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02-03-2011, 06:15 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Maryland | | | Uneven Fretboard Thickness
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I have a MIM P neck, where the fretboard toward the nut is slightly thicker than the fretboard towards the bridge. It's very thin in general, so much so that the fretboard dots on the side "dip" into the maple of the neck.
Does an uneven, thin fretboard present any issues I should be aware of, regarding the truss rod, fret buzzing or weak tone? |
02-03-2011, 06:26 AM
|  | Signed, Sealed, Delivered | | Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: NY & MA | | | How does it play? How does it sound? How does it feel? |
02-03-2011, 06:40 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Maryland | | | I'm fairly new to bass, so I'm never sure if buzzing or weak notes are in my fingers, or in the neck.
I just noticed the uneveness for the first time and didn't know if this was a quality I should have looked for. |
02-03-2011, 07:23 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: D'Shaw | | Quote:
Originally Posted by Legattabass  I have a MIM P neck, where the fretboard toward the nut is slightly thicker than the fretboard towards the bridge. It's very thin in general, so much so that the fretboard dots on the side "dip" into the maple of the neck.
Does an uneven, thin fretboard present any issues I should be aware of, regarding the truss rod, fret buzzing or weak tone? |
It's not really "uneven" per se, what you're seeing is due to the radius of the fingerboard, and the fingerboard being thicker in the middle that at the edges of the neck.
As the neck tapers towards the center of the neck by the nut, the thicker portion of the fingerboard is revealed.
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"It's a Crapshoot." The timbre is in the timber. It's a poor craftsman that blames his tools.
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02-03-2011, 07:30 AM
|  | Registered User | | Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Philly Area | | | The "dipping" of the side fretboard markers into the maple is also normal... all unbound, rosewood board Fenders have this. At least the half dozen or so Strats and Tele's I have owned all had it.
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02-03-2011, 07:49 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Maryland | | Quote:
Originally Posted by mongo2 It's not really "uneven" per se, what you're seeing is due to the radius of the fingerboard, and the fingerboard being thicker in the middle that at the edges of the neck.
As the neck tapers towards the center of the neck by the nut, the thicker portion of the fingerboard is revealed. | I didn't explain myself properly. Imagine you're looking at the neck from the side. The headstock is on the left, the body is on the right.
As you move toward the body, the visible edge of the fretboard gets thinner. It is maybe 2/3rds to 1/2 the thickness at the neck joint as it is at the headstock.
Is that clearer? |
02-03-2011, 07:55 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Philly Area | | | Have you measured? Keep in mind that the neck gets thinner as you head towards the nut - this could make the fingerboard appear thicker in that area... could be an optical illusion - although anything is possible.
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02-03-2011, 08:06 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Maryland | | Quote:
Originally Posted by sqadan Have you measured? Keep in mind that the neck gets thinner as you head towards the nut - this could make the fingerboard appear thicker in that area... could be an optical illusion - although anything is possible. | I will measure tonight when I get home. One thing to keep in mind is that there is sufficient depth for the nut to be plugged directly into the rosewood, without touching the maple: that's a lot of clearance.
I wonder if that's because, like prior comments suggested, the board gets thinner towards its wider edges, and it is least wide at the nut because the radius is less pronounced? |
02-03-2011, 08:15 AM
|  | quid verum atque decens
Builder: Rickett Customs | | Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Southern Maryland | | Quote:
Originally Posted by Legattabass
I wonder if that's because, like prior comments suggested, the board gets thinner towards its wider edges, and it is least wide at the nut because the radius is less pronounced?
| Yes, it is. |
02-03-2011, 08:22 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Maryland | | Quote:
Originally Posted by Rickett Customs Yes, it is. | (Thanks for your response. I'm a big fan of your work in the luthier section)
Just to make sure I understand:
If I were to cut off the edges of the neck from the nut to the body, so that the whole length of the neck were the same width as the nut, from the side the fretboard would appear to have the same depth all along? |
02-03-2011, 08:22 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Philly Area | | Quote:
Originally Posted by Legattabass I will measure tonight when I get home. One thing to keep in mind is that there is sufficient depth for the nut to be plugged directly into the rosewood, without touching the maple: that's a lot of clearance.
I wonder if that's because, like prior comments suggested, the board gets thinner towards its wider edges, and it is least wide at the nut because the radius is less pronounced? | Yes - all completely normal... I think you are just noticing construction details that most people don't think about - the neck / fingerboard is not just a straight / rectangular piece of timber.
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02-03-2011, 08:26 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Maryland | | Quote:
Originally Posted by sqadan Yes - all completely normal... I think you are just noticing construction details that most people don't think about - the neck / fingerboard is not just a straight / rectangular piece of timber. | Where I come from, we have a medical term to use in this situation. It's called anal retentive 
I just wanted the question answered. I've been going through a neck phase. Got a mighty mite J neck on sale, used that, found it was too uneven around the 3-5th frets, D-G strings, swapped it back for the original neck, which I like, though this fretboard thing has my OCD brain firing.
The J neck has a thicker fretboard which doesnt seem to "taper" as much, but I assume thats a construction effect, or that it's not as wide a neck as the P. |
02-03-2011, 08:30 AM
| | quid verum atque decens
Builder: Rickett Customs | | Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Southern Maryland | | Quote:
Originally Posted by Legattabass (Thanks for your response. I'm a big fan of your work in the luthier section)
Just to make sure I understand:
If I were to cut off the edges of the neck from the nut to the body, so that the whole length of the neck were the same width as the nut, from the side the fretboard would appear to have the same depth all along? | Yes, that is correct it actually *would* be. It's just not physically possible, unless you used a piece, that made up for that in height on the wider side, however with a higher fretboard on the heel side, this would cause issues in the playablity, due to the nut end of the fretboard being lower....... as the fb radii is less, it becomes less pronounced, but highly noticable on a 4 string with a 14" radii or any number lower than 14"......... say 12" or 10" or 9" or even 7.5"....... as the fretboard gets wider on a 5, 6 or 7 string, 16" or above is a general radii, that won't make it look too bad, although some like alot of radii 
Last edited by Rickett Customs : 02-03-2011 at 08:32 AM.
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