The Steel Guitar Forum

I have made an accurate copy of a fretboard. Because this fretboard came off a guitar with a big roller-nut assembly, the zero fret has been cut off to make space for the roller nut.
How do I find or calculate the exact position of the zero fret again?
It is difficult to measure it on the original guitar due to the assembly.
The original guitar has a 24 1/4 scale.


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First of all, the guitar you're putting this fretboard on must also have a 24 1/4" scale. Assuming that is the case, the easiest way is to lay a 36" scale on the strings with 0" at the nut and 24 1/4" at the bridge (it's actually easier with 1" and 25 1/4").

Now lay the fretboard on the strings such that the 12th fret matches the halfway point of 12 1/8" (or 13 1/8" if you started at 1"). Eyeball how much the fretboard length exceeds the nut and cut off that amount.

Having a little gap between the end of the fretboard and the nut won't hurt anything and will hardly be noticable.

Also be aware that on some guitars the neck goes into a cutout in the nut roller, so the fretboard can actually be longer in those cases.

In either case, use the scale again when attaching the fretboard, to be sure that the 12th fret is in the right spot. <FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Jim Smith on 04 February 2003 at 01:10 PM.]</p></FONT>

Peter,

In the final analysis, the harmonics need to be "right on".

Bill H.