Neck Length

[davesills]

OK guys,

I have been looking at the tutorial's on the site and have been learning a lot. Regarding to neck's, I want to build a neck that is going to fit into a ibanez type body. Ive been looking at scale length and i'm going 25.5 but how do i know how long to make the actual neck? Ive looked all over the place and can't find it.

Thanks dave

[Rick500]

The length of the neck is determined by the scale length and where the end of the neck pocket lies in relation to the bridge.

For a 25.5" scale length, the breaking edge of the nut has to be 25.5" from where the strings contact the bridge saddles. Assuming the neck pocket is already cut, you should be able to find the distance from the end of the neck pocket to the nut.

[Narcissism]

The length of your neck should be judged by your scale length. You can use the stewmac fret calculator to figure out where to place your neck and do a bunch of other things like figure out where the frets should go, how far away to put the bridge etc. It'll take some math, but if you use the fret calculator, deductive reasoning, and careful measurements, you can figure out how long to make your neck, how deep into the body it should go, where you should put the bridge, and of course, your scale length.

[davesills]

Break edge? Do you mean the front edge of the nut closest to the frets?

[Bionic Dave]

yep thats it. from there to the first part of your bridge where the string makes first contact.

[MiKro]

Break edge? Do you mean the front edge of the nut closest to the frets?

I think a good read of Melvin Hiscocks. "Make your own electric guitar" book is in order.

MK

[dpm99]

You need to figure out how long your fretboard is going to be, and then add the length of the headstock. That may seem obvious, but it's the answer to your question.