Saved my bacon! Just bought a counterfeit RIC 325 (21" scale) and it's way out of whack starting with the neck or frets (dunno yet). Anyway, try finding notched straight edge for a 21" scale guitar. Not out there. Gonna run to the big box store and make my own using the technique in your vid. Thank you, thank you, thank you....
Yes I made mine from a fish measurer from walmart. It is orange brushed alum, and is "J" shaped. It is precision. I cut the "J" end off and then notched it. $14. The thread idea, good.
The 3 foot straightedge was $2.99 at my local Menards. I checked it using the expensive straightedges in the store. It may seem flimsy, but it's actually pretty sturdy. I didn't have a 24 fret guitar on hand, but I'd installed a 22nd fret to my Tele, so that was the guitar I used for marking the fret locations. I cut a section leaving it long enough (about 19.25 inches in length) to add notches for a 23rd & 24th fret at some date in the future. I'll use my SG to mark notch locations on the opposite side. next, I'll use some of the leftover section of the straightedge to make a set of fret rockers in four lengths. (TIP: The lengths of the 4 sides of a standard fret rocker are 103mm, 77mm, 49mm, & 33 mm). StewMac wants 36 bucks for a straightedge notched on both sides, plus another 30 bucks for their fret rocker. I don't need to point out that making my own versions of those tools is about 63 dollars cheaper.
How do you know what 'scale' your neck is, and what does it mean? I currently have an ESP EC-50, and an Epiphone Wildkat (both 22 fret). I had thought of the aluminum ruler too, just haven't gotten there yet. I'm creative and cheap, but it's the chicken/egg conundrum....
If you are trying to figure out the scale length of a guitar, just measure the distance from the nut to the 12th fret and multiply that number by 2. Example: If the distance from the nut to the 12th fret is 12.75" then 12.75 x 2 = 25.5." The scale of the guitar is 25.5."
When you get the plain straightedge, just use your guitar to mark the locations for the notches, as shown. Your ESP & Epi Wildkat both have a 24.75" scale length. With a longer scale, such as the typical 25.5" Fender scale, a given string set will be under more tension when tuned to pitch than on a shorter scale. Think of it this way: If you tune a Telecaster to pitch, then add a capo to the first fret, you now essentially have a guitar with a shorter scale than with no capo. In order to restore the guitar to concert pitch while the capo is attached, you'll need to slacken the strings. A lot will be affected by such a change, all else being equal. There's more of a tendency for looser strings to buzz out on the frets, plus there's a detectable change in tonality & sustain. Probably the most immediate effect is that the looser strings are more supple & forgiving under one's fingers, and string bending & vibrato become easier to execute. Picking & choosing your own personal ideal scale length is somewhat similar to choosing which gauge strings to install. There are no real rules to follow, you just experiment your way & find what you prefer. You're allowed to have more than one preference, that never needs to come down to just a single choice. My Tele is my main stage & recording instrument, but I also have a fondness for short scale acoustics.
I bought me a cheap one online. It seems a bit curved however (when i put it against a flat surface i can rock it a tiny bit). Could this be to regulate the minute curve some luthiers say i sjould have?
Good tip. I’ve made 3 of those for different scales, good project. But making things flat w square edges is job one when building guitars. Determining if something is indeed flat/square is a must. That REQUIRES high quality measuring tools. Just b/c something “looks” flat like a table saw bed doesn’t mean it is. Unless it’s a high quality jointer bed or saw it’s probably not flat. At least one should never assume so, if you’re serious abt building. First tools anybody serious abt being a luthier needs are high quality measuring tools. Buy cheap power hand tools from harbor freight but don’t ever buy cheap measuring tools. U’ll regret it.
Today's cheapest straightedges are hardly "imprecise". We tend to be suckers for sensational advertising practices, and now we're supposed to believe we can't do squat unless our tools cost more than the guitars we work on. I can only imagine the tragic hardships that C.F. Martin had to agonizingly endure, for a whole 135 years before ScrewMac was founded. And who the hell is building guitars that isn't serious about it? Anyone who's "serious" had sure as hell better know how to tell if a straightedge is straight before they buy it. BTW, these 3 dollar straightedges are PLENTY straight, as long as a person makes sure they don't pick out a lemon. There are lemons in the 50 dollar range, too. A crappy carpenter always blames his tools.
randolph patterson I speak from experience. I’ve been building custom guitars from rough sawn lumber for over a decade and working on guitars far longer than that. If u think a $3 dollar straightedge actually has a straight edge you sir, r a fool. I’ll leave it that...
The notches allow you to check how level the fretboard is after the frets are installed. They are all the same depths. Just deep enough to clear even the tallest frets.
@@HighlineGuitars My 6 months old Yamaha APXT2 D string sounds dead between 9th and 13th frets...changed strings and went for 2 set ups....no luck....but, if I drop tune the whole guitar by One Full Note, it goes away. What do u think is the problem. Playing Peace Pipe by The Shadows is just awful.....
There's something I don't understand. You have the skills to build a guitar, so why wouldn't you craft your own notched straightedge out of some hardwood, like beech or another?
