Official Luthiers Forum!

I was playing a guitar the other day and the edge of the board wasn't eased. I use my thumb sometimes for bar chords and the uneased edge didn't feel too good. So I'm wondering how many of you ease your FB edge. I do.

Chris:

Not a lot of builds to my credit at this point, but yes, I do too ease the fretboard edges and all other edges come to think of it.....except my sense of humor.

Danny R. Little

Heck yes. I do it with the file when I'm beveling the fret ends.

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Mike

"The Dude abides. I don't know about you but I take comfort in that. It's good knowin' he's out there. The Dude. Takin' 'er easy for all us sinners. Shoosh." The Stranger

Most definitely.

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The member formerly known as erikbojerik....

I lightly sand off the sharp edge after fret dressing but I only touch it not really round it over. in machinist talk I break all sharp edges, sometimes referred to as deburring.

I camfer the top edge as well.It makes the playability much better.I do the same with the fret ends too.

Same here, I do it when I bevel the fret ends.

I think of the fingerboard edge like this: Top third: beveled like the fret ends, middle: straight, bottom third: beginning of neck curvature. Feels nice and smooth like that, I think.

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Rian Gitar og Mandolin

When i was a teenager, i had a sadistic guitar teacher who was a real stickler for proper tecnique. In his world, your fingers/hand/thumb should NEVER touch the edges of the fretboard, so he advocated a fretboard edge that not only was left unrelieved, but also had frets sticking out 1/8" on both sides and filed sharp, to discourage poor hand positioning!

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Jordan Aceto
Ithaca, NY

Same here. I also scrape using a rasor blade if needed, once the frets are leveled and I'm ready to put strings on.

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Alain Moisan
Former full time builder of Acoustics, Classicals and Flamencos.
(Now building just for fun!)

I also ease the edge over during the fret leveling.

Chuck

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That's just evil!

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My Facebook Guitar Page

"There's really no wrong way, as long as the results are what's desired." Charles Fox

"We have to constantly remind ourselves what we're doing....No Luthier is putting a man on the moon!" Harry Fleishman

"Generosity is always different in the eye of the person who didn't receive anything, but who wanted some." Waddy Thomson

I've been doing this on electrics and acoustics for years. I use the fret beveling file to do it, then make it nice & smooth with the same sandpaper I use to polish the frets.

--Steve

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---Steve

The list of GREAT guitar players who wrap the palm of the hand around the neck when they play is far too long for me to take this idea of "proper technique" seriously. For classical guitar sure, but for steel string or electric? No way.

But I digress...

What Arnt said, although I don't think I bevel as much as the top one third.

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Todd Rose
Ithaca, NY

https://www.dreamingrosesecobnb.com/todds-art-music

https://www.facebook.com/ToddRoseGuitars/

I usually embed shards of glass along my fingerboard edges. No stinkin position markers either.
TJK

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It's not what you don't know that hurts you, it's what you do know that's wrong.

Yes I do. I like to get the edges nice and smooth and easy on the hand.
Same with the fret ends.

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Anderson Guitars
Clearwater,Fl. 33755