| Author |
Topic: A question for builders |
Mike McBride
From:
Indiana
|
Posted 14 Apr 2006 12:43 am |
|
I am thinking about completing someone else's defunct homemade project. How sensitive is a lap steel guitar to variations in bridge placement? Say, if it is a 24" scale and you place the bridge at 24 1/8 " is it going to incur major problems? I rely on what my ear says not just where my bar is located anyway.
Also, does a blade-type pickup allow for varying string spacings? |
|
|
|
Mark Vinbury
From:
N. Kingstown, Rhode Island, USA
|
Posted 14 Apr 2006 6:18 am
|
|
Seems like the only problem with lengthening the scale is the bar won't be exactly over the fret markers.If you lengthen the scale by 1/8" the discrepancy at the 12th fret is only 1/16".
Not a big deal in my opinion.
A blade type pickup should work with any string spacing so long as the strings are over the blade.
|
|
|
|
Jason Dumont
From:
Bristol, Connecticut, USA
|
Posted 14 Apr 2006 6:41 am
|
|
Hi Mike,
If it's for your own use, I agree with Mark. Any bar placement idiosyncracies would be known to you and you can adjust accordingly.
|
|
|
|
Richard Brandt
From:
Waymart, Pennsylvania, USA
|
Posted 14 Apr 2006 6:53 am
|
|
| Why not scale the guitar right to start with so the bar falls directly over the frets where it should |
|
|
|
Mike D
From:
Phx, Az
|
Posted 14 Apr 2006 6:58 am
|
|
24.125" is pretty close (just a little farther) to where you'd place a bridge when adding conpensation on a standard guitar. So I think you'll be OK.
Blade type P/Us can use any for the inside strings.
------------------
Half-assed bottleneck and lap slide player. Full-assed Builder of resonator instruments.
|
|
|
|
c c johnson
From:
killeen,tx usa * R.I.P.
|
Posted 14 Apr 2006 8:09 am
|
|
| maybe I'm thinking wrong but wouldn't the 12 fret not be in the center between bridge and nut and finger harmonics( natural) would not chime and just plunk like I do sometimes when I miss them. CC |
|
|
|
Mike D
From:
Phx, Az
|
Posted 14 Apr 2006 8:47 am
|
|
It's not going to be 'perfect' but with the strings 1/2" off the fretboard there's always some visual parallax anyway.
It would be best to put the saddle at the right spot, but an 1/8" isn't going to be the end of the world.
Edit on my earlier post. I should have added 'spacing' to the second part of my post.
------------------
Half-assed bottleneck and lap slide player. Full-assed Builder of resonator instruments.
|
|
|
|
Matthew Prouty
From:
Warsaw, Poland
|
Posted 14 Apr 2006 9:24 am
|
|
While there will always be some discrepency with the actual fret placement and the sounding note, all of it is calculated via a mathmatical formula. The standard scales lengths from various manufacturers varies from one to another. The simplest method to use is via a calculator, such as this one:
http://www.buildyourguitar.com/resources/fretcalc/jscrptclc.htm
Just put in the length 24.125 (24 and 1/8th) and the number of frets 22 or 24 you decide. The calculation will be there for you. It is my personal experience that the fretted guitar is in tune with these numbers but a bar played guitar will sit just off set to the pickup with the proper note. I am not about to solve the mathmatical error for unfretted instruments in this life time, but this should be in the ball park.
Understanding the effects of a 25 scale to 22.5 scale guitar is very insteresting and can allow you to compensate for sting gauges for certain high tension tunings or low tension tunings.
M. |
|
|
|
Mike McBride
From:
Indiana
|
Posted 14 Apr 2006 12:02 pm
|
|
Wow...Thanks for all the great info! It is amazing all the knowledge that we can shake from this SGF tree.
It is my intention to set the bridge at the appropriate location. Unfortunately, this is a second hand project & I do not know the original intended scale length. I believe that I can determine that from resources offered above.
My main concern is that I would be relying on my handy Stanley tape measure and want to make sure that I am "square & plumb."
|
|
|
|
Roman Sonnleitner
From:
Vienna, Austria
|
Posted 14 Apr 2006 12:48 pm
|
|
| Well, since the 12th fret is smack dab in the middle of the whole string length, just measure the distance from nut to 12th fret, and then add that distance from the 12th on, and you'll have the exact position of the original bridge! |
|
|
|
Rick Aiello
From:
Berryville, VA USA
|
Posted 14 Apr 2006 1:01 pm
|
|
| Quote: |
| My main concern is that I would be relying on my handy Stanley tape measure and want to make sure that I am "square & plumb." |
You can run the "Fret Calculator" ... I use the one from Stewart Mac ...
Then download a free demo of a CAD program ... I use DeltaCad ...
Build your fretboard on the CAD (its easy to learn/use) ... print it off ... then you have a perfect template ... to mark off your positions.
------------------
Hawaiian Steel Stuff
The Casteels
[This message was edited by Rick Aiello on 14 April 2006 at 02:01 PM.] |
|
|
|
Dom Franco
From:
Beaverton, OR, 97007
|
Posted 18 Apr 2006 9:39 pm
|
|
Mike,
Are you working on that old 12 string slab of oak, that I made a long time ago? I feel bad and somewhat responsible for all of your headaches. Post photos of your progress in making a "silk purse" out of this "sow's ear." That was only my second attempt at building a steel guitar, and I have learned a lot since then!
Sincerely;
Dom Franco http://www.freewebs.com/steelman777/newlapsteels.htm [This message was edited by Dom Franco on 18 April 2006 at 10:41 PM.] [This message was edited by Dom Franco on 18 April 2006 at 11:20 PM.] |
|
|
|
Mike McBride
From:
Indiana
|
Posted 19 Apr 2006 4:16 pm
|
|
No Dom..I was referring to a 60 year old lap steel that was on ebay recently. I was not the winning bidder.
However, I have added a pair of genuine ShoBud fretboards to your guitar and it looks cool. I also added a pair of drawer handles so I have something to grab ahold of. That dude is heavy!!
Have you ever decided on a logo? |
|
|
|
