Classical
guitars usually do not have any position markers or binding. Classical
guitarists are always expected to know their finger position. Also, if
the hand position while playing classical guitar is correct, you will
never be touching the edge of the fingerboard.
If the
frets at edge of the fingerboard are properly smoothed off, there should
be really no need to cover them with a binding. You may see them
sometimes on less expensive guitars, but purpose there is to cover
poorly seasoned wood, which may shrink, exposing fret edges.
Twelve and Fourteen Fret Necks:
All
classical and steel string guitars made till 1920s had twelve frets
clear of the body. Majority of the present flat top steel string guitars
have fourteen instead.
The total frets still remain
unchanged at twenty (some instruments have nineteen or twenty-one) for
acoustic and eighteen or nineteen for Classical instruments. Classical
guitars still continue to have twelve frets before the beginning of the
body.
Martin company introduced fourteen fret
fingerboards in 1930 with their Orchestra Model (OM) series. The design
was developed as per suggestions of some Banjo players, who prefer
slimmer necks and more accessible frets.
These extra
frets are created by reducing the upper part of the body and making the
shoulders less rounded, instead of increasing the length of the neck.
The upper bout is shorter for fourteen fret guitar in comparison to
twelve fret ones.
Width of the Fingerboard or Neck Width:
If
you come across the term Neck width or Nut Width or Fingerboard width
in the guitar specifications, these are referring to the width of the
fingerboard, measured at the nut. This width varies from manufacturer to
manufacturer and from model to model.
Fingerboard widens out as we move towards the sound hole. Again, the degree of widening varies between the models.
Acoustic & Classical Guitar Fingerboard Widths:
There
is no standard acoustic guitar neck width and they vary between 41 mm
(158” or 1.61”) to 47 mm (178” or 1.85”) for different guitars.
Conversion from mm to inches may not always match exactly, as different
manufacturers convert and round the numbers differently.
Neck
widths of 43 mm (11116” or 1.67”) and 44 mm (134” 0r 1.73”) are most
common. Standard Martin Dreadnought model comes with 43 mm neck width.
Small differences in the neck width, of the order of (116” ), can make a
significant difference in the way a guitar feels to experienced
players.
Vast majority of players are not comfortable
with neck widths of more than 44 mm. The degree of discomfort is more
for the players who take their hand around the neck.
Neck
width of 41 to 42 mm is less common and mostly used on electric
guitars. Guitars having neck width more than 47 mm are commonly referred
to as wide neck guitars.
Fingerboards of 12 string
guitars, naturally have to be wider to accommodate extra strings. 47 mm
neck width is most common for these guitars.
Most common neck width for classical guitars is 51 mm (2”). This is due to
- Use of nylon strings, which are much bigger in gauge to steel strings
- Finger picking style of playing
- Movement of nylon strings is more because of lower tension.
Fingerboard Width and Playing Style:
Choice
of the guitar neck width is largely influenced by the playing style - finger picking or flat picking. This is counter intuitive to the common
perception that it is governed by the ease of the fretting hand and the
grip.
Wider necks increase the distance between the
strings, allowing sufficient room for picking fingers to have a broad
stroke. Classical guitars require larger stroke originating at the first
knuckle joint for fuller tone and additional control.
Steel
string guitar players with finger picking style use second knuckle joint
that require less space for the stroke. Hence, steel string guitars
have much narrower necks. Increased string distance in wider
fingerboards, does not benefit flat pickers in any way. In fact, it may
be of little discomfort to some players as pick has to travel extra
distance.
43 mm and 44 mm wide necks provide best
balance for both the styles of play for steel string guitars. 45 mm
necks are more suited for finger pickers but can be comfortably used by flat pickers, as well. 47 mm necks are only suitable for finger pickers.
Fingerboard
widths influences fingerboard contour, neck thickness and its contour.
These factors also play a significant role in defining the overall feel
of the guitar.
In some guitars, first and sixth strings
are further inside from the edge, known as insetting. In such case, the
actual string spread is less than what is allowed by the nut width. So,
even guitars with same neck width may have different string
distances.
Fingerboard Shape:
Majority
of nylon string guitars have completely flat fingerboards. All the
strings are in one plane in these instruments. This is because flat
surfaces are more suited to classical playing. Flat surfaces are also
found on some 12 string guitars and some recent 5 and 6 string electric
basses.
Fingerboard on most steel string guitars,
however, has a slight elliptical curve along its width and is known as
contoured fingerboard. The fingerboard surface may be cylindrical or
conical.
- Cylindrical fingerboards have constant radius from nut end to bridge end.
- Conical fingerboard have varying radius. Radius is larger at the bridge end and reduces towards the nut.
Radius
of fingerboard in the specifications of any guitar refers to Radius of
Curvature at the head stock nut, unless specifically mentioned.
Curved
cylindrical fingerboards with smaller radii (7 - 10”) are more suitable
chord and rhythm playing. Instruments with large constant fingerboard
radii (12 - 16“) are preferred by fast soloists.
Conical
fingerboards combine the features of small and large radius cylindrical
fingerboards. In these, nut end with smaller radius is used for forming
chords and bridge end with larger radius is comfortable for Solo
playing and prevents fretting out.
Fingerboard Repairs:
Unless
you play six to 7 hours daily, you should not worry too much about fret board repairs. Most Ebony and even Rosewood fingerboards will last
more than 30 years in this situation.
However, if you
play for many hours per day in aggressive style style or keep big
fingernails, some pits and cracks may appear after 10 to 15 years. These
can be repaired by use of dust of the concerned wood mixed with epoxy
resin. If the damages are more, even fingerboard replacement is a pretty
routine repair job.
Frets:
Fret
is a raised element in the form of a metal strip extending across the
full width of the fingerboard. Strings are pressed against the frets to
produce clear notes. Each fret represent one semitone.
Fret Materials
- Most
of the frets are made up of Nickel Silver. This is a hard Nickel -
Steel alloy. Nickel Silver is the industry name of this alloy, in spite
of the fact that it does not contain any silver. Percentage of Nickel
may vary in the alloy and governs the hardness of the fret. While, most
of the frets are made with 18% Nickel, 12% Nickel frets are also
available.
- Inexpensive and vintage guitars have brass frets. Brass is soft and wears down quicker than other options.
- Some
manufacturers offer stainless steel or other similar metal frets. These
frets are hard and smooth with virtually non existent wear. If you play
aggressively and require regular re-fretting, it is better to go in for
stainless steel frets. But, harder materials are difficult to work with
and require hard and expensive tools, making repairs costly.
- Evo,
an alloy of Copper, Tin, Nickel and Iron is also used to make frets.
Its hardness is between that of Nickel Silver and Stainless steel. So,
it is easier to work with and less expensive to re-fret.
Fret Construction:
Fret or Fret wire, as it is called, is made up of two components, the Crown and the Tang.
- Crown
is also known as the bead. This is visible or the exposed part of the
fret on the fingerboard. While fretting, you press the string against
the crown.
- Tang is the metal tongue which holds the
fret into the fingerboard with the help of protrusions to grip the wood.
These work like row of hooks and are called “barbs” or “dimples” or
“studs”.
- Four elements completely define the style of
the fret. Two of them specify crown and balance two define the tang.
These are the width and height of the crown, the size of the studs and
the depth of the tang. Size and shape of these elements are varied to
suit different types of guitars and playing preferences.
- Luthiers
make fine slots in the fingerboard at required intervals. Tang are
placed in these slots. Fret wire is drawn little longer than fingerboard
width and hammered in. Side protrusions are then cut and filed. Some
manufacturers use epoxy glue in the grooves to seat frets. This makes
the guitar harder to re-fret and is not recommended.
Crown Width & Height:
Crown
width varies between 0.053” (ultra narrow) to 0.115” (jumbo), Wider
crowns produce produce strong tones. However, their wear can produce
very pronounced intonation affects. Narrow frets wear down faster, but
have lower intonation drifts.
Crown height may vary
between 0.032” (short) to 0.060” (tall). Taller frets have longer life.
If you have stronger grip, whereby you grip neck tightly or frequently
use a Capo, go fall shorter crowns. This is because the strings will be
pulled sharply as you play. Shorter or low frets wear out faster and
need to be replaced often.
A fret is termed as medium,
if it has medium width and height, around 0.085” x 0.045”. These are
found on most Acoustic guitars. Jumbo frets have dimensions of 0.115” x
0.05” (+), where (+) sign means more than the given dimension. These are
used on most Electric guitars and some Acoustic guitars with Electric
guitar feel.
Most contemporary Acoustic guitars have
medium frets. Gibson used low jumbo frets on their older instruments.
These frets have dimensions of 0.110” x 0.035” and were also called low
“speed” frets. These were used mostly on Electric instruments.
These are sometimes used for replacement of individual high frets on guitars having otherwise worn out frets.
Stud Size and Tang Depth:
These
are also referred to as the Tang width and depth in many literature.
They can have different combinations of dimensions independent of crown.
In older guitars, before 1930, tang without crowns were used and were
called bar frets. Crowns form a T-shape with Tangs and hence, these are
also known as T-Frets.
Dimensions of Tang have a big impact on the guitar neck. Use correct size tangs if you have to do re-fretting for any reason.
During
re-fretting, slightly thicker gauge tangs are used, This is because the
slots, housing the frets, get enlarged by pulling out old frets. Wider
gauge tangs can bend the neck into a reverse warp, as they expand the
fingerboard. This can however be used as a remedy for forward warp in a
neck.
If the tang depth and width are too shallow or
narrow for the slots, they will not seat properly in the fingerboard and
will lift in adverse weather conditions. This will result in uneven
frets with dead or buzzy notes.
Fret Replacements
Pressing
strings against the frets results in subtle wear of the frets due to
friction between the two. The wear is not even along the fret and cause
pitting and dents, which is more pronounced under the unwound strings.
Frequent use of Capos can also cause a lot of wear. Flattening of crowns
cause intonation and string rattle issues.
Minor wear
is repaired using file and sandpaper. First, they are filed to equal
heights, resulting in flat crowns. Then, they are re-crowned by removing
metal from their sides, making them narrower.
Multiple repairs reduce crown dimensions and it is time to go for re-fretting, when
- Crown height is below 0.038” and crown has pits and dents.
- You
have to apply too much pressure to string against a very low fret,
resulting in a very acute angle. This results in buzz against the next
fret.
One quick fix solution to the above
problem is to file the next fret, but this results in a domino effect
leading to filing of all frets one by one.
