Flat fretboards.....
- Thread starter kramersteen
- Start date
Re: Flat fretboards.....
It is a lot of work.
However, I have accumulated several Strat style necks over my lifetime, all which I know can fit my 2 main, soon to be 3 main Strats, and the third will need a neck. (I got the body as part of a trade)and I have the motivation and for the type of neck I want, I believe I have the skills needed after all my neck mods to give it a go.
A re-fret done by somebody I trust around here would be $$200.00 bucks labor or so. Same thing from Warmoth, a whole new very basic neck would be at least that if not more. An eBay purchase would be 80 bucks or so, but I have 15 dollars worth of fret wire, enough for the job, so I figure, why waste the money and extra effort to fix a new neck to my specs when I have it in front of me.
So wish me luck. All I need now is a fret cutter!
SJ
It is a lot of work.
However, I have accumulated several Strat style necks over my lifetime, all which I know can fit my 2 main, soon to be 3 main Strats, and the third will need a neck. (I got the body as part of a trade)and I have the motivation and for the type of neck I want, I believe I have the skills needed after all my neck mods to give it a go.
A re-fret done by somebody I trust around here would be $$200.00 bucks labor or so. Same thing from Warmoth, a whole new very basic neck would be at least that if not more. An eBay purchase would be 80 bucks or so, but I have 15 dollars worth of fret wire, enough for the job, so I figure, why waste the money and extra effort to fix a new neck to my specs when I have it in front of me.
So wish me luck. All I need now is a fret cutter!
SJ
Diminished Triad
New member
Re: Flat fretboards.....
Compound radius of 7.25 up to 9..5 and even some tapering would be ideal for me.
Compound radius of 7.25 up to 9..5 and even some tapering would be ideal for me.
Archer250
Well-known member
Re: Flat fretboards.....
Sure, but all that for a flat fretboard... well, if it's worth it for you.
Sure, but all that for a flat fretboard... well, if it's worth it for you.
kramersteen
PowerMetalRaph
Re: Flat fretboards.....
That's not much work. Plus its fun to do things like that for yourself.
That's not much work. Plus its fun to do things like that for yourself.
treyhaislip
Well-known member
Re: Flat fretboards.....
You guys are killing the economy though! Think of all the luthiers going hungry because of you guys!...jk
If you have the time and tools to do that then good on ya! I would love to but being in a studio apartment means now is not the time in my life to take on such things.
You guys are killing the economy though! Think of all the luthiers going hungry because of you guys!...jk
If you have the time and tools to do that then good on ya! I would love to but being in a studio apartment means now is not the time in my life to take on such things.
kramersteen
PowerMetalRaph
Re: Flat fretboards.....
That's no excuse, i know this guy who tried to paint a guitar in his bathroom. He lined the walls out with plastic sheets and did it in there. I cant recall who it was.
You guys are killing the economy though! Think of all the luthiers going hungry because of you guys!...jk
If you have the time and tools to do that then good on ya! I would love to but being in a studio apartment means now is not the time in my life to take on such things.
That's no excuse, i know this guy who tried to paint a guitar in his bathroom. He lined the walls out with plastic sheets and did it in there. I cant recall who it was.
Vajazzled
New member
Re: Flat fretboards.....
"If you can chop up a body and dissolve the body in sulfuric acid in your home,
You sure as hell can paint, or, even make a guitar in it."
My pastor always said
"If you can chop up a body and dissolve the body in sulfuric acid in your home,
You sure as hell can paint, or, even make a guitar in it."
My pastor always said
treyhaislip
Well-known member
Re: Flat fretboards.....
Ouch! Thou hast pained mine ego! Lol
Well...I guess I should go get done plastic sheets...
Ouch! Thou hast pained mine ego! Lol
Well...I guess I should go get done plastic sheets...
kramersteen
PowerMetalRaph
Re: Flat fretboards.....
I'm with kramersteen again on this. It is fun and I feel some pride going for it. Even if it winds up crap, I will have given it a shot. But I think it will be great, AND fun. AND not hurt my back, like most things I find fun to do. Also, not really that much work.
As for luthiers out of work. You must be kidding, I'm lucky if I get a call back from the luthier I use, he is so busy I think he falls asleep standing up. With a tool in his hand.
I have never seen such busy people as luthiers!
Also, I live in a 1 room condo, and as it is hard for me physically to bend and keep the tools and sandpaper and pickups, etc. etc. all in their correct place because it kills my back to do anything (it seems worse lately), I definitely understand the "messy" problem of not enough space. If I could afford it, I need a 2 bedroom for sure. But my ex-wife took care of that. And yes, I am whining, you would be too if you knew the details.
SJ
I'm with kramersteen again on this. It is fun and I feel some pride going for it. Even if it winds up crap, I will have given it a shot. But I think it will be great, AND fun. AND not hurt my back, like most things I find fun to do. Also, not really that much work.
As for luthiers out of work. You must be kidding, I'm lucky if I get a call back from the luthier I use, he is so busy I think he falls asleep standing up. With a tool in his hand.
I have never seen such busy people as luthiers!
Also, I live in a 1 room condo, and as it is hard for me physically to bend and keep the tools and sandpaper and pickups, etc. etc. all in their correct place because it kills my back to do anything (it seems worse lately), I definitely understand the "messy" problem of not enough space. If I could afford it, I need a 2 bedroom for sure. But my ex-wife took care of that. And yes, I am whining, you would be too if you knew the details.
SJ
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Re: Flat fretboards.....
Archer250-
Nothing is too much when it comes to guitars, as long as I can afford it! It is one good thing about being very single.
BTW, your cat looks too comfortable. Humans may be on the top of the food chain, but house cats are on top of the comfort chain!
SJ
Archer250-
Nothing is too much when it comes to guitars, as long as I can afford it! It is one good thing about being very single.
BTW, your cat looks too comfortable. Humans may be on the top of the food chain, but house cats are on top of the comfort chain!
SJ
Archer250
Well-known member
Re: Flat fretboards.....
Oh the little a-hole is always comfy. Pretty demanding and entitled, too.
Oh the little a-hole is always comfy. Pretty demanding and entitled, too.
Re: Flat fretboards.....
Hey, at jemsite there are some ppl who managed to get decent results out of cheaper wire cutters. You might do a little bit of searching there or even ask them.
Hey, at jemsite there are some ppl who managed to get decent results out of cheaper wire cutters. You might do a little bit of searching there or even ask them.
Jackson Distortion
New member
Re: Flat fretboards.....
The flattest I can go is 12 and I don't even really consider that flat - even though it's considered flat. I need the touch of extra fretboard curvature to give me something to dig into when playing.
I find my ESPs' radius to be too flat like there's nothing there. And I don't like compound radius because the feel changes as you go up the neck.
So, yeah - flat radius FTW, but not really. lol
The flattest I can go is 12 and I don't even really consider that flat - even though it's considered flat. I need the touch of extra fretboard curvature to give me something to dig into when playing.
I find my ESPs' radius to be too flat like there's nothing there. And I don't like compound radius because the feel changes as you go up the neck.
So, yeah - flat radius FTW, but not really. lol
Re: Flat fretboards.....
greekdude-
Never been to jemsite, but I will go there on my laptop tomorrow, my iPad in bed at this hour does not go to very many places, all the links in this forum are blank or go nowhere. Thanks for that info, I could use a break, spent far too much money this whole last year. Most of it medical. That is just plain way out of balance!
Jacson Distortion,
I don't know what FTW means, but I get your main point. How odd we could be so very far apart in what we like. To me a 20" radius is as flat as I care to go. I am very alone in this respect. I really don't like the drag on my fingers from the neck wood, and as I have said, I love to get the string right in the middle of my finger pad, really get a no slip grip so I can bend from a high C on the B string to a high E or even F# for fun without it slipping. There is a guy, I think his name is Chris Poland? This guy bends up like that, like a sitar bend, and goes from any note within that range with such ease, I think I saw him on a Premier Guitar Digital newsletter under "lessons".
Archer250- you ever notice how different it is when a cat stares at you than a dog. A cat stare is spooky, like they know what you are thinking, like they are telling you to hurry the F up!
Cheers folks,
SJ
greekdude-
Never been to jemsite, but I will go there on my laptop tomorrow, my iPad in bed at this hour does not go to very many places, all the links in this forum are blank or go nowhere. Thanks for that info, I could use a break, spent far too much money this whole last year. Most of it medical. That is just plain way out of balance!
Jacson Distortion,
I don't know what FTW means, but I get your main point. How odd we could be so very far apart in what we like. To me a 20" radius is as flat as I care to go. I am very alone in this respect. I really don't like the drag on my fingers from the neck wood, and as I have said, I love to get the string right in the middle of my finger pad, really get a no slip grip so I can bend from a high C on the B string to a high E or even F# for fun without it slipping. There is a guy, I think his name is Chris Poland? This guy bends up like that, like a sitar bend, and goes from any note within that range with such ease, I think I saw him on a Premier Guitar Digital newsletter under "lessons".
Archer250- you ever notice how different it is when a cat stares at you than a dog. A cat stare is spooky, like they know what you are thinking, like they are telling you to hurry the F up!
Cheers folks,
SJ
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Vasshu the humanoid typhoon
Unseen
Re: Flat fretboards.....
Hah even my classical guitar has a slight curve
Eventhough I learned to play on a normal classical guitar.
Hah even my classical guitar has a slight curve
Eventhough I learned to play on a normal classical guitar.
vinta9e
New member
Re: Flat fretboards.....
You are not alone, Steve. What's probably the one best playing guitar I've touched in my life has a 20" fretboard.
What you need is tall frets. Not necessarily superdupermegajumbo, but at least, like, 1.4mm tall. Low frets aren't as bendy-friendy. Kudos for mentioning Chris Poland.
Jackson Distortion
New member
Re: Flat fretboards.....
FTW means "for the win".
I couldn't imagine playing a 20" radius. I feel like that would be dreadful personally. But, I could see why some guys like yourself would dislike fingerboard drag.
FTW means "for the win".
I couldn't imagine playing a 20" radius. I feel like that would be dreadful personally. But, I could see why some guys like yourself would dislike fingerboard drag.
Re: Flat fretboards.....
vinta9e-
I do scoop out the neck I have. Using a big rat tail round file from fret 12-22, and a rounded rasp file from frets 1-11. So I in fact create a totally flat fretboard between the frets. This in turn makes the frets essentially quite tall so they are actually taller that the highest fret you can buy but on a 9-12 radius neck they don't feel as high as mine.
Goes w/out saying I must sand the wood down as cosmetically, when I am done "scooping, or flattening" the wood, maple or rosewood they look like Rocky the squirrel has been eating the fretboards. And it looks like he is really hungry.
However, I have now just taken on a re fret by myself, took the frets (medium jumbo) out, and will now just flatten the whole fingerboard ( did that a couple days ago ) and bought the highest widest frets StewMac had to sell, and will be using those on my flat fretboard.
I will give the frets a 20" radius, taper the ends by hand with a special edge trimmer from S.Mac
Polish it up, restring, slide a very thin but hard piece of glass with 600 sandpaper under the strings at pressure to find any uneven frets so I am positive I have no string fret outs or buzzing on ANY BENDS.
Used this process on all of my guitars ( the frets radius and flattening ) all 6 or 7 of em.
They all play great, bend without buzz and get the string right in the middle of my finger pad for a great grip and ease of bending. I must wait as my spine is giving me hell for a whole week now and I am sure I'll need some more time before I can finish some must do projects, especially my no load 500K problem where I blamed the pot when someone pointed out certain things that made me doubt my findings. Gotta fix that too.
Thanks all,
SJB
vinta9e-
I do scoop out the neck I have. Using a big rat tail round file from fret 12-22, and a rounded rasp file from frets 1-11. So I in fact create a totally flat fretboard between the frets. This in turn makes the frets essentially quite tall so they are actually taller that the highest fret you can buy but on a 9-12 radius neck they don't feel as high as mine.
Goes w/out saying I must sand the wood down as cosmetically, when I am done "scooping, or flattening" the wood, maple or rosewood they look like Rocky the squirrel has been eating the fretboards. And it looks like he is really hungry.
However, I have now just taken on a re fret by myself, took the frets (medium jumbo) out, and will now just flatten the whole fingerboard ( did that a couple days ago ) and bought the highest widest frets StewMac had to sell, and will be using those on my flat fretboard.
I will give the frets a 20" radius, taper the ends by hand with a special edge trimmer from S.Mac
Polish it up, restring, slide a very thin but hard piece of glass with 600 sandpaper under the strings at pressure to find any uneven frets so I am positive I have no string fret outs or buzzing on ANY BENDS.
Used this process on all of my guitars ( the frets radius and flattening ) all 6 or 7 of em.
They all play great, bend without buzz and get the string right in the middle of my finger pad for a great grip and ease of bending. I must wait as my spine is giving me hell for a whole week now and I am sure I'll need some more time before I can finish some must do projects, especially my no load 500K problem where I blamed the pot when someone pointed out certain things that made me doubt my findings. Gotta fix that too.
Thanks all,
SJB
