A Couple Questions

[isaac]

Hey.

I am starting my first guitar soon. I am planning on making 36 frets. How much fretwire should I buy? Also, will an 18" truss rod still work?

Thanks,

Isaac.

[Mattia]

Fretwire: enough. Measure it if you're not sure. Stuff's cheap anyway.

As for the truss rod, that sort of depends on how long your neck is, but 18" will probably still be OK. I think LMI still does custom lengths if you need them.

[isaac]

I have a 25.5" scale. I just wanted to make sure that the truss length was dependent on the scale and not the length of neck.

Will 4ft of fretwire be enough to to cover 36 frets? And should I use lighter fretwire for frets 25-36?

Thanks,

Isaac.

[Rick500]

Figuring a very rough estimate of an average of 2" per fret for a 6-string fretboard (which is not completely accurate but in the ballpark), 36 frets would be 72" or 6 feet. You'll need more than that to account for overhang, waste, practice, etc.

(Are you going to be able to use that many frets?)

The function of the truss rod is to reinforce and adjust the neck, so its length is selected based on the neck length. Of course, the neck length will vary partially based on the scale length, but also on other factors such as the location of the body/neck joint.

[isaac]

Its neck-thru, so theres going to be no joint.

The right horn will extend at the 36th fret, while the left horn will be at the 29th fret.

I guess I will go with 5 coils of fretwire with two of them being less wide for use on the upper frets.

[Rick500]

Have you figured out the positioning of everything (bridge, pickups, etc.) on the guitar yet?

With a 25.5" scale and 36 frets, the last fret will be at about 22.32" from the nut. You're only going to have about 3" between the last fret and the bridge.

[Batfink]

Hmmm....for a first guitar that's a brave move indeed.

FYI Hamer's Virtuoso (36 frets) used a 26.25 scale length to compensate for the string tension and perhaps also the space problem, as Rick500 pointed out, as they all came out with a single 'Hotrail' type pickup because even with the extended scale length you couldn't physically fit a traditional sized humbucker in the available space.

jem

[ihocky2]

With the added octave are you planning on using standard tuning or a lower tuning? I think that could work pretty cool using a 26.5" or even 27" scale, with like a C or B tuning on a six string. Off the top of my head I am not sure where all of the notes would fall, but you should be able to get the extended low range, while still adding the extra upper registers. After reading this thread, it adds a new project to my list of future build ideas, not sure exactly where I will run with it, but it adds a ton of possibilities. Good luck with the build.

[isaac]

I have a rough draft of what the guitar will look like. The bridge is very forward on the body so the cutaway wont look huge. I am planning on a single humbucker.... I assumed it would just fit in the space... I have made a fret calculator in excel, and I can change the scale length if I want. The distance from bridge to 36th fret is 3.187441", of which a small portion of it will be used up by the part of the bridge infront of the sadle.

If I were to make a longer scale, say 27", that would still give me only 3.374938". The 2/10 of an inch difference doesnt seem like it will make a whole lot of difference. However if it would be possible to create a 27" or 28" scale... with B tuning.... without needing a custom-made truss.... I think I might do that.

OK. I just did some measuring on my current guitar. The pickup and mounting ring is approximately 1.8". I think it is standard sized. The area on the bridge after the saddles is 0.5" for the low E string, with all the others being less. So the 1.8 + 0.5 = 2.3", which will fit on a 36 fret guitar with a standard sized scale.

I have not yet gotten any parts yet, but I have ordered them. The bridge is the same as on my current guitar (where I replaced the old bridge), only in black. The pickup is a humbucker, which is from an ebay store, and doesnt seem to have any recognizable name brand on it. I am trying to keep costs very low on this guitar ( so far $55 for the machines, bridge, humbucker, strap buttons, volume knob and pot). I will be able to get cheap output, wire, string trees wood and nut from a local store. I still need more information for the fretwire and trussrod, before ordering.

Isaac.