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I scalloped a fretboard


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Posted

It's obviously far from perfect. You can see there are a few ledges and the groove depths are not all even.

But it did what it was supposed to do in getting wood out from under my fingers when fretting.  The next one I do will be more even, I think.

I have 3 more cheap guitars to scallop. But the last one, i expect to have it down pretty well.

 

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Posted
16 minutes ago, Steve Haynie said:

How has the truss rod adjustment been affected?

that's a good question.

It actually seems to have affected the trem balance more.  I broke an E string trying to get the trem level with the body and the guitar all tuned up. 

But maybe that would have been resolved with a truss rod tweak. I might try adjusting the truss rod before I try restringing?

Posted
4 hours ago, Steve Haynie said:

How has the truss rod adjustment been affected?

The scalloping did apparently result in a slight buzz on the 1st and 2nd frets until I loosened up the truss rod a little.

Posted

Which one should I do next?

A Harley Benton Fusion II with ebony fretboard and stainless steel frets?

 

Or a no-name Chinese headless guitar with fanned ebony frets and stainless steel frets.

 

I have fully embraced scalloped fretboards with stainless steel frets as my preference.  The one picture up above is an EART Corsair with stainless steel frets and an aftermarket (broken) fretboard that I got for $200. The Harley Benton was $300 used from Guitar Center, the Chinese headless was like $450.

I have a Yamaha PAC 611 VFM and a Fender Showmaster that I'm considering scalloping, but they have regular frets, so I guess I have to get them refretted before I do it.  The Showmaster has 24 frets, and that gets really narrow at 23 and 24...plus, those are both more my favorite guitars, so I want to continue to practice with these cheaper/disposable before I do something I really love. 

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Posted

I think on the next one, I will not scallop frets 1-4.  

I usually play with a fairly light hand, but on this one, I seem to push it out of tune on the D major chord way too easily.

Posted

I bought a scalloped neck once, couldn't get along with it and didn't invest the time it would have taken to adjust. I'm more of a three chords and a cloud of dust type guy. I would, however, like to try one scalloped from the 12th fret up tho.

Posted
3 hours ago, Nathan of Brainfertilizer Fame said:

I think on the next one, I will not scallop frets 1-4.  

Do a Blackmore scallop. 

Posted
On 6/2/2022 at 7:27 PM, DaveH said:

I bought a scalloped neck once, couldn't get along with it and didn't invest the time it would have taken to adjust. I'm more of a three chords and a cloud of dust type guy. I would, however, like to try one scalloped from the 12th fret up tho.

That's an option from Warmoth.

Also, ESP LTD has a Purple Blast and Black Blast that do that.

And a few of the Yamaha PAC 621Ds and 821Ds had just the top 3 strings scalloped for just the top 6 or 8 frets or something.

I tell you, it teaches you to play with a lighter hand, which also improves speed and accuracy.  I loved it from the first time I touched one. 

  • 2 weeks later...
Posted

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Posted
On 5/30/2022 at 9:03 AM, Nathan of Brainfertilizer Fame said:

It's obviously far from perfect. You can see there are a few ledges and the groove depths are not all even.

But it did what it was supposed to do in getting wood out from under my fingers when fretting.  The next one I do will be more even, I think.

I have 3 more cheap guitars to scallop. But the last one, i expect to have it down pretty well.

 

IMG_6936.jpg

IMG_6937.jpg

Great job... that takes a lot of patience, nerve and skill 👍

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