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I'm in the middle of building a 27.5" scale length baritone acoustic for a friend here and am tying myself in knots trying to figure out dimensions etc of the fingerboard. He's wanting a 44.45mm, 1.75" nut width. Maybe I'm missing something fundamental here, or just being stupid (probably the latter ) but surely the string spread and lower bridge/saddle location will lead to a different string spacing and hence increased pin spread at the bridge? If I keep the fretboard width the same as say in a 25.5" scale length at the 14 body join ... then will this reduced string spread from nut to pin (as a consequence of the reduced divergence of the board from nut end to soundboard end) mean the bridge pin spacing is equivalent to that of a 25.5" scale?

Hell I'm confused

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imagination is more important than knowledge, knowledge is limited, imagination encircles the world

Most 1 3/4" nut guitars have a string spacing at the bridge of 2 1/4" or 2 5/16". The larger strings used on a Baritone can use a little more space, I would probably want 1 13/16" nut and 2 5/16 bridge spacing.

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Fred Tellier
http://www.fetellierguitars.com
Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/pages/FE-Tellier-Guitars/163451547003866

Yes, it will be a little different... but what is ideal? The neck width at nut, neck width at body join, string spacing at nut, and string spacing at bridge can all be whatever you want.

I generally decide the nut width, spacing at nut, and spacing at bridge first, and then calculate the neck width at body joint from that (actually I use width at 12th fret, and extrapolate the body joint from that if it's a 14 fret neck). So far I've been doing constant string-to-fingerboard-edge distance, but I think I'll try adding maybe 3/32-1/8" to the width at the 12th fret next time, since the strings get more flexible as you move up the neck so it's easier to fall off the edge.

Use the math, Rick

I use a std 1 3/4 nut width, with a 21st fret width of 2.4 inches, and a 56-57mm string spread - about 2 3/16 or so . Works fine. I wouldnt change your string spread or end of fingerboard widths by much, unless you really fell a need to or a customer asks for it.

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Tony Karol
www.karol-guitars.com
"let my passion .. fulfill yours"

Get a long-ish piece of paper, and draw the entire string course out.
Draw in the nut as well as the bridge at their given points, and especially the strings where you want them to run on the fretboard.
That will tell you more than 1,000's of words could accomplish.
And you will know what you are doing.

Steve

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From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

many thanks for the answers

Now I have a decent understanding of things ... yup Steve, I'll get drawing using these measurements

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imagination is more important than knowledge, knowledge is limited, imagination encircles the world