scalloped fretboard

[lespaulfreak]

i wanna noe wats the pros & cons of having scalloped fretboards. is there any luthiers in singapore dat have this scalloping serivce? how much? thx

 

[ShredCow]

Con:
weakens neck

 

[gsonique]

i would suggest just a wee bit to get 'used feel' ...which you can diy !
Get a tubular hard object to size and wrap it 400 grit paper and slowly wear down fret board where required !!

 

[gibbytones]

wrap it around a screwdriver?

 

[edder]

cons: you'll grow fat and play the same arpeggios at blinding speed all the time. :lol:

 

[gibbytones]

mum steam?

 

[Royhan]

no. malam steam :lol:

 

[vernplum]

Con:
weakens neck

Not really. Nothing a normal truss rod can't cope with.

 

[vernplum]

I scalloped my first electric guitar myself (a Squier Strat, about 18 years ago). Back then, I lived in the UK - my dad had a workshop with a bench, a vice and lots of tools. I unbolted the neck and clamped it, then took a rasp to take out about 1.5 mm of wood, then smoothed it with fine grade sandpaper. I refinished it with some dark wood stain (note - rosewood fingerboard) and used a hole punch on some white plastic sheet to create some new fret marker dots (exactly the right size). Whole thing took me about 3 hours.

I don't know how many people in Singapore have the luxury of space enough to have their own woodwork/metalshop but you could do it yourself if you had a Workmate or something like that. Don't do it yourself on anything expensive. Fingerboards with bindings (such as Les Pauls) don't fare too well either.

 

[ShredCow]

I would think a truss rod would definately be able to cope, but I don't see how it would not weaken the neck?

 

[edder]

I scalloped my own cheapskate acoustic guitar when I was 17 back in malaysia.

Took a file and dig away.

Till now the acoustic guitar neck is still good but the body gave way.

I must take a picture of that guitar one day. its still around! Got Metallica Pushead copy art on it some more.

 

[gibbytones]

what vernplum said is very true.

Its definetly not as easy as it sounds.
also you are most likely not going to get the result you want.
therefore its either you just experiment it with a cheap guitar for the sake of it.
or send it to someone who knows how to do it
or simply just get a scalloped fretboard and bolt it on.

 

[vernplum]

I would think a truss rod would definately be able to cope, but I don't see how it would not weaken the neck?

Okay - strictly speaking, yes - the wood is thinner, however, under normal use (i.e. not using the neck for any load-bearing functions except to hold the strings taut, or as a baseball bat) it won't suffer adversely.

 

[ciel]

you are truely dodgy

 

[vernplum]

Who?

 

[ciel]

the high moddistan

 

[edder]

you will bask in my dodginess once i take the photos! :lol:

 

[ciel]

you will bask in my dodginess once i take the photos! :lol:

i patiently await oh master~

 

[gibbytones]

maybe just try buying a stim or sammick or something the cheapest one and experiment away.

but its not a great idea.

 

[lespaulfreak]

OIC. thanks for the info. but do any of u noe any luthiers who have this service? im not gonna scallop my les paul FYI but my strat instead. oh yea, any advantages of scalloping?