Official Luthiers Forum!

Thoughts on spacing from the " e " strings to the edge of the fretboard? How much do you like to allow at the 12 fret as opposed to the nut, if any??

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MK5acoustics.com

I go with 0.085" for the low e and 0.110 for the high e - to center of string. Many players want to be able to grab the low e string with the thumb while having more clearance between high e string and the palm.

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Doug

Don't let fear or common sense stop you from trying to build something

Not a lot of action in this thread so I'll throw in my 1.356 cents....

It's personal, nut spacing that is and when it's not it can be. More specifically there are no hard fast rules here for string spacing be it from the edge of the board or in between strings.

Of course you want to clear the board edge which makes any discussion about string spacing in terms of the nut slot spacing also very related to the thread a couple of weeks ago about beveling fret ends too far inward.

There are basically three kinds of spacing, equal on center, equal spacing of empty space, and combinations of the previous. What folks like - it's personal but some industry pros prefer the combination.

As for spacing from the edge of the board with classicals there is a tradition of more space from the high e to the edge and less for the low e.

You can check out Hideo Kamimoto's excellent book, Complete Guitar Repair where he discusses string spacing.

But again, in the real world, it's personal and what some of the better players may want may not be either traditional or common. I did a nut for a 30 year pro Luthier who had retired and trusted us to work on his ax. He had very specific requirements and we nailed it making him happy. And that's what counts.

I space the first & sixth strings equally .125" from the edge of the fretboard at the nut. Any less and the outside strings are in danger of muting by the hand.
My standard at the 12th fret is at least .125" but maybe a bit more. The range of "what works" is wider down the neck.

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https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100008907949110

.10" and .10" and either Kevin Ryan's proportional ruler or equal on center. I think I started using .10" both "E"'s after we had a sample "easy play guitar" from Denny Zager here in the shop. His idea is to spread the strings a bit on the common 1 11/16" nut.

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Ken Cierp

http://www.kennethmichaelguitars.com/