. you will gain an understanding of the relationships you are trying to make fit together, and have many an "aha" experience.