Finally, the updated tutorial is here! As I made the new Ariadne models, it was about time to revise an old video. Been talking about doing this for far too long😅
Er the "parallel" fret is actually the perpendicular fret. To the centre line, of course. Because there are no parallel frets on a multiscale neck! Sorry to be pedantic. But watching this for tips. Want to make a multi scale bass with 5 strings, but looking at various brands to see what would be the best scale lengths to use. Long enough on teh B string to really make a difference, but not too small on the G string side. Would be nice if i could try out a bunch of Multi scale basses to see what i like, but there are no music shops near me at all, in rural France!
Thank you! 😅 Ugh, I knew I was saying it wrong, but I'll play my "Not a native speaker" -card here! For the bass I would recommend checking out the Dingwall website. They actually have A LOT of specific dimensions/measurements on there. Their 5 & 6 strings are 37" for the B. I guess it depends on how low a tuning you want to accomodate for. I made a 37" scale bass last year for Drop G stuff. I admit that atleast for myself a single scale 37" was a bit... huge and unwieldy, but I had a 5-string Dingwall in the shop a few weeks back and on that the 37" scale length felt extremely comfortable to play. Ah, sorry to hear about no music stores nearby :/
@@IPGuitars Yeah. I live in rural France. Nearest music stores are 2 hours drive away! And they don't seem to stock multiscale basses. Obviously can order online, but that defeats the whole purpose! I have just been checking a few online resources and 34" to 37" seems to be the most common one, Spector, ESP and Dingwall included. So i guess that's what i will do. Thanks for the response. Good video. BTW, Ben Crowe from Crimson also seems to call "that fret" perpendicular, so you're in good company!
And yeah, did my apprenticeship at Crimson, so most of my luthiery jargon is from there haha, clearly missed the memo on parallel vs. perpendicular (though in the old video I did seem to say perpendicular🤦🏼♂️)
I find the use of the knives to be sort of unnecessary. If the fret slot saw is very sharp and a guide block is used, the whole job of cutting the slots can be done in about 30 minutes. Everyone has their own methods, though, so no shade.
Oh absolutely! This was just one method of cutting. As my saw isn't as sharp as it once was, I take the precaution of doing this step. Also, the use of good jigs and templates is a timesaver! I still need to get my multiscale jigs made, but for "standard" fretboards I use a jig, so the cuts go real quick and to the same depth each time. This video was also a "redo" of the old one where I used the same method, but done with even duller blades and not optimal results😅
@IPGuitars Making jigs for ms fretboards is like making jigs for people lol so many possibilities. Additionally, you may already know this, but if you set the perpendicular fret to an absurd number, like 1000, you can have a ms fretboard with standard bridge hardware.
Finally, the updated tutorial is here!
As I made the new Ariadne models, it was about time to revise an old video. Been talking about doing this for far too long😅
I never thought about the binding when considering the multi scale! Thanks got the tip!
This was learned from trial-and-error myself😅
Er the "parallel" fret is actually the perpendicular fret. To the centre line, of course. Because there are no parallel frets on a multiscale neck!
Sorry to be pedantic. But watching this for tips. Want to make a multi scale bass with 5 strings, but looking at various brands to see what would be the best scale lengths to use. Long enough on teh B string to really make a difference, but not too small on the G string side.
Would be nice if i could try out a bunch of Multi scale basses to see what i like, but there are no music shops near me at all, in rural France!
Thank you! 😅 Ugh, I knew I was saying it wrong, but I'll play my "Not a native speaker" -card here!
For the bass I would recommend checking out the Dingwall website. They actually have A LOT of specific dimensions/measurements on there. Their 5 & 6 strings are 37" for the B. I guess it depends on how low a tuning you want to accomodate for. I made a 37" scale bass last year for Drop G stuff. I admit that atleast for myself a single scale 37" was a bit... huge and unwieldy, but I had a 5-string Dingwall in the shop a few weeks back and on that the 37" scale length felt extremely comfortable to play.
Ah, sorry to hear about no music stores nearby :/
@@IPGuitars Yeah. I live in rural France. Nearest music stores are 2 hours drive away! And they don't seem to stock multiscale basses. Obviously can order online, but that defeats the whole purpose!
I have just been checking a few online resources and 34" to 37" seems to be the most common one, Spector, ESP and Dingwall included. So i guess that's what i will do.
Thanks for the response. Good video.
BTW, Ben Crowe from Crimson also seems to call "that fret" perpendicular, so you're in good company!
And yeah, did my apprenticeship at Crimson, so most of my luthiery jargon is from there haha, clearly missed the memo on parallel vs. perpendicular (though in the old video I did seem to say perpendicular🤦🏼♂️)
I find the use of the knives to be sort of unnecessary. If the fret slot saw is very sharp and a guide block is used, the whole job of cutting the slots can be done in about 30 minutes.
Everyone has their own methods, though, so no shade.
Oh absolutely! This was just one method of cutting. As my saw isn't as sharp as it once was, I take the precaution of doing this step. Also, the use of good jigs and templates is a timesaver!
I still need to get my multiscale jigs made, but for "standard" fretboards I use a jig, so the cuts go real quick and to the same depth each time. This video was also a "redo" of the old one where I used the same method, but done with even duller blades and not optimal results😅
@IPGuitars Making jigs for ms fretboards is like making jigs for people lol so many possibilities.
Additionally, you may already know this, but if you set the perpendicular fret to an absurd number, like 1000, you can have a ms fretboard with standard bridge hardware.
Yeah exactly haha
@IPGuitars liutaiomottola is a fascinating resource page for luthiers as well. Check it out.