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maping out the FB question

J

jordan_frerichs

Jan 20, 2008
1,773
9
Nebraska
#1
i want a 24 fret fender jazz fretboard. how do i map that out for cutting the blank? do i just take the nut width, and the width at the end, and draw those the right distance from eachother, and conect the dots? if so, what is the width of the nut and end of a 24 fret fender jazz board, and distance between them? how do u do your fretboards?
 
#6
is this for building a neck or are you copying off of an existing neck? cause if you have model to look off of, draw a centerline, and then draw the widths for the nut, the octave, and the end of the fingerboard. the more points you take the more accurate its going to be. i'm not an expert on the subject, but i would cut it a bit large, glue it, and then sand the edges flush to the neck.
 
#7
ok, im gonna give you a nice and complicated equation from martin koch's "building electric guitars"

x= A + D + D + L(B-A) / S

This Equation will calculate the width at the end of the fretboard (the 24th fret)

D-distance from outer strings to the edge of the fingerboard (min 1/8")
A-Width of Nut
B-Bridge Stringspread
L-Distance from nut to last fret
S-Scale Length

If you have any questions IM me so I can explain more thoroughly. My AIM sn is z28camaro917
 
#9
uethanian said:
is this for building a neck or are you copying off of an existing neck? cause if you have model to look off of, draw a centerline, and then draw the widths for the nut, the octave, and the end of the fingerboard. the more points you take the more accurate its going to be. i'm not an expert on the subject, but i would cut it a bit large, glue it, and then sand the edges flush to the neck.
Click to expand...

thanx. there is a problem. i do not have a 24 fret jazz neck to masure that stuff from. if someone could fill in the blanks, i think i will be set. thank you fore the tip on leaving it large, and fixing it when its glued.
i may not have a jazz to go off of, but there is a 24 fret esp that i love the neck of. i would model my neck off of that bass, but i doun't know where i could get the same nut.this is the neck i want Invalid Link Removed
 
#10
I dont mean to be rude, but It seems like you have done very little research on this subject and are basically asking us to do it for you. I think you should go and buy a book such as melvyn hiscocks guitar book or martin koch's guitar book. In order to find out the size of a neck you need your scale length which you have. Assuming you will be using a 34" scale bass and 24 frets, the 24th fret will be at 25.5" from the nut (http://www.stewmac.com/FretCalculator). A common nut width for a 4 string Jazz bass would be 1.5" (Building Electric Guitars, Martin Koch). Now you need a bridge string spread. You need to tell us what kind of bridge you are going to use. I recommend you use a Leo Quan BadassII Bridge. The stringspread of that it 2.25". You should leave 1/8 from outer strings to edge of fingerboard so now we have all of our calculations.

x= 1.5+.125+.125( that is the decimal of 1/8")+25.5(2.25-1.5)/34

x=1.75+19.125/34

x=1.75+.5625

x=2.3125 or 2 5/16
 
#11
already have the book by melvin hiscock, and will be using a badass II. i decided to stop into the music store later, and see if the nut on that ltd, is basically the same as a jazz nut, if not, i will see if they can make a close duplicate, and model my neck after the ltd b-104. my only worry is that at the 20th fret the ltd will be shorter than 2.5 inches (fender standards). i have not yet made the neck pocket, so it would be possible to go with a non fender style, but it would be easiest.
 
#13
jordan_frerichs said:
thanx. there is a problem. i do not have a 24 fret jazz neck to masure that stuff from. if someone could fill in the blanks, i think i will be set. thank you fore the tip on leaving it large, and fixing it when its glued.
i may not have a jazz to go off of, but there is a 24 fret esp that i love the neck of. i would model my neck off of that bass, but i doun't know where i could get the same nut.this is the neck i want Invalid Link Removed
Click to expand...

Jordan -

Measure the width at the nut and 20th fret of the Jazz bass neck you have, then draw it out on paper. You will continue the taper on the neck all the way past the 24th fret, and lo long as your measurements for the nut and 20th frets are accurate, the measurement at the 24th fret will be, too.

Alternately, you can just measure the neck taper at the nut and 24th fret on the bass you like so much, and use that for your measurements. Either way, drawing it out on paper is helpful, as it gives you a way to see how everything comes together *before* you stard cutting on wood.

I'd recommend for your first bass, if you are using a standard 34" scale, that you just get a fretboard from LMII, as you can choose from over a dozen woods ranging from the domestic to the exotic, and they have decent pricing. Or, you can order from erikbojerik as he's starting up a custom fretboard business. Either way, just get a pre-slotted (and maybe pre-radiussed?) board, mark the centerline then measure for your taper from there.

You will want your neck blank to follow that taper also. Generally, when I make a neck, I taper the neck to it's dimensions first, attach the rough-tapered board, then use a router with a follower btt to finish the taper.
 
#14
thanx shawn, your answered are always. helpful. can see you a pretty seasoned luthier. would love to see some pics of your work.
anyways, picked up a couple giant roles of paper free from the newspapers place. always try to do get templates. the wierd thing is, i am usually overly catious planing and mapping everything out, and still manage to make a grand F*** up. lol. a pre made board would be helpful, but i know someone who has all the tools, plus i am doing custom inlays.
 
#15
Drawing it full-size on paper (or CAD) is the best way to address this stuff.

When doing any fretboard, I ALWAYS start with a blank that is the width of the outermost strings at the bridge, +1/8" on either side...the neck will never be wider than that. This way I am certain to have enough meat on the outside edges when it comes time to cut the fretboard taper, and I will never be too narrow for the neck.

So (for example) if your bridge is 19mm string spacing (which is 0.748") and you have 5 strings, there are 4 string gaps....so 4x 0.748" = 2.992" + 2X 0.125" = 3.242".

Knowing the bridge string spacing and choosing a nut width, I then lay it out in CAD and from the drawing I can determine the width at any place along the neck.

When routing the neck pocket, unless I know for certain I'm going with a Fender-sized neck, I'll make a mock neck heel out of plywood or MDF (a lot cheaper than making a whole hardwood neck if you screw up.....) and then make a plywood or MDF template that will fit the mock heel, and use that to rout the neck pocket.
 

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