How can I fit all these strings on a fretboard?

[ardgedee]

How much space between the edge of the fretboard and the strings? I've gotten trapped in a loop of overthinking about this.

There's this thread about string spacing at the nut -- "equal gaps" -- where spacing is uniform between string diameters -- compared to "equal centers", where spacing is uniform between string centers. It's brief but has everything you need and nothing more: Clearly stated question, clearly stated answers, OP does an experiment and explains his conclusion. That thread's OP made a useful diagram:

What I haven't found good information about is how much space to put between the outermost strings and the edges of the fretboard. I've seen people throw around figures of 4mm or 1/8" (3.175mm) from the center of the string to the edge, but that sounds potentially awkward and unbalanced, particularly when using strings below E.

So how much space do you have at the edge of the fretboard on your builds? What do you generally prefer? Do you have a handy way of calculating your string and board width spacings, or just rules of thumb?

 

[Beej]

How much space between the edge of the fretboard and the strings? I've gotten trapped in a loop of overthinking about this.

There's this thread about string spacing at the nut -- "equal gaps" -- where spacing is uniform between string diameters -- compared to "equal centers", where spacing is uniform between string centers. It's brief but has everything you need and nothing more: Clearly stated question, clearly stated answers, OP does an experiment and explains his conclusion. That thread's OP made a useful diagram:

What I haven't found good information about is how much space to put between the outermost strings and the edges of the fretboard. I've seen people throw around figures of 4mm or 1/8" (3.175mm) from the center of the string to the edge, but that sounds potentially awkward and unbalanced, particularly when using strings below E.

So how much space do you have at the edge of the fretboard on your builds? What do you generally prefer? Do you have a handy way of calculating your string and board width spacings, or just rules of thumb?

You have captured my existence.

Here's my personal setup. Numbers are millimetres, it's a 45mm wide fretboard. 1.77" The A string does not cross the zero fret in the middle of the fretboard, it's a bit offset. No one has ever noticed.

 

[T_Bone_TL]

An E or B moves around a lot more than a G or C (for standard 4ths tuning) so not the same on both sides makes considerable sense, ala @Beej

 

[Bruce Johnson]

How much space between the edge of the fretboard and the strings? I've gotten trapped in a loop of overthinking about this.

There's this thread about string spacing at the nut -- "equal gaps" -- where spacing is uniform between string diameters -- compared to "equal centers", where spacing is uniform between string centers. It's brief but has everything you need and nothing more: Clearly stated question, clearly stated answers, OP does an experiment and explains his conclusion. That thread's OP made a useful diagram:

What I haven't found good information about is how much space to put between the outermost strings and the edges of the fretboard. I've seen people throw around figures of 4mm or 1/8" (3.175mm) from the center of the string to the edge, but that sounds potentially awkward and unbalanced, particularly when using strings below E.

So how much space do you have at the edge of the fretboard on your builds? What do you generally prefer? Do you have a handy way of calculating your string and board width spacings, or just rules of thumb?

You've got the right idea. The numbers I use on my basses are:

0.120" from the edge of the fingerboard to the side of the lowest string. The side, not the center.

0.100" from the edge of the fingerboard to the side of the highest string.

Those are the distances at the nut, but it stays about the same all the way down the neck.

Now, I use a fair amount of radius on the edges of my fingerboards. Those distances seem to be safe, where it's hard to push the strings over the edge. If you are using sharper edges, you may be able to shrink those numbers a bit, to maybe 0.100" Bass and 0.080" Treble.

 

[ardgedee]

You've got the right idea. The numbers I use on my basses are:

0.120" from the edge of the fingerboard to the side of the lowest string. The side, not the center.

0.100" from the edge of the fingerboard to the side of the highest string.

Those are the distances at the nut, but it stays about the same all the way down the neck.

Now, I use a fair amount of radius on the edges of my fingerboards. Those distances seem to be safe, where it's hard to push the strings over the edge. If you are using sharper edges, you may be able to shrink those numbers a bit, to maybe 0.100" Bass and 0.080" Treble.

If you were to make a bass that used a low B string, would you give the low side more space, or do you figure that's sufficient?

I should've asked this in the initial post too: Is the space from the edge the same all the way up the neck?

 

[Bruce Johnson]

If you were to make a bass that used a low B string, would you give the low side more space, or do you figure that's sufficient?

I should've asked this in the initial post too: Is the space from the edge the same all the way up the neck?

Yes, I use that same number for all bass side strings, including B and lower. It seems to be enough. I'd increase it on an EUB with a 38"+ scale length.

Yes, I lay out the string spacing and fingerboard width so that edge spacing is approximately equal all the way up, on both sides. Aesthetics and function.

 

[ardgedee]

You have captured my existence.

Here's my personal setup. Numbers are millimetres, it's a 45mm wide fretboard. 1.77" The A string does not cross the zero fret in the middle of the fretboard, it's a bit offset. No one has ever noticed.
View attachment 5283712

I've seen similar on other basses. The stringclamp headpiece for Hipshot's headless system is also proportionally spaced. It makes sense -- the lower strings are not only thicker, they'll wiggle more widely. About the only time I've noticed it at all is when the neck has small dots for position markers that are perfectly centered.

 

[Quills]

If I'm doing set-ups, I'll do whatever people want but, personally, I really don't like proportional / variable spacing; I want the apexs of the string cross-sections to be the same distances away from each other (A in your set-up).

I generally go 3.5mm on the low side (0.140) and just-under-3mm (0.110-ish) on the high (that's to the side, so probably not much different to Beej in practice). I might vary it depending on the string type; a floppy round-wound low B needs more room than a tight flat low E etc.