# Truss Rod and Scale?



## Cinnamonxv (Jul 27, 2009)

i Just found this site http://lesstallguitars.com/
This guy makes mini les pauls and hm How would i make a truss rod for such a small neck?
If i took a truss rod from another guitar and cut to the size of the small neck? would that work properly
And He uses 14.7 inches scale. How do i apply the scale to make the length of the each frets


----------



## J S Moore (Feb 18, 2006)

If it's a traditional style truss rod that would work. You would have to re-cut the threads for the nut. I actually think he makes his own. He's on the LP Forum as pinefd and there are several threads about the guitars. He does an awesome job on those.

If you search the web you'll find info about how to determine fret position. It's a pretty simple math formula. I think there are jigs as well that adjust to scale length so the fret position can be determined.

There's this online fret calculator: http://buildyourguitar.com/resources/fretcalc/jscrptclc.htm

And this link gives you the actual math formula to do it manually: http://liutaiomottola.com/formulae/fret.htm


----------



## Cinnamonxv (Jul 27, 2009)

J S Moore said:


> If it's a traditional style truss rod that would work. You would have to re-cut the threads for the nut. I actually think he makes his own. He's on the LP Forum as pinefd and there are several threads about the guitars. He does an awesome job on those.


Traditional style? hmm what do u mean by recuting the threads for the nut like can i just buy a new nut and than work my way  
And Thanks Soo much for the scale formula site 

*EDIT* what are the measurements in? cm?


----------



## J S Moore (Feb 18, 2006)

By traditional style I mean a single rod rather than a double rod. Check here: http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Truss_rods/Adjustable_truss_rods.html And you can see what I am talking about.

On a single rod truss there is a peice of metal at one end to keep it from spinning and a nut at the other for adjustment. It's easier to cut off the nut end and re-cut the threads than welding that other piece of metal back on.


----------



## Cinnamonxv (Jul 27, 2009)

O that makes alot of sense! Im really new at this so i thought making a small guitar first would be easy  
Theres that metal piece of the left its a sliver cylinder and a whole in the middle? what is that for?


----------



## J S Moore (Feb 18, 2006)

In the photos of the traditional truss rod? That's the anchor piece. That rod is meant to be cut to length and the anchor installed afterwards. So that's how to easily get a rod the correct length. 

I don't think there's really any difference in difficulty between full size and small size. Something like a Les Paul style guitar is quite an undertaking for a first effort. If you want to get your feet wet in guitar making you could start with pre-made parts to get a feel of how the guitar goes together. There's a site that sells LP kits which have the set neck rather than a bolt on. They look pretty nice and are the traditional mahogany and maple. The headstock is blank so you can cut your own shape and I think you have to do the frets and nut work and of course the finish, but it will give you an idea of the overall work involved.

And as luck would have it, here's the link: http://www.bartlettwoodworking.com/body.html

Click on full kits and they are all there.


----------



## Cinnamonxv (Jul 27, 2009)

But the thing with small guitars is that you need less wood less paint and less lacquer  so in a way its cheaper?


----------



## shoretyus (Jan 6, 2007)

Cinnamonxv said:


> But the thing with small guitars is that you need less wood less paint and less lacquer  so in a way its cheaper?


It would take the same really. Don't forget that there is setup gun cleaning yada yada. To draw a parallel in the real world it takes about the same amount of work to drywall an large room as it does a small bathroom. The materials become insignificant.


----------



## Alain Moisan (Jan 16, 2010)

shoretyus said:


> It would take the same really. Don't forget that there is setup gun cleaning yada yada. To draw a parallel in the real world it takes about the same amount of work to drywall an large room as it does a small bathroom. The materials become insignificant.


I aggree. The most part of the cost when you pay for a guitar is for the time it took to build it, not for the materials.

And regarding the trussrod, at that scalelength a mandolin trussrod might just do the trick.

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Truss_rods/Adjustable_truss_rods/Mandolin_Truss_Rod.html


----------



## Lab123 (May 27, 2007)

Alain Moisan said:


> I aggree. The most part of the cost when you pay for a guitar is for the time it took to build it, not for the materials.
> 
> l[/url]


 Alain....Just curious...I've seen this statement a couple of times now and I am starting to wonder....Am i paying too much for my materials? An East Indian Rosewood, Englemann top,Five piece mahogany neck, trimmed in curly maple costs me 450.00 - 500.00 in materials...What does it cost you for an average guitar....You can PM me if you don't want to give your prices here...Larry


----------



## Cinnamonxv (Jul 27, 2009)

So your saying i should just make a full size guitar instead of a small one?


----------



## Alain Moisan (Jan 16, 2010)

Lab123 said:


> Alain....Just curious...I've seen this statement a couple of times now and I am starting to wonder....Am i paying too much for my materials? An East Indian Rosewood, Englemann top,Five piece mahogany neck, trimmed in curly maple costs me 450.00 - 500.00 in materials...What does it cost you for an average guitar....You can PM me if you don't want to give your prices here...Larry


What you're paying is the average price when you buy pre-cut stuff for one guitar at a time. I make all parts from raw lumber (except bridge pins), which cuts down the price considerably. But even at the price you are paying, if you were to sell your guitars (maybe you do already, I don't know), then unless you sell them for 750$, the cost of materials would still be a smaller portion than time.


----------



## Cinnamonxv (Jul 27, 2009)

But its a octave guitar.. i need one


----------



## Cinnamonxv (Jul 27, 2009)

Scale length: 14.7

Distance from front of the nut
(or zero fret) to fret
1: 0.825
2: 1.604
3: 2.339
4: 3.033

What are the measurements in? Cm Meters? mm? and where do i start from the nut.. the back? or the front?


----------



## Alain Moisan (Jan 16, 2010)

Cinnamonxv said:


> Scale length: 14.7
> 
> Distance from front of the nut
> (or zero fret) to fret
> ...


Quite probably inches. Where did you get this info from? Doesn't it say what units they use? 

And you must measure from the front of the nut, as it says in your statement.



Cinnamonxv said:


> Distance from front of the nut...


----------



## Cinnamonxv (Jul 27, 2009)

Alain Moisan said:


> Quite probably inches. Where did you get this info from? Doesn't it say what units they use?
> 
> And you must measure from the front of the nut, as it says in your statement.


I got it from http://buildyourguitar.com/resources/fretcalc/fretcalc.htm and it doesnt say


----------



## J S Moore (Feb 18, 2006)

If you entered the scale in inches then the resulting measurements will be in inches as well.


----------

