I knew that in western music everything is referenced off of concert A, a note with its fundamental frequency component ringing at 440 Hz. Multiply the distance from the nut to the 12th fret by two. A value of 1 results in a perpendicular bridge. The 24th fret allows you to play a higher E note. To use the calculator, simply enter the desired scale length of the instrument and designate whether this value is in inches or millimeters. endstream
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If your 1930's Gibson L-OO, for example, measures 12-3/8" at the 12th fret, then your guitar's scale length is twice that—a 24-3/4" scale. From there, click on the "calculate" button and the fret slot measurements will be displayed. I had taken a couple physics courses in college and somewhere in there I had learned how the frequency of a vibrating string could be represented by string length, tension and some other factors, but all that information had since been forgotten. This is the smallest fret wire out there, most commonly used on vintage guitars pre-dating the ‘60s. (pun slightly intended). Guitar building tips. When people think they have small hands, they are usually worried that they won’t have the reach to play notes. endstream
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At the finish I really dont care about the spacing being a tad tighter, after all it is 1 & 3/4 inch neck width. But it was no matter, I found out everything I needed to know and then some through good ol’ Wikipedia. The fret is raised above the fingerboard, so if you place your finger behind a fret, the string will become 'stopped' at that fret such that the 'speaking length' of the string is the length between the bridge and the fret. Now comes the first design choice, determining the fret scale, or the distance from the nut to the bridge. Improve this answer. Some manufacturers take this measurement at the 14th fret, while others take it … Divide an scales open string length b., and the result is the distance from the front edge of the nut to the rst fret. h�b``�d``*` ��R���Y8��$���������m�#&&���̞yam◣[��)�z�����WI9�k�^�jff`�wj�;� ���
( Log Out / The guitars are designed to be accommodating to different people. Continuing.... Set your compass with the point at the intersection of the arc and the long leg, … you are both eccelent luthiers. All measurements are in millimetres and start at zero position i.e. 58 0 obj
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On the high E string of your 24-fret guitar (assuming it is on standard tuning), you have two more halftones than on a 22-fret guitar, giving you two full octaves. Note: The scale length of a guitar is always twice the length from the front of the nut (or zero fret) to the 12th fret. A guitar's scale length is calculated by measuring the distance from the front edge of the nut, where it butts against the end of the fingerboard, to the center of the 12th (octave) fret, then doubling that measurement. Also when n=-12 (meaning we are 12 steps lower than f0, again we are repeating the note cycle but in the other direction) f(-12) equals half the frequency of f0 which is exactly what was desired. Using Equation 2, Equation 1 can be written only in terms of string or scale length, L, so that the frequency terms in Equation 1 can be replaced as, and when inserted into Equation 2 produces, L(n) = L0 /2n/12 (3). The fret ends have something to do with this, but the good news is that the spacing is good near the 14th fret. Change ), You are commenting using your Facebook account. Take a measurement at the 12th fret, which is where the midpoint of the scale length crosses. Whelp, it's taken me nearly 20yrs to come to this conclusion, but I just can't get along with "normal" width necks & string spacing anymore. It would have been perfectly fine for me to take this information without giving a second thought as to how it was obtained and go on my merry way with the layout of my fretboard. Related Entries I found their book to be very complete reference also. 1”. Planning and Design | Fret Spacing Calculation | Template and Workboard | Building the Neck | Making the Body Plates | Soundhole Rosette | Soundboard Bracing | Bending the Sides | Gluing Sides to the Soundboard | Creating and Installing the Back Plate | Binding the Body | Making the Dovetail Neck Joint | Carving the Neck | Making the Fretboard | Making the Bridge | Creating the Headstock Inlay | Finishing | The End Product. 34 0 obj
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For a more detailed explanation of how fret spacing is calculated you may click this link Math for Guitar Fret Spacing Share. L(n) =L0 – L0 /2n/12 (4). Fret 4 (F4) = 51.5 (SL) – [ 2.9(F1) + 2.7(F2) + 2.6(F3) ] / 17.82 = 2.4cm. Plug in the desired scale length, L0, and the desired fret number, n, and you get the distance from the face of the nut to that fret. Follow edited Jan 2 '20 at 21:21. answered Dec 30 '19 at 21:33. Rockin Cowboy Rockin Cowboy. FretFind2D . A typical Board Nut Offset (the distance from the end of the board to the nut slot) is .250″ (1/4) but it … ( Log Out / I have really big hands & long fingers and since most production guitar necks tend to conform to standard Gibson or Fender specs (generally speaking) they're just too narrow for me. I am tired of typing 1.05946309436, so let's just call it TR, for the Twelfth Root of 2. And that’s all there is to it. 0
Doing a quick check shows that when n=0, f(0) simply equals f0 which makes sense, and when n=12 (meaning we are 12 steps higher than f0, which means we are starting to repeat the note cycle) f(12) equals twice the frequency of f0 which is exactly what was desired. Fret Calculator If you find this utility useful, please link your site to this page. The next step was to try and find a relationship between Equation 1 and the fret spacing on a guitar. f(n) = f0*(a)n (1). %PDF-1.4
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Fret Spacing Calculator Tool for Cigar Box Guitars & More Don’t forget that C. B. Gitty has a nice range of fretting tools and supplies to help you get going on your fretting jobs! Again I found the Physics department at MTU to be quite helpful. 12. p 2. times Lthe length of the whole string (from the nut to the bridge). A whole step, also known as a whole tone, is a distance of two frets. Figure that the tail end of your neck will be located 1” forward from the back edge of your box’s lid. To get the frequency of the string fretted at the first fret, you would multiply the frequency of the open string times 1.05946309436. Now I had an equation to describe the relationship between a frequency n steps or notes away from a reference frequency which followed the rules of western music. or eample, a tpical guitar scale length ender Telecaster is 25.5 inches 64 mm. Our Fret Calculator also gives you compensated bridge placement -- only at stewmac.com! FretFind2D. This will also provide you with nut-to-fret and fret-to-fret dimensions. Change ), You are commenting using your Twitter account. To calculate the frequency at the second fret, you multiply the note at the first fret times the twelfth root of two. 7 0 obj
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Here is one example: a scale length of 25.5" (650mm) divided by 17.817 gives 1.4312173" (36.482011mm), which can be rounded down to 1.431" (36.48mm). Simply enter the the number of frets and the scale length in millimetres then … Well, you shouldn’t worry at all. p 2 : 1 with, or, equivalently, a frequency p 2 times larger than the frequency of the open note (the note sounded by plucking the string without pressing down on the string anywhere), we will need the length of the string we pluck to be1.