The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #26

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    Sometimes close enough is good enough. It's a lot of work trying to make the neck and fretboard a cone with the perfect shape, and a cylinder isn't that far off, so that's what we usually get. Everything in the design and production of an archtop guitar is a compromise of some sort, and changing one detail affects many others. The fretboard we're familiar with works well enough. Personally I prefer a tighter radius (smaller) over a flatter one for the bridge, because for me the center strings are somewhat easier to fret, and I like the e and B action to be as low as possible. I'm not every guitar player, though, and my preferences are not those of anyone else. Chris has done the math, which I wasn't willing to do. My answer to his question about the radius at the nut won't win the prize, but it's my opinion. I think it should be the radius of the fretboard, because the more important factor there is getting the string as low as possible over the frets, all of them, without buzzing. I like low action, and the nut slots affect that over the entire fretboard. The calculations are moot, because the fretboard is not a cone, so the cylindrical shape has to be taken into account in some areas, and I believe this is one. I have zero need for any tubes.

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  3. #27

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    No tubes for you!!!

    But yes, agreed in your general point for certain.

    Over the years I have preferred gradually tighter radii (radius-eses) and taller frets as my knuckles got lumpier. Curving the index finger retracts the knuckle bumps and makes many things go better.

  4. #28

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    One assumption is that a conically shaped fretboard is preferable to play over a cylindrically shaped fretboard. I have tried both for enough time to decide my preference. It is cylindrically shaped. That would mean that (although the difference will be extremely small) the bridge should not be as flat as one that would be more appropriate for a conically shaped fretboard. The bridge should still be flatter than the neck radius, but not by much. An extreme example would be something like a Byrdland that has a neck width that is nearly constant from the nut to the last fret. With that the strings wouldn't follow a conical pattern to the bridge as they would with a conventional cylindrically shaped fretboard or conically shaped fretboard, so the bridge should be the exact same radius as the fretboard. All that said, I agree that close is good enough. I just changed out two TOM's for rosewood and both were for 12" radius fretboards. Supposed the bridges I used are 13" radius. They work.

  5. #29

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    Quote Originally Posted by ptchristopher3
    Assuming a 12” radius at the 12th fret and a 25” scale, what should the radius at the nut actually be?

    Free set of 6V6 matched tubes to the correct respondent.

    The math is already done above - just work backwards.
    I got 10.12” at the nut using the same .157 x 12 and subtracting that from 12 itself.

  6. #30

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    Quote Originally Posted by zcostilla
    I got 10.12” at the nut using the same .157 x 12 and subtracting that from 12 itself.
    Ah,

    But the scale length is 25” in our ‘guitar of the mind’, so the radius change would be .157 X 12.5 from the 12th fret to the nut.

    But of course the difference is now far beyond absurdly insignificant.

    If you actually use 6V6’s in something, I have a matched pair of Mesa/Boogie branded tubes to send.

    They are a little later in breakup and combined with an added midrange control and Weber speaker can make that Princeton Reverb a mini Twin.

    PM with details.

  7. #31

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    So I went to look up 15-inch radius wraparound bridges, and found this tidbit about Taylor Guitars using a SMALLER radius bridge on a 15-inch radius fingerboard, because of the difference of string heights from E to e off the fingerboard.

    Fender(R) Forums • View topic - Fretboard radius vs bridge radius