The Shop > Wood & Stuff
Scalloping the guitar fretboard - possibly also renovation of the instrument
philf:
I watched an excellent TV programme on Crimson Guitars and Marshall Amps yesterday.
One of the guitars they were making had wriggly frets. I think they call them True Temperament.
Crimson do guitar making courses and have lots of YouTube How To videos.
No use to me as I'm totally inept when it comes to playing any instrument - but very interesting nonetheless.
sorveltaja:
Yeah, I've seen those kinds of frets. I guess, that they are quite difficult to make, unless one has dedicated cnc-based machinery. On the other hand, I've also seen pictures of 'diy' tempered frets/fretboad, where the frets are cut in six pieces, which are then glued to the fretboard.
But in general, I think that only the ones, that have an absolute musical ear, would benefit/hear the difference, when compared to ordinary frets/fretboard. I can only imagine, of how stable the construction of the instrument should be in that case.
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Simplified linkage:
And machined one:
g]
It's splitted half, so that it's probably easier to install/take out, without the need of removing strings from the retainer.
I tried couple things, considering the previously mentioned test using slide bearings, but nah, the eccentrics(in red) should then have a mirror finish in them. Too much hassle, so I'll wait for the 12x18x4 ball bearings to arrive instead.
Again, if all goes as expected, then some carving to make the linkages less blocky.
sorveltaja:
Well, it's 'back to the drawing board' -time again, as there was one thing, that I had totally neglected - the spring.
When testing the eccentric rod, part of the spring seemed to always block it/be in the way. One way around it could be to use a 'fork' in the middle:
It's just a part of some kind of hinge, that has M8 thread. The fork is 3mm thick, which should be more than enough rigid for the purpose:
So, plan is to take 6mm axle, machine a flat surface for the sacrificial grub screws, that hold the eccentrics at the same angle, and then, silver solder them and the fork together.
After that, removing the part of the 6mm axle, that is between the fork. It should provide enough room around the spring, but we'll see.
New parts, that are waiting to be machined, with new ball bearings:
12mm steel axle, that I have for the eccentrics, is 0,03mm undersized, so the ball bearings have too much play, and therefore can cause rattling, and other noises.
There I was thinking:"how to expand the diameter of the surface, using simple tools, that I have?".
Answer might be to use a cheapo tube cutter:
I have used it in the past for brass and aluminum, and was surprised, that it can make grooves for the steel bar also.
When testing with ball bearings, yes, it seems to actually expand(displace?) tiny bit of the surface.
sorveltaja:
"Forky thing" soldered, after some cleaning:
One ugly bugger, but if the concept works, then there is lot of room to improve the appearance(but it's not that important to me). I fitted the ball bearings by using previously mentioned tube cutter, to raise the surface, then fine diamond file to make a snug fit.
One thing, that I'm not so sure about yet, is that are the 12mm eccentrics enough to provide a decent range for the tremolo.
Next thing to do, anyways, is to make adjustable end pieces, that allow back and forth movement, to 'dial in' possible sweet spot(s) in eccentrics' rotation(and therefore the tremolo bar's positions).
Also to find out, if the eccentric rod's ends need something else than slide bearings, to allow as friction free action as possible. If so, I have already 5x9x9mm needle bearings for that.
sorveltaja:
Tremolo test:
It definitely needs ball/needle bearings for the ends of the eccentric rod. The tremolo range itself is rather mild, when compared to Fender or Floyd Rose -type ones. So, no dive bombing yet.
Obviously, the more eccentric the eccentric is, the wider the range. Although possible, I'm not sure, if it's practical to use much larger ones to increase it, as it's not easy to find slim enough ball bearings for bigger diameters(at least from local dealers).
One further option could be to make a 'crankshaft-connecting rod' -like linkages, allowing the use of a lot smaller ball bearings. I wouldn't mind possible steam punk -appearance, as long as it follows the "kiss"(keep it simple, sorveltaja) -principle.
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In general, the concept seems to work rather well. When pressing the tremolo bar(a spanner) down, and releasing it, the strings get back to tune. When moving it up and down, and releasing it, the strings get 'almost' back to tune. Just a bit of flat/sharp, depending of the direction.
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