fyb Posted August 30, 2006 Report Share Posted August 30, 2006 I'm a big guy so I thought it'd be cool to make a guitar that's a bit bigger than normal, like a strat but 10% bigger I'd probably want to do a slightly longer scale too. My idea was that I could use a preslotted 25.5" board as a guide because I'm nervous about cutting and measuring from scratch . . . I was thinking that I'd use the 25.5" scale board as a template but shift it down a fret, so the distance from the nut to the 1st fret on the preslotted board would be the 1st to 2nd frets on the longer board. I know there are fret calculators out there that will give you fret positions for all sorts of scales, but I have no idea how to calculate the spacing I'd need for my idea here. Any help would be appreciated! Thanks!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fyb Posted August 31, 2006 Author Report Share Posted August 31, 2006 Hey all . . . I just did some trial and error stuff with the fret calculator on Stewmac's site. Here's what I found: 27.02" fret scale fret from nut fret to fret 1 1.517" 1.517" (nut-1) 2 2.948" 1.431" (1-2) 3 4.299" 1.351" (2-3) 4 5.574" 1.275" (3-4) 5 6.778" 1.204" (4-5) 6 7.914" 1.136" (5-6) 7 8.986" 1.072" (6-7) 8 9.998" 1.012" (7-8) 9 10.954" 0.955" (8-9) 10 11.856" 0.902" (9-10) 11 12.707" 0.851" (10-11) 12 13.510" 0.803" (11-12) 13 14.268" 0.758" (12-13) 14 14.984" 0.716" (13-14) 15 15.659" 0.676" (14-15) 16 16.297" 0.638" (15-16) 17 16.899" 0.602" (16-17) 18 17.467" 0.568" (17-18) 19 18.003" 0.536" (18-19) 20 18.509" 0.506" (19-20) 21 18.987" 0.478" (20-21) 22 19.438" 0.451" (21-22) 23 19.863" 0.426" (22-23) 24 20.265" 0.402" (23-24) 25.5" fret scale fret from nut fret to fret 1 1.431" 1.431" (nut-1) 2 2.782" 1.351" (1-2) 3 4.057" 1.275" (2-3) 4 5.261" 1.203" (3-4) 5 6.397" 1.136" (4-5) 6 7.469" 1.072" (5-6) 7 8.481" 1.012" (6-7) 8 9.436" 0.955" (7-8) 9 10.338" 0.902" (8-9) 10 11.189" 0.851" (9-10) 11 11.992" 0.803" (10-11) 12 12.750" 0.758" (11-12) 13 13.466" 0.716" (12-13) 14 14.141" 0.675" (13-14) 15 14.779" 0.638" (14-15) 16 15.380" 0.602" (15-16) 17 15.948" 0.568" (16-17) 18 16.484" 0.536" (17-18) 19 16.990" 0.506" (18-19) 20 17.468" 0.478" (19-20) 21 17.919" 0.451" (20-21) 22 18.344" 0.425" (21-22) 23 18.746" 0.402" (22-23) 24 19.125" 0.379" (23-24) I have one more question now . . . how do you measure ou distances like these that require alot of precision? I don't exactly have a 1.517" mark on my tape measure Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mammoth guitars Posted August 31, 2006 Report Share Posted August 31, 2006 Adding a fret does not change the scale. All the fret positions and bridge to nut distance are what make up the scale. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fyb Posted August 31, 2006 Author Report Share Posted August 31, 2006 (edited) Adding a fret does not change the scale. All the fret positions and bridge to nut distance are what make up the scale. I meant adding one fret at the nut end, so the distance from the nut to the 1st fret on the 25.5" board are the same distance apart as the 1st and 2nd on the longer board. The idea was to have a longer scale, but one where the frets are spaced similarly to a preslotted 25.5" board so I can use it as a template Edited August 31, 2006 by fyb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southpa Posted August 31, 2006 Report Share Posted August 31, 2006 (edited) I found its easier to convert inches to metric in this area. Round off to .00 cm and you can draw it out on a length of paper and use as a template for slotting your board. I think that would be precise enough to give you proper intonation. But if you want to do it the easy way... download "Jon Whitney's downloadable wfret Windows fret calculator" from here (about 1/3 down the page). You can input any scale length / number of frets and print out your fret increments then copy to your slotting template material. Edited August 31, 2006 by Southpa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fryovanni Posted August 31, 2006 Report Share Posted August 31, 2006 Yup,Printing your distance is a good way to go. Just be sure to alighn the printed template well. That sounds like a good way to get your longer scale length and avoiding the bulk of your slotting. Just a thought though.... Although custom slotting is few dollars more. It would allow you to use your exact chosen scale length and avoid slotting all together if that is your preference. Peace,Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattia Posted August 31, 2006 Report Share Posted August 31, 2006 If you've already got a template, it's easy enough to 'add' frets lower down. You just need to measure one, tops two extra fret slots by hand, after all, no need to worry about printers not being quite accurate enough, or paper swelling and distorting due to enviornmental humidity (it's NOT the most stable of stuff.) The math's simple: Scale length / (1 - (1/17.817154)) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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