How to make a Kite Guitar: Difference between revisions

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On an electric guitar, the saddle points are adjustable, so the fretboard placement need be only roughly correct. But on an acoustic or classical guitar, it's crucial to place the fretboard accurately.

When gluing on the fretboard, unless it's an electric, be sure to use locator pins! This is a standard (non-microtonal) luthier practice, google "fretboard locator pins". With the fretboard clamped onto the neck, drill two (some suggest three or four) 1/16" guide holes through the fretboard and partway into the neck, to position the neck during glue-up. Drill the holes in the fret slots so that the frets will hide the holes. Drill on either side of the fretboard to avoid the truss rod. Drill one hole at the first fret slot and the other near the top of the neck. Do not drill into the body. Unclamp the fretboard and put 1/16" locating pins in the guide holes to position the fretboard exactly. Glue the fretboard on. Once the glue is dry, carefully remove the locator pins. Do one final levelling on the fretboard along each string path, then install the frets.

=== Method #1 ===

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If the intonation is off, use a formula to convert the error in cents to an error in millimeters or inches. This formula is given in the section below on saddle compensation. We're doing saddle compensation in reverse: rather than moving the saddle points, we're moving the guide marks.

Remove the old fretboard. Use the guide marks to position the new fretboard, which at this point has no frets in it. The new 12th fret slot will be only 2.5¢ closer to the soundhole than the old 7th fret. And the new 29th fret slot will be 2.5¢ further from the soundhole than the old 17th fret. That 2.5¢ distance will be almost twice as large for the new 12th fret as for the new 29th fret (almost twice because a 34\41 minor 7th is almost an octave). So eyeball the marks and the fret slots until it looks right on both sides of the neck/body~~. Clamp the fretboard to the neck.~~

Remove the old fretboard. Use the guide marks to position the new fretboard, which at this point has no frets in it. The new 12th fret slot will be only 2.5¢ closer to the soundhole than the old 7th fret. And the new 29th fret slot will be 2.5¢ further from the soundhole than the old 17th fret. That 2.5¢ distance will be almost twice as large for the new 12th fret as for the new 29th fret (almost twice because a 34\41 minor 7th is almost an octave). So eyeball the marks and the fret slots until it looks right on both sides of the neck/body.

The rest is standard (non-microtonal) luthier practice: drill two 1/16" guide holes through the fretboard and partway into the neck, to position the neck during glue-up. Drill the holes in the fret slots so that the frets will hide the holes. Drill on either side of the fretboard to avoid the truss rod. Drill one hole at the first fret slot and the other near the top of the neck. Do not drill into the body. Unclamp the fretboard and glue it on, putting 1/16" locating pins in the guide holes to position the fretboard exactly. Do one final levelling on the fretboard along each string path, then install the frets.

=== Method #2 ===

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 On an electric guitar, the saddle points are adjustable, so the fretboard placement need be only roughly correct. But on an acoustic or classical guitar, it's crucial to place the fretboard accurately.
+When gluing on the fretboard, unless it's an electric, be sure to use locator pins! This is a standard (non-microtonal) luthier practice, google "fretboard locator pins". With the fretboard clamped onto the neck, drill two (some suggest three or four) 1/16" guide holes through the fretboard and partway into the neck, to position the neck during glue-up. Drill the holes in the fret slots so that the frets will hide the holes. Drill on either side of the fretboard to avoid the truss rod. Drill one hole at the first fret slot and the other near the top of the neck. Do not drill into the body. Unclamp the fretboard and put 1/16" locating pins in the guide holes to position the fretboard exactly. Glue the fretboard on. Once the glue is dry, carefully remove the locator pins. Do one final levelling on the fretboard along each string path, then install the frets.
 === Method #1 ===
@@ Line 483: / Line 485: @@
 If the intonation is off, use a formula to convert the error in cents to an error in millimeters or inches. This formula is given in the section below on saddle compensation. We're doing saddle compensation in reverse: rather than moving the saddle points, we're moving the guide marks.
-Remove the old fretboard. Use the guide marks to position the new fretboard, which at this point has no frets in it. The new 12th fret slot will be only 2.5¢ closer to the soundhole than the old 7th fret. And the new 29th fret slot will be 2.5¢ further from the soundhole than the old 17th fret. That 2.5¢ distance will be almost twice as large for the new 12th fret as for the new 29th fret (almost twice because a 34\41 minor 7th is almost an octave). So eyeball the marks and the fret slots until it looks right on both sides of the neck/body. Clamp the fretboard to the neck.
+Remove the old fretboard. Use the guide marks to position the new fretboard, which at this point has no frets in it. The new 12th fret slot will be only 2.5¢ closer to the soundhole than the old 7th fret. And the new 29th fret slot will be 2.5¢ further from the soundhole than the old 17th fret. That 2.5¢ distance will be almost twice as large for the new 12th fret as for the new 29th fret (almost twice because a 34\41 minor 7th is almost an octave). So eyeball the marks and the fret slots until it looks right on both sides of the neck/body.
-The rest is standard (non-microtonal) luthier practice: drill two 1/16" guide holes through the fretboard and partway into the neck, to position the neck during glue-up. Drill the holes in the fret slots so that the frets will hide the holes. Drill on either side of the fretboard to avoid the truss rod. Drill one hole at the first fret slot and the other near the top of the neck. Do not drill into the body. Unclamp the fretboard and glue it on, putting 1/16" locating pins in the guide holes to position the fretboard exactly. Do one final levelling on the fretboard along each string path, then install the frets.
 === Method #2 ===