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Topic: Fret Boards... what's the deal |
Jon Schimek
From:
Lyons, Co - USA
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Posted 19 Jan 2010 10:31 am |
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Hey Folks,
I seem to always keep an eye at the for sale section of the forum, and I am always slightly disppointed that almost all steels I see have vinyl style sticker fretboards. I really like some of the sho-bud dust catcher fretboards, but I don't quite understand why nicer fretboards aren't used as the norm.
Is it a cost thing? I made my own simple inlayed wooden fretboard for a lapsteel I made and it wasn't that difficult/expensive. It also wasn't that hard to see. I realize it isn't necessarily functional, but can somebody enlighten me as to why this is the standard or if anybody makes wooden replacements? I'm almost tempted to make my own replacement but I can't be the first with this idea.
Really just a curiosity,
Jon |
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Ben Jones
From:
Seattle, Washington, USA
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Posted 19 Jan 2010 10:39 am
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I agree. those vinyl fretboards just dont look good to me.
There must not be enough demand for the manufacture of sheet metal ones. |
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Ulric Utsi-Åhlin
From:
Sweden
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Posted 19 Jan 2010 11:00 am
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I agree...all my PSG´s(my youngest pushing 30)have
either metal or heavy gauge plastic boards but,as
I purchased a present day specimen a while back,I
freaked at the flimsiness of it,like copier paper.
McUtsi |
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Chris Lang
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Posted 20 Jan 2010 2:39 pm
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Well Jon, I think you answered your own question. Lexan has been the material of choice as it cuts down on glare, is easy to clean, and it stays in place very well.
Those old Sho-Bud dust catchers are lousy IMHO. Way too much trouble keeping clean. |
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Stu Schulman
From:
Ulster Park New Yawk (deceased)
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Posted 20 Jan 2010 4:07 pm
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That's one of things that knocks weight off of a pedal steel guitar,When you have to fly a lot it all adds up. 
_________________
Steeltronics Z-pickup,Desert Rose S-10 4+5,Desert Rose Keyless S-10 3+5... Mullen G2 S-10 3+5,Telonics 206 pickups,Telonics volume pedal.,Blanton SD -10,Emmons GS_10...Zirctone bar,Bill Groner Bar...any amp that isn't broken.Steel Seat.Com seats...Licking paint chips off of Chinese Toys since 1952. |
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John Billings
From:
Ohio, USA
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Posted 20 Jan 2010 4:25 pm
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| Most of the old metal fretboards look to me as if they were silk-screened. If you've got two or three different colors, that's two or three silkscreens. Two or three passes. It adds up! Now days, you can just go to a print shop and their printer will do it all in one pass through the digital, inkjet or laser printer. Printed on adhesive-backed vinyl or lexan, etc.. Much. much, much less costly. |
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Brett Lanier
From:
Hermitage, TN
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Posted 20 Jan 2010 4:38 pm
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| Most players prefer a mica guitar with aluminum neck. The fretboards match the mica very well I think. |
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Per Berner
From:
Skovde, Sweden
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Posted 20 Jan 2010 11:10 pm
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The plastic printed fretboards were invented by the same guy who thought it would be appropriate to put a decal logo on a $4000+ instrument... 
Seriously, a wooden fretboard with contrasting inlay lines (or even better, real frets) would enhance the look of any pedal steel, at a very marginal cost increase. |
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Eddie Lane
From:
Branson, Missouri, USA
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Posted 21 Jan 2010 5:56 am
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Please correct me if I'm wrong but I believe that MSA had the fret markers printed on wooden neck years ago with the finish on top of them. (probably silk screened.) They looked great. I remember Zane Beck built a guitar for someone with the fret markers make like this also. But that would get very costly.  |
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Pat Comeau
From:
New Brunswick, Canada
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Posted 21 Jan 2010 10:49 am
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Fulawka Steels has the silk screened fretboards and they look real nice in my opinion, i also agree that real fets on the neck would look nice also but it would be useless on steel guitars cause the strings doesn't touch the frets, silk screened is the best way to go if you have the source and and method to do it. 
_________________
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Click the links to listen to my Comeau's Pedal Steel Guitars.
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b0b
From:
Cloverdale, CA, USA
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Posted 21 Jan 2010 11:14 am Re: Fret Boards... what's the deal
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| Jon Schimek wrote: |
| I made my own simple inlayed wooden fretboard for a lapsteel I made and it wasn't that difficult/expensive. |
I'm in the process of doing the same thing, Jon. I have a nice piece of wood for it. How did you make the fret lines and markers? How did you attach it to the guitar?
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Ben Jones
From:
Seattle, Washington, USA
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Posted 21 Jan 2010 11:29 am
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| Its not the lack of frets or even the silkcscreen i dont like. Its the plasticky clear coating over the vinyl that looks like one of those 3D book coversd I had as kid. I like the flat sheet metal silkscreened one color ones just fine. Fender fretboards for example. simple, elegant and not coated in an 1/8 inch of clear plastic |
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Bob Hoffnar
From:
Austin, Tx
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Posted 21 Jan 2010 2:11 pm
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I've got ebony fretboards on my Rains. Mark Giles did the beautiful work.
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Bob |
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Bob Hoffnar
From:
Austin, Tx
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Posted 21 Jan 2010 2:12 pm
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I should dust them off and take new pictures !
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Bob |
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John Billings
From:
Ohio, USA
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Posted 21 Jan 2010 2:41 pm
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Bob,
How much extra did you pay for those beautiful fretboards? |
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Lee Baucum
From:
McAllen, Texas (Extreme South) The Final Frontier
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Posted 21 Jan 2010 3:02 pm
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| Back in the 1970's, at Heart of Texas Music (Austin) I saw a beautiful Sho~Bud that had what looked like ebony fretboards with Martin D-45 style inlaid fret-markers. It was gorgeous. |
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Ross Shafer
From:
Petaluma, California
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Posted 21 Jan 2010 3:28 pm
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Lamar Colvin uses wood fret boards with inlayed mother of pearl fret markers on all his steels at no extra charge....and his steels are very reasonably priced. On top of that, he's as nice a guy as you'll ever do business with!
http://www.lamarsteelguitars.com/ |
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Allan Munro
From:
Pennsylvania, USA and Scotland
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Posted 21 Jan 2010 10:11 pm Re: Fret Boards... what's the deal
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| b0b wrote: |
| Jon Schimek wrote: |
| I made my own simple inlayed wooden fretboard for a lapsteel I made and it wasn't that difficult/expensive. |
I'm in the process of doing the same thing, Jon. I have a nice piece of wood for it. How did you make the fret lines and markers? How did you attach it to the guitar? |
b0b, have a look HERE. If you want more info let me know.
Regards, Allan.....
_________________
Only nuts eat squirrels.
Television is the REAL opiate of the masses! |
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Jon Schimek
From:
Lyons, Co - USA
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Posted 22 Jan 2010 8:54 am Re: Fret Boards... what's the deal
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| b0b wrote: |
| Jon Schimek wrote: |
| I made my own simple inlayed wooden fretboard for a lapsteel I made and it wasn't that difficult/expensive. |
I'm in the process of doing the same thing, Jon. I have a nice piece of wood for it. How did you make the fret lines and markers? How did you attach it to the guitar? |
Hey Bob,
I kept it simpler than Allan, though I bet his approach is better if you have the tools. I followed this website:
http://buildyourguitar.com/resources/lapsteel/
Look under the fretboard section. There is a PDF in the marking the fetboard section with distances.
Basically I took a light colored (oak I think) wooden plank and used a mitre box with the $8 japanese hand saws (they are shown in the website above). Basically I cut at the fret markers a given depth, I made a guide on my mitre box to get an approx depth. I then took this really dark model wood (i think it was a dark walnut, they come in like 4x18 sheets), but it was from the model train section at the local HW store). They come in different thicknesses, based on your preference and your saw. So you just fill the slot in the light wood you made with the dark model wood. For my inlays I was lazy and just bought some fret marker circles from a guitar store (maybe 2$ for all of them), drilled round holes and glued them in (before I sanded it all down. I then sanded it down nice and flush and used danish oil as a finish. It looks pretty slick for ~10$ material ~$15 for the tools, which you may already have.
It's obviously far from a serious inlay, but with the wooden frets on the nice wooden board, it looks as good as any simple guitar you could buy.
_jon |
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Bent Romnes
From:
London,Ontario, Canada
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Posted 22 Jan 2010 9:12 am
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Here's how I made my fret boards.
I cut a walnut board to 1/16" thickness.
Then cut very shallow grooves for the fret markers and painted them in. Then lacquered it on both sides and stuck it on the neck with very thin double sided tape.
It looks a bit flat in the picture, that's because wasn't finished yet.
_________________
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https://www.facebook.com/groups/212050572323614/ |
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Allan Munro
From:
Pennsylvania, USA and Scotland
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Posted 22 Jan 2010 2:52 pm
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Jon, that is a really useful web site. I have visited it many times. Thank you for the nice words about my fretboard jig. The reason that I use a jig is that I started out building instruments that have 'real' frets. The point being that those need to be more accurate than 'guidance' frets as on a steel guitar. No disrespect here guys so no flaming please.
The reason that I continue to use the same method is that I think any error, however slight, is instantly noticed even on a 'printed' fret board. I probably lack the confidence to work without the jig! The actual result at the end of the day should be the same whichever system you use.
Bent, that fretboard on your build looks excellent! I am VERY impressed indeed.
Regards, Allan.....
_________________
Only nuts eat squirrels.
Television is the REAL opiate of the masses! |
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Bob Hoffnar
From:
Austin, Tx
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Posted 22 Jan 2010 8:47 pm
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John, sorry it took a while to answer. Those inlaid ebony fret boards were not cheap and took a long time. They were well worth it. Mark had them as an option for Star Guitars.
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Bob |
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