Widening a fingerboard/neck...is this reasonable?
Rebecca Pushkin
I have an old guitar that I'm very attached to, but the neck is
uncomfortably narrow for me. The string spacing at the bridge is a
generous 2 3/8", but it feels much tighter than that because the nut is
only 1.7" wide.
Is it possible to 'widen' the neck then replace the fingerboard with one
that fits my hands better...or is this much more trouble than it's worth?
Thanks!
Becka (gettin' picky in my old age) :)
Grip
one that had wider string spacing and now the guitar is most playable.
The E strings are now very close to the ends of the first fret but it
doesn't seem to be a problem. You might try this, or have a tech look
at this possibility.
I just knocked the old nut out and fitted a Graphtec nut in it's
place. Graphtec makes pre notched nuts with several different
spacings. They are only $10us delivered.
HTH
BTW I am now trying to make a piece to fatten the neck of a great
sounding OM-21 that is literally a pain to play because of it's
Tayleresque neck profile.
"Rebecca Pushkin" <rpus...@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:3CBC451A...@earthlink.net...
David Enke
narrowness. If your fret ends are not beveled at much of an angle, you can
just replace the nut to pull up whatever width you can. I've frequently
taken necks with 45 degree beveled fret ends, and refretted them with
slightly rounded but straight up fret ends and a new nut. By doing this,
I've been able to add as much as .25" to the string spacing at the nut. If
it is the neck that bothers you, not the string spacing, a lot depends on
how much you want to spend to replace the neck, and if a luthier can
purchase a pre-shaped neck blank and a pre-slotted fingerboard with the
correct scale to keep the cost down. What kind of guitar is it?
David Enke
Pick-up the World
www.pick-uptheworld.com
pic...@rmi.net
719-742-5303
"Rebecca Pushkin" <rpus...@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:3CBC451A...@earthlink.net...
Rebecca Pushkin
David Enke wrote:
>I've frequently
>taken necks with 45 degree beveled fret ends, and refretted them with
>slightly rounded but straight up fret ends and a new nut. By doing this,
>I've been able to add as much as .25" to the string spacing at the nut.
>
I was hoping that I could do something like that, but I think the E
strings may still be too close to the edge of the fingerboard . The
frets do have a marked bevel, though -- so it would certainly be worth a
try.
>If
>it is the neck that bothers you, not the string spacing, a lot depends on
>how much you want to spend to replace the neck, and if a luthier can
>purchase a pre-shaped neck blank and a pre-slotted fingerboard with the
>correct scale to keep the cost down.
>
I would definitely like a wider fingerboard, especially closer to the
12th fret. I was hoping that someone could actually add some wood to
the existing neck, though i realize this would be a pretty tricky job
(if it's even possible).
>What kind of guitar is it?
>
It's a Franklin OM --
Thanks for your input, David!
Becka
Rebecca Pushkin
Grip wrote:
>I had the same problem with a very nice Yari. I replaced the nut with
>one that had wider string spacing and now the guitar is most playable.
>The E strings are now very close to the ends of the first fret but it
>doesn't seem to be a problem. You might try this, or have a tech look
>at this possibility.
>
Thanks for the suggestion -- I think I may run into the same problem
with the E strings, though. They're already pretty close to the edge of
the fingerboard.
>BTW I am now trying to make a piece to fatten the neck of a great
>sounding OM-21 that is literally a pain to play because of it's
>Tayleresque neck profile.
>
I don't care for shallow neck profiles, either -- and that's definitely
not a problem with this guitar. When my Shubb capo is adjusted to fit
this guitar, it falls off my other guitars. The guy who built it must
have been into Louisville Sluggers...
Becka :)
David Enke
putting a new board on. It got a little interesting around the heal, but I
was able to make it all look intentional by trimming the veneer ends with
black/white/black violin purfling. The reason I did the job was someone
drilled through the neck all the way up to the body to add sympathetic
strings (like a sitar), resulting in the instrument being completely
unplayable.
I'm not sure this would be considered a good idea on a really nice guitar,
but it can be done.
David Enke
Pick-up the World
www.pick-uptheworld.com
pic...@rmi.net
719-742-5303
"Rebecca Pushkin" <rpus...@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:3CBCA1C3...@earthlink.net...
rtmca
> spacings. They are only $10us delivered.
> HTH
I just checked their website and it seems they have only one nut per
fingerboard width, thus one set of spacings per guitar. Is your Yairi
1 11/16"? Which nut did you order. I want to try this on my 1 11/16"
guitar. Thanx, Robert
JD Blackwell
It's *possible*. I don't think it would look too pretty but I think it's
feasible to glue on more stock and reshape it into something wider. It may
be just as efficient to have another neck made if your attachment to the
guitar doesn't extend to the neck. What kind of guitar is it?
JD
Rolavine
1/8" at the nut. You know these classical type guitars are not a bad idea at
all, they might even catch on.
Rocky
Grip
>
> I just checked their website and it seems they have only one nut per
> fingerboard width, thus one set of spacings per guitar. Is your
Yairi
> 1 11/16"? Which nut did you order. I want to try this on my 1
11/16"
> guitar. Thanx, Robert
I ordered #PQ-6234-00 nut. It was wider (1.75") than the original nut
in the Yari but it was the E to E string measurement (1.48") I was
after. The first fret on the Yari has about 1.6" usable crown. I
aligned the Graphtec nut so the E strings had a chance of hitting the
frets,and marked how much needed to be filed away on side to make the
nut flush with the fretboard. Some filing was also necessary to the
fit nut in the original slot. I never did glue the nut, it doesn't
need it. ymmv
After the good result with the Yari, I replaced the dreadfully narrow
(1.06") nut in a new Korean-built mandolin with a PQ-1530-00 nut made
for Tacoma. The procedure was a little more involved since the Tacoma
has a radiused fret board and the Korean board is flat. I had to
deepen the inner notches of the Graphtec nut, then adjust the height.
Once again the outer strings are very near the edge of the first few
frets, but it sounds good. What a great improvement it made in the
little mando... It's really fun to play now. Funny thing; now I'm
playing the mandolin so much all of my guitar necks feel a bit wide.
hth
Rebecca Pushkin
JD Blackwell wrote:
It's *possible*. I don't think it would look too pretty but I think it's
feasible to glue on more stock and reshape it into something wider. It may
be just as efficient to have another neck made if your attachment to the
guitar doesn't extend to the neck. What kind of guitar is it?
Becka
JD Blackwell
"Rebecca Pushkin" <rpus...@earthlink.net> wrote in message news:3CBE6246...@earthlink.net...
ple...@nospam.us
Rebecca,
Frank Ford did a beautiful job on an old D-28. He put a new fretboard
on it and widened the nut to 1-3/4" (or 1.75") from 1-11/16"
originally. You barely know it's been done. You might try talking to
him. You might not want to go too much wider than that because then
it would be noticeable.
Best of luck with this.
Al
--
Reply to al_guitar "at" clifftopmusic "dot" com
Frank Wiewandt
fretboard
> on it and widened the nut to 1-3/4" (or 1.75") from 1-11/16"
> originally. You barely know it's been done.
I'm having a bit of trouble visualizing this. Is there some sort of
filler between the neck & the underside of the fretboard?
I would think the bridge might need some attention too, right?
Also, any idea on how much an operation like this would cost? I have a
D-18 I love but would really like a 1 3/4" neck. I've been lusting
after new D-18GE & D-18VS models because of their wider boards but
really don't need (re: can't afford ;-) 2 D-sized guitars.
Regards,
Frank Wiewandt
ple...@nospam.us
>I'm having a bit of trouble visualizing this. Is there some sort of
>filler between the neck & the underside of the fretboard?
>
>I would think the bridge might need some attention too, right?
>
>Also, any idea on how much an operation like this would cost? I have a
>D-18 I love but would really like a 1 3/4" neck. I've been lusting
>after new D-18GE & D-18VS models because of their wider boards but
>really don't need (re: can't afford ;-) 2 D-sized guitars.
The operation that Frank Ford performed was not on one of my guitars,
so I don't have all the details. You'd have to talk to him. The
bottom of the fretboard where it is glued to the neck was tapered, as
I recall, so that the ledge effect is mitigated. He did some kind of
magic on the nut as well, so that it blended in with the headstock. I
believe he left the bridge alone.
Frank Wiewandt
guitars,
> so I don't have all the details. You'd have to talk to him.
I'm sure if I take some time & search I'll find the contact info for
Frank Ford, but if anyone has it handy I'd appreciate it. :-)
> The
> bottom of the fretboard where it is glued to the neck was tapered,
as
> I recall, so that the ledge effect is mitigated. He did some kind
of
> magic on the nut as well, so that it blended in with the headstock.
I
> believe he left the bridge alone.
Hmmm....., very interesting. It does sound feasable. I just need to
find out the cost.
Thanks!
Frank Wiewandt
Mike Dotson
Ford, but if anyone has it handy I'd appreciate it. :-) >>
Rebecca Pushkin
Frank Wiewandt wrote:
I'm sure if I take some time & search I'll find the contact info for
Frank Ford, but if anyone has it handy I'd appreciate it. :-)
Rebecca Pushkin
ple...@nospam.us wrote:
>Rebecca,
>
>Frank Ford did a beautiful job on an old D-28. He put a new fretboard
>on it and widened the nut to 1-3/4" (or 1.75") from 1-11/16"
>originally. You barely know it's been done. You might try talking to
>him. You might not want to go too much wider than that because then
>it would be noticeable.
>
>Best of luck with this.
>
Thanks, Al -- I'll email Mr. Ford and get his opinion. I'd like the
nut to be at least 1 13/16", with a corresponding increase in width all
the way up the neck. I may be asking for too much... :)
Becka
Rebecca Pushkin
JD Blackwell wrote:
I know a gal who could probably build another neck just like it. She's done great things for me. Not cheap but well worth it. I think that would be preferable to building up the original neck as far as maintaining character goes.
Becka
rtmca
Thanks for posting this---
Did the change in nut add anything noticable to the string spacing for
the *right* hand?
Robert
Grip
"rtmca" <rt...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:12847b5c.02041...@posting.google.com...
No. The bridge spacing feels just like a D28 Martin et al.
ple...@nospam.us
>Thanks, Al -- I'll email Mr. Ford and get his opinion. I'd like the
>nut to be at least 1 13/16", with a corresponding increase in width all
>the way up the neck. I may be asking for too much... :)
>Becka
Let us all know how it comes out. Well, first let us know what Frank
says...