Fret positions

Tools, shop setup, jigs...
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maxi19
Posts: 365
Joined: Mon Oct 22, 2012 12:55 pm
Location: Milton Keynes, England

Fret positions

Post by maxi19 »

Hi all,

I just put this link on 'lap steel' but it would probably be more use on this category

http://www.ekips.org/tools/guitar/fretfind2d/

This program works out your fret positions for any 'scale length' and you can print it out full size and transfer the positions from paper to your fret board.

Best Regards Ron Mc
Bent
Posts: 1397
Joined: Mon Nov 02, 2009 3:10 pm
Location: Ontario Canada
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Re: Fret positions

Post by Bent »

Ron, thanks! I just made a test printout and it turned out way big. So it will take some experimentation and trial&error
BTW--does anyone here have any experience with silk screening?
That would be the cat's meow. In fact, one person could service all here on the forum. The results are super and in my view the way to go with fretboards.
anyone up to the challenge?
http://benrom.com/
21 BenRom pedal steel guitars, a Nash 112 and a 1967 TOS Milling machine with many cutters making one hell of a mess on the floor.
maxi19
Posts: 365
Joined: Mon Oct 22, 2012 12:55 pm
Location: Milton Keynes, England

Re: Fret positions

Post by maxi19 »

Hi Bent,

I just done a print out and it printed out correctly, I did (select PDF multiple sheet)
(A4 and save to disk)
(opened with Adobe Reader and set printout to 100%)

I then trimmed the print outs to the 'grey' line at the top of the page and put them together.

Make sure you have set the 'Adobe Reader' to print 100% as the usual default is 250%

Ron Mc
Bent
Posts: 1397
Joined: Mon Nov 02, 2009 3:10 pm
Location: Ontario Canada
Contact:

Re: Fret positions

Post by Bent »

Hey Ron thanks for the tips. Oh yes, I'll try some more. When I see something interesting I gotta try it right away. It usually ends in failure the first time. TYhis time I got a HUUUUGE fretboard printed on 6 pages! Oh well, I needed some scratch sheets for the shop anyway :-)
http://benrom.com/
21 BenRom pedal steel guitars, a Nash 112 and a 1967 TOS Milling machine with many cutters making one hell of a mess on the floor.
maxi19
Posts: 365
Joined: Mon Oct 22, 2012 12:55 pm
Location: Milton Keynes, England

Re: Fret positions

Post by maxi19 »

Good morning Bent,

The print out shouldn't use more than 3 sheets of A4 paper.

Best Regards

Ron Mc
pickgetter
Posts: 3
Joined: Tue Oct 01, 2013 5:42 pm

Re: Fret positions

Post by pickgetter »

HI Guys ! Here's a great way to build a beautiful, and extremely accurate fretboard.I used this method, on My home built S-10 , and to rework,a an old D-10 Sho-Bud. I posted this elsewhere,on the forum, but here goes, again. Go to Steward MacDonald's website (WWW.stewmac.com and order a sheet of 5ply plastic pick guard material . Black, white,black, white, black. It's 12 inches by 20 110 thousands thick, Cost $13.90 plus shipping, and is enough to make 3 fretboards. while on there site, You can Tell them what the scale length of your instrument is, and the number of frets, you need, and they will give you the exact distances, from the nut , to each fret , in thousands. (free service) Also , there is no accumulation of error, this way. Cut your fretboard, to size, and fasten to a milling machine table, Now, don't forget, the first fret, must be figured, from the center if the nut rollers, and not from the end of the fret board. Now, using a 1/16 end mill , machine, just through the top black layer, producing a beautiful white fret line. After all the frets, are milled. change to a 1/4 inch end mill and again, plunging just through the black layer, machine in your fret marker positions. One dot at the 3rd, 5th.,7th.,9th., 15th.,17th. 19th.and 21, and 3 dots, across at the 12t.. and 24th. Then a drop of colored paint, in some of the dots, will make the various positions, standout.
Francis (pickgetter)
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