How to Slot a Multi-Scale (Fanned Fret) Fretboard, and get it right the first time

[@graysaw]

I find using a Quilters pencil which is a soft silver pencil shows up very well on dark woods

[@primoroy]

I used FindFret2d to create a template PDF and dxf file to import to a CAD program. I also arbitrarily picked the 12th fret as the vertical neutral fret. Thanks for the slotting demo.

[@stevepethel6843]

You are great builder and teacher...thanks And I thanks Jesus for you for giving us your educational videos...

[@peterjohnson4932]

I've seen this done before, but you break it down into easy and clear steps. You're a good teacher Yoav. Thanks.

[@theelectricluthier1928]

Thanks for the kind compliments 🙏

[@Lucidity59]

My biggest mistake in making a fan fret board was marking the scales down the edge of the blank, so when the excess was cut away it totally screwed up the slots, apart from the neutral fret, the rest were a mess. Ive since learned from that episode. Thanks for posting.

[@ChrisFranklyn]

I'm literally planning my first multi scale guitar as we speak, so this video is perfectly timed! I was planning from 25.5" to 24.75".

[@theelectricluthier1928]

Thanks, Chris 🙏.glad this helps. These are excellent scales (25.5" to 24.75"), but if you like tuning down, you might want to consider extending the lower scale a bit. Anyway, good luck

[@benbos3077]

I am planning to build a baritone multi scale guitar, 28-26 scale, neutral fret on 8th position. It is still in design fase, and your video is very helpful. I like the idea to spray the fret board white, I have difficulties in seeing pencil on dark wood.....so simple that you must be a genius .....

[@humbertocaios]

Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge. I'm luthier in Brazil.

[@robertwayne6537]

Thanks so much Yoav, This is my favorite of your newer videos. I decided to make a 7 and a 8 string and these videos couldnt have come at a better time.

[@theelectricluthier1928]

Thanks, Robert 🙏, This is only the beginning, of course, the rest will come in parts in the next couple of months.

[@DrMurdercock]

What drew me in was, it simply looked kick ass. Had only seen one guitar like it at that point. So, naturally, I wait till the band plays its set so I can bum rush the stage and drive the dude nuts about it. He was actually stoked to talk about it because he had just gotten it about a month before and said he doesn't get to talk shop much. He explained the theory behind it and I was sold. Got one. I hadn't played for 6 years, and I played 6 string. So when I started again I figured best time to make the jump to a multiscale is now and also, why not get the 7 banger too. All guitars would have felt weird to me at first again at this point anyway I thought. Well, The guitar never felt weird to me out of the box at all other than adjusting to the angled bridge. Once I tweaked my hand for that, No going back. If you want to play stupid downtuned songs but keep the tension of Standard E, get a multiscale EDIT, HOLY SHIT you used my guitars fret board for 3:37 Schecter C7 Silver Mountain, mines in Toxic Venom

[@YeOldeGuitarDude]

Looks as though I have a little project in my future. Great info!

[@theelectricluthier1928]

Thanks, Kirk, You and me both. I am not going to let this fretboard just sit around and collect dust 😉

[@jamesrocks300mf]

yeah, I think you've pretty much nailed this. out of all the info I could find, you far surpassed any explanation. if you have any ideas for a miter box.......

[@theelectricluthier1928]

Thanks 🙏, I assume you are not referring to a 'standard fretting miter box. It's going to be a complicated one. If I wanted more stability I would just hold or clamp a straight cube for each slot. I actually forgot to do it in the video. This is like 'half a miter box'. Unless you are planning on a lot of necks, it probably easier to just do it manually (As I did). Just take the time

[@jamesrocks300mf]

@@theelectricluthier1928 yeah im thinking theres a way to build a decent swivaling box for slotting. if your intrested i will pass on my results. im going to experiment with this in the next few weeks. thanks for the info by the way.

[@jackriebe5410]

@@jamesrocks300mf hey did you ever figure out a swiveling miter box ? I’m in the process of cutting some multiscale frets and it’s proving to be difficult cutting on a straight line

[@enigmanerdx]

Amazing Explanation! Thank you for this information!

[@tusharjamwal]

I would prefer the parallel fret to be lower because I don't play barre chords high up the neck. I bought a Harley Benton with parallel 7th fret and I like that, I don't notice the fanning at all but I do notice the longer scale length while playing a sus2 chord on the low 3 strings for example (5add9)

[@stevepethel6843]

The white paint was genius idea...

[@Lucidity59]

I agree, simple ideas are invariably the best.

[@arcarioandsons]

Excellent video! Thanks so much for posting!

[@gianlucaborgonovi1418]

Thank you

[@Pyrohawk]

Great video, i feel a lot more confident in making a multiscale 7-string now :) thank you!

[@yoavbinyamini]

Thanks, 🙏.glad this helps.

[@javierfonseca-sg7ku]

If I close my eyes I swear of God Christopher Walken is teaching this amazing class

[@yoavbinyamini]

🤣🤣 Thanks @javierfonseca-sg7ku 🙏. I love him so I will take it as a compliment. Now I cannot un-hear it.

[@javierfonseca-sg7ku]

It actually was a compliment!@@yoavbinyamini

[@mouthfulacoque3580]

great content. I strongly encourage you to build some quick bass traps to remove the room for your recording. it'll reduce the exaggerated gating effect you have in your audio processing.

[@lewisbrown958]

Thank you so much for this

[@madasabo]

Hola, los 56 mm del traste 22, según cual escala de referencia?

[@ANCAPVoluntaryist]

Thanks ❤️

[@timstahlmann8785]

great video sir. the best DIY one around. 1 question I have. I want to make the neutral point at the nut and have a gradual curve like a strandberg. 32 -30 Inch scale bass 20 frets. Do i just mark out the 32 scale for the low E string from the nut and the same for the 30 inch scale for the high G from the nut and join the dots? many thanks for your videos

[@Bentley_1886]

This video is a great help. I’m looking at building my own multi scale guitar so this will come in very handy. Can you do a video (if possible) explaining how you calculate the width at the nut and also the width at the end of the fingerboard. I can’t seem to find any reliable info on this 2 measurement. Thanks again 👍👍

[@yoavbinyamini]

Thanks, @Shuyin86 🙏, I do go into more detail about positioning and measuring the neck (although it's a seven-string) in the Orengina build from last year's Great Guitar Build-Off. kzbin.info/www/bejne/oqXPZKOdh7N9ipI&ab_channel=TheElectricLuthier

[@Bentley_1886]

@@yoavbinyamini thanks 👍 your videos are a great help 🙌

[@yesfan951]

I love the way you think! I was thinking of doing it this way but had cold feet about the idea, looks like its a pretty straight forwards process tho. Your trick with the white paint is excellent btw, would probably make radiusing nice because you can clearly see your progress! Thanks for the great video

[@adrienami8958]

Hi Yuva, amazing tutorial! You think that put the "neutral" at the bridge it would be too uncomfortable?

[@yoavbinyamini]

Thanks, Adrien 🙏. The more the difference is between the high and low strings, as far as scale length' the less comfortable it will be. Think of holding an F or A B chord in the first position... You will be missing a big part of the ergonomic benefit of fanned frets. I will assume you want to use a tremolo, and those are hard to come by for fanned scales. Having said that, it's really a personal preference and with a moderate scale length difference, maybe worth a try.

[@juanpablotupper691]

This is possibly the best fanned fret drawing video around. Great you mentioned the often overlooked fact of playing position being (highly) influential to parallel fret placement. Now, if I were going to build a non-standard/extended-range guitar with headless system, with individual tuning saddles being effectively 11mm in diameter, which is going to be my limiting factor for overall string spacing, where should I measure this 11mm string spacing? At the longer scale "nominal bridge" or at the shorter scale "nominal bridge"?

[@yoavbinyamini]

Thanks for the compliment Juan 🙏,. I think that you will have to measure (or at least start measuring) from the shorter scale ie. the high E. Just from a technical point of view, it will make things easier, as you actually have all six (or seven) strings at this point. If you want to be picky/ accurate about it, you can measure the spacing going back to the saddle for each string. This way you measure each pair separately at their longest point. I would do the math first to see if the difference is significant enough (in your opinion) to make a difference or even bother. I am not sure about the mechanics of the tuners, but you may also need additional space for turning the nobs when tuning, so don't have them touching.

[@juanpablotupper691]

@@yoavbinyamini Thanks again for your reply ;) On second though it truly makes sense to measure bridge pegs at shorter scale, that'll give some clearance for the knobs further down. I actually measured string distance changes from longer scale to shorter scale and it's almost negligible as you suggested (but non zero). Thanks for the inspiration 🙏

[@CMRWoodworks]

Great info!!

[@Dreamdancer11]

Οr....you can use an online page like the Fretfind 2D that does all that automatically and you can just print it full scale and use it....Nevertheless thats a cool video and info....

[@yoavbinyamini]

Cool stuff. Thanks, @Dreamdancer11,🙏 I was not familiar with the multiscale option there. My only comment here would be that you better make sure you have a pretty darn accurate printer or it's all for nothing. (Well you can still use the measurements)🙂

[@felixlafleur6370]

Is it the same for a 7 string guitar?

[@stevepethel6843]

Would you sale a fanfret slotted board?

[@graygeralt]

So valuable information

[@theelectricluthier1928]

Glad you liked it, Thanks🙏

[@bigdbearkiller5115]

Awesome video. Thanks man.

[@theelectricluthier1928]

Thanks, BigD 🙏

[@georgescarlett2320]

Bridge angle must REALLY look "Whack-o"!!!!

[@Binhguitar2007]

How to choose right bridge for my multi Scale guitar build?

[@yoavbinyamini]

Thanks for the question 🙏. For a multiscale guitar there are to ways you can go. One, is finding an angled bridge. This will, however, force you to have the scale lengths match the ngle of the bridge and may force you to limit which scales you use and where the Neutral fret sits. The more convenient option is using single string bridges as I do here - kzbin.info/www/bejne/p36wn3ejd9B6kJY

[@Binhguitar2007]

@@yoavbinyamini thank You very much!

[@santosguitar6744]

Hello. What do you mean by "delta" ? Thank you.

[@yoavbinyamini]

Hi @Mark Santos. If you look at the fret calculator you can see that one row shows the 'Offset' and one the 'Delta'. The Delta is the distance measured from one fret to the next. The offset is when measuring the distance of each fret from the nut. I use the Offset first and then double-check using the Delta. If you only use the delta you risk making a slight mistake and then carrying it over to all the next frets. Good luck 🙂

[@santosguitar6744]

@@yoavbinyamini Wow ! Didn't know that. Thank you so much. I'm glad to discover your channel. Looking forward to more. Can't wait to start my project. Cheers. -Mark

[@BurninSven1]

In theory this make a guitar play in tune like the guitars Ia Eklund in Freak Kitchen play? For playing chords it looks really unconfortable though.

[@yoavbinyamini]

Tuning is not the main issue here. Far better guitarists than myself swear by these principles, but I guess like most things, it's really a matter of personal preference. practice and personal taste will outway theory and logic every time. 😆 I think the difference in sound would be minimal to un-noticeable, can you spot a certain scale length just by ear?

[@ATthemusician]

Playing chords should actually be easier because the frets are angled with your hand as opposed to having to force your hand to fit into straight frets

[@FrugalFixerSpike]

Planning a melody maker jr build. Would the 22.75 work well with 24.75, all Gibson scales? The guitar will be a acoustisonic style, what ta think?

[@yoavbinyamini]

A 22.75" scale length is very short and usually reserved for children's guitars. In regular tuning, it will also provide very loose strings, which may be great for bending but also be prone to buzzing. Also, a 2" difference between the high and low strings (I assume you were referring to a multiscale fretboard) will give an extreme angle to the lowest and highest frets. Most multi-scale guitars stay more in the Fender-Gibson range of scales- 24.75" - 25.5". I can't say what may work for you, just pointing out the pros and cons. If you like it flappy and bendy, go for it. 🙂

[@MrHugi]

Scale 42.9 good or bad my fist gitur

[@yoavbinyamini]

I will assume you mean 24.9" (42 is more like a Contrabass). 24.9" is fine, but unless there is a very specific reason, it may be easier to go with a more standard 25" like a PRS or a 24.75" like most Gibsons. It will be easier to find a template or other reference you may want. The techniques apply all the same, but it is 'safer' to do a normal scale neck before jumping to multi-scale. Good luck 🙂

[@sirspongadoodle]

That part about thicker strings sounding better isnt true, infact part of the reason to get a multiscale guitar is to beable to use thinner strings…

[@adityakaushik3865]

3:23 isn't it mm not cm

[@ChrisFranklyn]

Yeah, a verbal typo. A speako? :-)

[@theelectricluthier1928]

@@ChrisFranklyn Yep obviously, got me there. The writing is correct though 🙂