neck angle confirmation before assembly

[peter havriluk]

I took Ken's advice on setting the neck angle with a MegaMold, and merciful heavens, it seems to work as advertised. I set the angle at 1.4 degrees, and when I temporarily clamped the fingerboard and soundboard to the neck and body, my straightedge just skims the top of the bridge. No frets. Flat soundboard. So there's going to be another .050 added to the straightedge-to-bridge-top dimension for the frets and I gotta go measure my bracing to see how much a 28-foot radius top will be domed at the bridge location.

Which leads me into my question: what nominal thicknesses for the fingerboard and bridge are used in the rule of thumb about a straightedge atop the frets should just skim the top of the bridge?. Fingerboard thickness and bridge thickness are certainly in the game. So does anyone have any idea of how thick a fretboard and how thick a bridge is used in this good-to-go dimension? I think by implication that I'm asking how thick is a 'normal' fingerboard and how thick is a 'normal' bridge.

Thanks very much.

[John Parchem]

If you are skimming the bridge with a fret board, you are being told that the angle allows you to have a correct amount of saddle showing over the bridge after you string up the guitar at the correct action. You are correct that the bridge thickness and fretboard thickness matter, but not for this final check. The angle you choose took the bridge height and fretboard thickness in to account.

[peter havriluk]

John, thanks for the clarification. I kept scratching my (head?) and pottered around for a few hours, discovered that the fretboard had a rise in the middle of it and the south end was 1/32" thicker than the north end. A fat hour of sanding resolved those two problems. Good to learn now as opposed to later wondering why I needed so much string height to control buzzing. All good, on that front. It's nice to have a granite surface plate. First time I used it, and pleased to have it. Then went and took another look at the straightedge height above the bridge. Lower, but still higher than I wanted. Checked the amount of rise a 25-foot-radius dome to the soundboard would offer. Happy, happy, going to bed at peace. Learned a bunch for just a day's investment, and the project will be the better for it. Now to center the neck and build up the top. Not looking too far into the future lest I make an error I don't catch.