Official Luthiers Forum!

OK, when I get to the point of determining saddle placement which measurement tool to use?
It seems a "normal" yardstick is too imprecise and precision yardsticks are a little $$ for me right now are there other options?

thanks! Bob

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If brute force doesn't work you're not using enough of it...

You can get a stainless 18 inch imp/metric ruler which is what I use (I measure from the 12th fret .. you dont need to measure from the nut) from Lee Valley for under 20 bucks ...

I have a number of them plus the 12 and 24 inch ones in the shop .. very handy.

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

Both excellent solutions . Thanks! Bob

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If brute force doesn't work you're not using enough of it...

Or - make yourself one of these....
The small end is fixed and has a grove to fit the 12th fret.
To use it, first get the 12th fret to nut measurement by adjusting the large end.
Turn it around to get the bridge placement.
Note the two screws are to set the compensation.

Second that one. I think mine cost about a dollar for the rod and bits I had lying around.

Third. Crazy useful tool!

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https://soundcloud.com/jeffreylsuits/he ... -runnin-13

I use a 36" precision rule.

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John Mayes
http://www.mayesluthier.com

Some may find this interesting. I shopped for 24” and 36” precision metal rules last year for setting scale length and other guitar making tasks. In the store I picked out a couple rules made by a U.S. manufacturer known for high quality drafting rules and squares. Before heading to the checkout I decided to compare them to some cheaper made-in-China rules. There was a noticeable discrepancy between them. A good deal of careful inspection revealed that the more expensive U.S. brand rules were off by nearly 2mm over their scale length whereas the made in China rules were accurate to within about 0.10mm over their respective lengths.

Joe

my way

I take a strait stick of wood, screw a 1/16" strip of metal to the nut end so it will catch in the nut slot then hot glue a 3" piece of wood cross ways at the length of my scale. I can either keep that one and pop the hot glue off or just make another for a different scale length.

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http://goatrockukulele.com

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_q ... ridge&aq=f
check out the videos on how to do this It isn't that hard really but to get that perfect set up a few fundamentals are important . let me know what you think
thanks

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John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

Thanks for all the replies folks, and thanks John, I didn't think to check your tutorials. Looks like I've got everything I need already!

Cheers! Bob

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If brute force doesn't work you're not using enough of it...

I've always just taken a Stewmac straightedge and put one end against the nut and marked the center of the 12th fret with a pencil on the straightedge.
Then make a second mark for compensation and use that distance for positioning the saddle slot.

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It's not what you don't know that hurts you, it's what you do know that's wrong.

You cannot do this work well without good rules. Or at least one good rule, but it would be inconvenient to only have one length.

These are good enough and a good value: http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/page.a ... 3513,43519

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Howard Klepper
http://www.klepperguitars.com

When all else fails, clean the shop.

Really a very good 36" rule can be had for under $55 (thinking of a Mitutoyo). Do you really want to leave something so precise to the accuracy of a $3.00 ruler?

I've also got an aluminum ruler with some padding on the back that is very accurate when compared to my Mitutoyo (no deviation in markings) and is cheaper too. The graduations are not as precise so you'll have to put marks on it for your lengths, but it works well too. I think it's called an alumicutter or something. Like $22.

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John Mayes
http://www.mayesluthier.com

How about revealing the brand of those US rules? And how did you determine that they were the inaccurate ones?

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Howard Klepper
http://www.klepperguitars.com

When all else fails, clean the shop.

Well this is a very good question, and the point of my post. How do you know that the precision rules you are using in your shop are accurate? They should be checked against something known to be accurate. In the store there was literally a wall full of precision rules of various makes and as I said I spent a good deal of time comparing them to one another.



Wouldn’t it be a good idea to check ‘any’ precision rule before using it for critical set ups? It seems that any manufacturer could have a bad batch of ‘precision’ rules slip through quality control.

Joe

What do you use to compare?

These are good and they are only around $75.

http://www.use-enco.com/CGI/INPDFF?PMPAGE=435&PMCTLG=00

As a past machinist I have scales. While in the video I am using an inexpensive metal yard stick , that was accurate to my 6 foot scale . Accuracy is important but don't assume price is a guide to that . You can find scales at most industrial supply shops. Scale may look like a yard stick but have a tighter measuring tolerance .
A good 3 foot scale my set you back up to $50 depending on your source

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John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

Just found a used 36" Starrett on ebay for $55.

I use the Ibex Fret Ruler.

It has multiple scales - the one I have includes both 25.4" and 24.9" plus two classical scales (that aren't used by me)

The nice thing is that the marking for the saddle position include compensation.

http://www.pilgrimsprojects.biz/t30.html

$24

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P A U L B U R N E R
Burner Guitars