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Topic: New Fretboards |
Bill Duncan
From: Lenoir, North Carolina, USA
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Posted 8 Mar 2009 8:22 am
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Have any of you folks changed your fretboards for the vinyl ones offered by Tom Bradshaw? If so, what do you think about the change?
I ordered two for my MSA but have been holding off on installing them because I'm not sure how well they will work. My old ones are the original metal ones and are pretty beat up. _________________ You can observe a lot just by looking |
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Paul Norman
From: Washington, North Carolina, USA
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Posted 8 Mar 2009 9:08 am
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If you are waiting to change them because of the old
glue coming off, Permatex makes a Gasket remover
No. 80646 that will take the old glue off easy.
Be sure and get this cleaned off good so the
new fretboard adhesive will stick. |
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Bill Duncan
From: Lenoir, North Carolina, USA
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Posted 8 Mar 2009 9:37 am
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Hey Paul,
The reason I haven't changed them yet is because there is some slight difference in spacing from the twelfth fret on, and I am not sure if I will like the vinyl. Thanks _________________ You can observe a lot just by looking |
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John Bechtel
From: Nashville, Tennessee, R.I.P.
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Posted 8 Mar 2009 9:51 am
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If the new fretboards are for the proper scale-length, just make sure the 12th. fret is half-way between the centers of the nut and bridge! The rest of the frets will take care of themselves! If the scale-lengths are different, return them for the correct scale-length. _________________ <marquee> Go~Daddy~Go, (No), Go, It's your Break Time</marquee> L8R, jb
My T-10 Remington Steelmaster |
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Bill Duncan
From: Lenoir, North Carolina, USA
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Posted 8 Mar 2009 1:12 pm
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John,
The boards are for the proper 24" scale. I guess I'm concerned about nothing, and I'm going to put them on. The fact of them being vinyl puts me off a little. However, Tom Bradshaw sold them to me so they must be good! _________________ You can observe a lot just by looking |
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Bill Ford
From: Graniteville SC Aiken
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Posted 8 Mar 2009 1:18 pm
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Bill,
Why don't you put them on temporarily and see how they work. A small piece of masking tape to hold them in place should work.
Bill _________________ Bill Ford S12 CLR, S12 Lamar keyless, Misc amps&toys Sharp Covers
Steeling for Jesus now!!! |
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John Bechtel
From: Nashville, Tennessee, R.I.P.
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Posted 8 Mar 2009 1:29 pm
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I guess I just don't understand the concern¡¡¡ _________________ <marquee> Go~Daddy~Go, (No), Go, It's your Break Time</marquee> L8R, jb
My T-10 Remington Steelmaster |
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John P. Phillips
From: Folkston, Ga. U.S.A., R.I.P.
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Posted 8 Mar 2009 5:01 pm
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John,
I guess maybe he doesn't like vinyl. _________________ Just remember,
You don�t stop playing cause you get older,
You get older cause you stop playing ! http://www.myspace.com/johnpphillips |
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Bo Legg
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Posted 8 Mar 2009 5:10 pm
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I cut some off my fretboard twice and it's still too short. |
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John Bechtel
From: Nashville, Tennessee, R.I.P.
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Posted 8 Mar 2009 5:11 pm
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Vinyl will probably stick to the neck better than aluminum, so; make sure the fretboard is placed properly before pressing it down! _________________ <marquee> Go~Daddy~Go, (No), Go, It's your Break Time</marquee> L8R, jb
My T-10 Remington Steelmaster |
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Alan Brookes
From: Brummy living in Southern California
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Posted 8 Mar 2009 5:44 pm
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Bill Duncan wrote: |
...there is some slight difference in spacing from the twelfth fret on... |
If the spacing is accurate to the twelfth fret, then the bridge and nut are in the correct position, and it should be in tune as high as you can go. If not, then either there's an error in the fretboard, which is unlikely, or it's in the wrong place and the error only becomes apparent higher up the fretboard, where accuracy is more important. |
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Bill Duncan
From: Lenoir, North Carolina, USA
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Posted 8 Mar 2009 8:26 pm
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I put the new fretboards on and they seem to be ok. They stand out a little more because the fret lines are thicker than the old ones. There is a small amount of difference in spacing of the frets compared to the original, that has nothing to do with board placement. They are very easy to install. Tom sends good instructions with them.
I hope the vinyl doesn't hurt the tone! (That's a joak) _________________ You can observe a lot just by looking |
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Dwight Lewis
From: Huntsville, Alabama
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Posted 8 Mar 2009 8:38 pm Fret boards
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I have installed a 12 string board from Tom and it was spot on. Good product and good man. Enjoy.
Dwight _________________ Dekley 7p4k(PRS-10C), BMI S12 5p5kn |
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Paul Norman
From: Washington, North Carolina, USA
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Posted 9 Mar 2009 10:44 am
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Bill,
Bring it over to my house and we will play some.
It is only 315 miles. Ha. |
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Ricky Davis
From: Bertram, Texas USA
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Posted 9 Mar 2009 1:28 pm
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If you put Tom Bradshaw's replacement board 12th fret exactly halfway between the nut and bridge; than all his fret markings are perfect. Most likely the fretboard you took off was calculated WRONG...yes even the original shobud flat fretboards were off(some); the only shobud fretboard that was exact was the plastic raised fretboard and that is what Tom used to pattern and calcualte exact markings.
Ricky _________________ Ricky Davis
Email Ricky: sshawaiian2362@gmail.com |
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Stuart Legg
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Posted 9 Mar 2009 2:28 pm
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It doesn't really matter the sizes, where you place them (The guitar player has a suggestion ) on your PSG or if you even have fret markers on your fret board.
From what I gather here on the forum a steel player uses his perfect pitch ears and never plays out of pitch and only uses the fret markers occasionally to get within the ballpark if he is playing in an indoor football stadium with no lights in New Orleans after a hurricane.
So why not just do away with fretboards all together.
Maybe just a clear one with family pictures in it or a song list etc. |
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Bill Duncan
From: Lenoir, North Carolina, USA
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Posted 9 Mar 2009 3:33 pm
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Hey Paul,
I'm in Dallas, Tx at the moment on buisness. Maybe some day we could get together, I could sure use some pointers! _________________ You can observe a lot just by looking |
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Daniel J. Cormier
From: Lake Charles, LA, USA
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Posted 9 Mar 2009 7:12 pm Mci
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MCI/EMCI fretboard are dead on acurate. I have about 10 left. easy to install Just peel and stick to a clean surface. _________________ Daniel J. Cormier
Rittenberry with Tone to the bone,profex or tubefex and what ever amp, hilton pedal, BJS bars. Email at kajunsteelman@yahoo.com. |
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Dave Simonis
From: Stevens Point, WI USA
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Posted 9 Mar 2009 7:33 pm
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Stuart, maybe not a bad idea...I can't sing and play the steel too well at the same time, but maybe if I put the words to the song where I'm looking (under the strings), I might be able to do both at once?
 _________________ Dave Simonis
Fiddle: Zeta, Arthur Conner, many others.../Steel: GFI SD-10 Ultra.../Mandolin: Breedlove.../Guitar: Gibson, Fender, Taylor.../Amps: Peavey NV112, Evans FET 500.../Others: Hilton, Goodrich, Stereo Steel, Pendulum Pre-amp... |
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Gordy Hall
From: Fairfax, CA.
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Posted 13 Mar 2009 6:29 pm
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[quote="Stuart Legg"
From what I gather here on the forum a steel player uses his perfect pitch ears and never plays out of pitch and only uses the fret markers occasionally to get within the ballpark if he is playing in an indoor football stadium with no lights in New Orleans after a hurricane.
Yeah, that's me. I don't even have to look.
 _________________ Dekley S-10, tangled fingers and feet |
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Alan Brookes
From: Brummy living in Southern California
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Posted 14 Mar 2009 9:31 am
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Stuart Legg wrote: |
...a steel player uses his perfect pitch ears and never plays out of pitch and only uses the fret markers occasionally to get within the ballpark if he is playing...So why not just do away with fretboards all together... |
That's what I thought, since violins, double basses, etc., don't have fret markings. That was until I built two lap steels and a resonator guitar without fret markings. They turned out to be very difficult to play, so I ended up putting fret markers on them.
It seems that, although we judge absolute pitch by ear, we usually look at the frets and get a ballpark idea of where the bar has to be moved to before we move it.
Just as important are the markers at the 3rd, 5th, fret, etc. I once built a lap steel with the markers where I thought they would be best for the keys I play in the most. But then, going from one lap steel to another caused a lot of confusion, so I gave up that idea, too.
I'm about to build a lap steel with fanned frets, as an experiment, to see if the position is more comfortable. I'm afraid that what I'm going to find out is that, once you're used to a particular playing position, you might as well stay with it. It's a bit like typewriter keyboards; the QWERTYUIOP layout was designed to slow down typing so that the manual keys on the earliest typewriters didn't jam; so someone came up with the Dvorak keyboard, but the problem is that it's difficult to be proficient in both, and there's the added difficulty that the most common letters in each language differ. Try typing ú æ ¶ Ç â ô on an English keyboard...  |
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Robert Harper
From: Alabama, USA
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Posted 14 Mar 2009 9:38 am Well
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I wonder could a Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder type play a steel? _________________ "Oh what a tangled web we weave when we first begin to deceive" Someone Famous |
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Mark Eaton
From: Sonoma County in The Great State Of Northern California
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Robert Harper
From: Alabama, USA
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Posted 14 Mar 2009 11:17 am No Fretboard
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I guess he doesn't need a fretboard. He probably plays "Dont Fret it Mama" _________________ "Oh what a tangled web we weave when we first begin to deceive" Someone Famous |
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Ken Byng
From: Southampton, England
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Posted 15 Mar 2009 2:04 am
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I bought two white fretboards from Tom for my Pro 111 ShoBud. All I can say is - excellent product. Tom does not sell anything that he would not replace if the customer is unhappy. He is 100% straight down the line.
Just mark your 12th fret position on the neck with dry marker pen or white correction fluid and once the fret board is in place you can remove the marking guide. _________________ Show Pro D10 - amber (8+6), MSA D10 Legend XL Signature - redburst (9+6), Sho-Bud Pro 111 Custom (8+6), Emmons black Push-Pull D10 (8+5), Zum D10 (8x8), Hudson pedal resonator. Telonics TCA-500, Webb 614-E, |
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