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Topic: Dobro string spacing... help, please |
James Hartman
From:
Pennsylvania, USA
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Posted 24 Jan 2015 11:01 am |
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I have a metal body round-neck dobro from the mid '70s. I'd mainly played it lap style with the strings jacked up, although it's actually been in storage for years. The round neck doesn't really like the tension with the strings raised and in any case, was badly damaged some years ago in a flood.
So, I'm going to have a new square neck made for it by a local luthier. Which raises the question of string spacing at the nut. I figured I'd go with whatever has become standard for square necks and looked on some manufacturer websites for specs. Scheerhorn states nut width 1.875". Taking that literally as nut width, not string spacing, I'm not sure exactly what the Scheerhorn spacing is. Paul Beard, somewhere, mentions 8.5mm string to string spacing. Either of the above would no doubt be fine. Coincidentally, my two favorite lap steels are almost exactly 1.875" overall spacing from 1st to 6th string, at the nut.
Since I've played the round neck dobro in past with quite narrow spacing, but feel more comfortable with the wider spacing on the electric laps, I'll go for wider. Just not sure how much wider. Anyway, thought I'd solicit comment from dobro players here. Do the specs I cited sound right? Any Scheerhorn or Beard owners wish the spacing was different?
Thanks for any help! |
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Howard Parker
From:
Maryland
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Posted 24 Jan 2015 12:28 pm
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The Beard spec is:
6 str spacing at nut = 8.75mm
spacing at bridge =11.5mm
Nut width = 1 7/8
Pretty much the standard with new builds. Great note separation.
h
_________________
Howard Parker
03\' Carter D-10
70\'s Dekley D-10
52\' Fender Custom
Many guitars by Paul Beard
Listowner Resoguit-L |
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James Hartman
From:
Pennsylvania, USA
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Posted 24 Jan 2015 2:12 pm
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Thanks, Howard, for your input.
Just to clarify, the 8.75mm you cited is center to center string spacing? Otherwise, 8.75mm measured edge of string to edge of string, the math doesn't work if it's to fit on a 1 7/8" wide nut. Even so, seems like the outer strings will be awful close to the edges of the nut.
Or did I screw up the calculations? Math, not my strong point. |
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Howard Parker
From:
Maryland
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Posted 24 Jan 2015 2:17 pm
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| James Hartman wrote: |
Thanks, Howard, for your input.
Just to clarify, the 8.75mm you cited is center to center string spacing? |
Correct, center to center.
h |
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James Hartman
From:
Pennsylvania, USA
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Posted 24 Jan 2015 2:54 pm
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| Howard Parker wrote: |
| James Hartman wrote: |
Thanks, Howard, for your input.
Just to clarify, the 8.75mm you cited is center to center string spacing? |
Correct, center to center.
h |
Thanks! |
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James Hartman
From:
Pennsylvania, USA
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Posted 26 Jan 2015 8:21 am
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| Meant to ask, also, what's typical string height, at the nut, on a Beard? |
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Howard Parker
From:
Maryland
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Posted 26 Jan 2015 8:34 am
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The height is determined by the coverplate's palm rest.
Paul makes his own coverplates with a very high palm rest. Even with that height the action is high enough that only one string at a time can be removed when changing a set.
So, the short answer is, with your hardware, high enough that the strings don't touch the palm rest when the guitar is at pitch or- as high as you can get it. 
h |
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Mark Eaton
From:
Sonoma County in The Great State Of Northern California
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Posted 26 Jan 2015 10:59 am
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James asked the typical string height on a Beard (squareneck).
Just a guess, but I'm thinking of 3/8" at the nut.
There might be a variance among different builders of squareneck resonators of about 1/8" - I'm thinking the majority use a string height at the nut of 3/8" but I have come across some guitars that are 1/2" height at the nut.
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Mark |
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Greg Booth
From:
Anchorage, AK, USA
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Posted 26 Jan 2015 7:08 pm
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My Scheerhorn string height is 7/16" at the nut. I have played at least one Appalachian with 1/2" high action at the nut. I find 7/16" to be ideal and think that many modern dobros are about that high.
_________________
Greg
Kathy Kallick Band
www.youtube.com/user/aksliderdobro |
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Mark Eaton
From:
Sonoma County in The Great State Of Northern California
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Posted 26 Jan 2015 8:35 pm
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7/16" - must be the Scheerhorn 'tweener size, like having all those different waist size on Levi's at the department store.
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Mark |
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James Hartman
From:
Pennsylvania, USA
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Posted 27 Jan 2015 6:31 am
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Yes, my question was specific to height at the nut.
Obviously so long as it's high enough the strings aren't hitting the fingerboard under bar pressure, it works. But I imagined builders had arrived at a more or less standard height that seems optimal without creating too much leveraged stress on the instrument.
The 3/8" - 7/16" cited here is pretty much what I'd expected.
At the other end, as Howard pointed out, there are predetermining factors. Although, no palm rest on this instrument; I removed it years ago to facilitate palm muting.
Thanks, guys, for all the input. |
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James Hartman
From:
Pennsylvania, USA
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Posted 16 Mar 2015 7:19 am
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Soon to drop off my dobro for its make-over. Final review of the specs I've arrived at; and thanks for info offered here.
I wanted to revisit the issue of string height at the nut. 3/8" and 7/16" were suggested as modern standard height. 1/16" more or less probably doesn't make a very noticeable difference. But, I thought I'd ask whether any of you guys feel strongly that the higher or lower spec is more desirable.
Thanks! |
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Dave Thier
From:
Fairhope, Alabama, USA
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Posted 17 Mar 2015 6:05 am
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| Greg Booth wrote: |
| My Scheerhorn string height is 7/16" at the nut. I have played at least one Appalachian with 1/2" high action at the nut. I find 7/16" to be ideal and think that many modern dobros are about that high. |
I would go with 7/16 as Greg suggests. I think my Beard and Clinesmith are both 7/16.
Correction, the Clinesmith is 3/8 and the Beard more like 1/2 on a quick measurement. |
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James Hartman
From:
Pennsylvania, USA
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Posted 17 Mar 2015 7:08 am
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| Dave Thier wrote: |
| Greg Booth wrote: |
| My Scheerhorn string height is 7/16" at the nut. I have played at least one Appalachian with 1/2" high action at the nut. I find 7/16" to be ideal and think that many modern dobros are about that high. |
I would go with 7/16 as Greg suggests. I think my Beard and Clinesmith are both 7/16.
Correction, the Clinesmith is 3/8 and the Beard more like 1/2 on a quick measurement. |
Dave, thanks for your comments. Had me convinced, for a minute there, of 7/16.
But seriously, I'm confident either end of that range will be just fine. Mostly curious whether anyone feels strongly that slightly higher or slightly lower is better, and why they feel that way. |
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Dave Thier
From:
Fairhope, Alabama, USA
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Posted 17 Mar 2015 11:02 am
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| James, A builder could give you a good discussion on this topic, but it seems that 7/16 in. seems to be the sweet spot. If you found out later you wanted 3/8 for some reason, it could be lowered. |
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James Hartman
From:
Pennsylvania, USA
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Posted 17 Mar 2015 11:38 am
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| Dave Thier wrote: |
| James, A builder could give you a good discussion on this topic, but it seems that 7/16 in. seems to be the sweet spot. If you found out later you wanted 3/8 for some reason, it could be lowered. |
Oh, absolutely; and that's no problem. I've made more nuts and bridge saddles than I can count - used to be a repair tech.
Just figured I'd research, try to get it "right" from the start. The luthier who's making the new neck doesn't normally build this type of guitar, so he doesn't have a strong opinion. 3/8 is certainly ample clearance for comfortable playing and to accommodate a capo.
I suppose any change in the strings break-over angle at the bridge (and different height at the nut alters that, ever so slightly) can effect tone. Variations of 1/16" at the nut having any noticeable tonal effect... I doubt it. On the other hand, raising or lowering the stop tailpiece in relation to the bridge on, say, a Gibson Les Paul does have a significant effect. Of course the closeness of bridge and tailpiece in that instance creates a much more dramatic change in break-over angle. These questions are interesting to me, but in this case probably not of great practical importance. |
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