Is it so difficult to put a bridge in the right place?

[ctmullins]

Don’t need no stinkin dots

 

[2groggy]

Move the camera a smidgen to the right until the A string aligns with the dots. Then sell the instruments to me at a steep discount.

 

[Topkat13]

Play wearing a blindfold.

 

[logdrum]

I have 2 fretted basses with no dots on the fretboard and I prefer that. When I had a baritone guitar neck made, I asked the luthier to do so. My first guitar is a nylon classical and it had zero dots. But I do not mind dots or lines or get out of my way for that too happen since I always buy used. I'd like to hear music and the execution of good music.

Also Ernie Ball MusicMan 5 strings are known for the G being too close to the edge and of course we always say they have great craftsmanship just like Ferraris that break often.

 

[fretlessman71]

Paint over the dots.

Remove the strings. Problem solved.

 

[howdydoody13]

Well, I feel a little embarrassed now. Thanks for educating me on this! I thought that the strings were spaced center-to-center. Now I have one less thing to obsess over

Actually, you shouldn’t feel embarrassed…. You have a perfect example of the dingwall there where it runs right through the dots and is perfectly spaced on both sides at the edge of the fretboard. When you buy a 19 mm bridge, this means centre to centre of each string…. people here maybe over complicating things. You could also put into account that maybe the dots aren’t perfectly centred… so many variables.

 

[J Wilson]

It's amazing to me how often this comes up.

 

[konaaayukeeenee]

Yea, that bothered me too so when I put this together, I made sure the A string went right down the middle.

I like how the bass kinda matches the floor.

 

[ardgedee]

A simple solution could be fret markers that aren’t dots. Blocks, parallellograms Rick-style sharkfins etc.

What you all are discussing is the difference between what we call mechanical center vs optical center.

Mechanical center: Measure the width. Divide by two. Put the thing at the halfway point.

Optical center: Do the above. See how it actually looks in context with everything else going on. Scooch the thing to the left or right until it looks good, because the dot's relationship with the left and right edges of the neck do not stand out to your eye as much as the dot's relationship to the objects closest to it -- in this case, the D string.

We like to think of guitar necks as symmetrical but that's only true when they're unstrung. The strings are thickest at one side and thinnest at the other, and that's how they look when they're being used.

Guitar builders that put the dot in the exact center without taking the strings into account have designers that are not thinking far enough ahead... which is okay if they're only making one instrument but if they're a factory they don't have ignorance as an excuse. They either messed up or they don't care.

When you buy a 19 mm bridge, this means centre to centre of each string…. people here maybe over complicating things.

Nut and bridge are different things. The nut is often spaced proportional to string width but bridge spacing is string center-to-center with very rare exceptions.

 

[ReidK]

Bunny Brunell takes an interesting approach in his signature models from Carvin and ESP.

 

[bassdude51]

Paint over the dots.

Ha ha ha! Yeah, paint over the dots. Or go a 5er with rectangle markers.

 

[ctmullins]

Ha ha ha! Yeah, paint over the dots. Or go a 5er with rectangle markers.

View attachment 7376425

Won't work. He'll just complain about how the strings aren't centered over the rectangles.

 

[TheArchitect]

Your strings are not centered on the neck. The gaps between the neck edges and B and G strings are asymmetrical, i.e. the B string sits closer to the edge than the G string. Some people like that, some don't.

Actually they are centered based on the middle of the string. The B looks closer because its much thicker

 

[JakobT]

What you all are discussing is the difference between what we call mechanical center vs optical center.

Mechanical center: Measure the width. Divide by two. Put the thing at the halfway point.

Optical center: Do the above. See how it actually looks in context with everything else going on. Scooch the thing to the left or right until it looks good, because the dot's relationship with the left and right edges of the neck do not stand out to your eye as much as the dot's relationship to the objects closest to it -- in this case, the D string.

I’m well aquainted with the principle, having worked with typography most of my adult life.

I’m just saying that it’s one way of sidestepping the problem of mechanical center vs. optical center entirely.

 

[HelpImaRock]

A bridge too far…

Closing arguments!

 

[mikeswals]

I always order mine with no dots

 

[Yahboy]

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• I'm looking at a photo of the StingRay Special 5 I stupidly sold. Looks like it's set up with equal-center spacing rather than equal gap spacing, which explains why the A-string is nicely aligned with the dots.
  
  View attachment 7376287

  I found that both B and G string no crazy close to fretboard edge like most SR5 too.