do your marker dots sit perfect between the strings ?

[monte merrick]

 

[Wrighty]

View attachment 559096

Daft place to build a road.

 

[Wound_Up]

um yes, i just bought a brand new $4,700 custom shop , so yes it does . When you buy your $4000 plus guitars , arent you picky too ?

Considering it's the sum of saddle, dot, and string slot location, IDGAF. Tolerance stacking makes it so it really doesn't matter.

And still wouldn't care if my guitar was $4k

If it's centered, it's just because you got lucky. Tolerance stacking can easily take them left or right of center and the only thing left to do then is get another neck and nut and try again.

 

[henderman]

i notice most dots are not centered between the frets.

depending on the gauge and placement of the strings decides where is "center" between them.

but uneven side dots are get what my goat.

 

[Mongoose]

If the bridge placement is correct, and the nut is cut right, everything should line up correctly.

The OP is actually correct. As much as we poke fun, if the dots are not centered, something is out of alignment. IME, most of the time that something is the neck.

The thing is , i bought an american pro II last month and its flawless , then tesla stock skyrocketed and i sold at the peak , anyway to make a long story short , i bought a custom shop aged white with rosewood neck on an impulse buy , and after getting it home , i swear the 3rd one from the nut looks a hair off , but im a perfectionist , so it might be me ...but they come and go , im sure ill be selling it by July lol.

 

[Mongoose]

Hmmmm, I don't think it's possible as it's an optical illusion.

What needs to be perfectly aligned ? Well the saddles for the 3rd & 4th string need to be located and aligned perfectly for their saddle slots with the 3rd & 4th string slots of the nut, the dots need to be perfectly aligned for their centers on the fretboard and at the 12th fret the dots have to be aligned perfectly.

The optical illusion aspect of it ? Let's take a set of 9's, the 3rd & 4th strings are .016 & .024 of an inch in diameter (.009, .011, .016, .024, .032, .042). Between the differences of the diameters, the 4th string is a core & wound string, the 3rd string is essentially just a core & an unwound string. The center line cores of those 2 strings are what needs to be perfectly aligned and therefore the strings will never center on the dots, The fact that 9.5's and 10's are different dimensions and that optical illusion of centering with the dots changes bu 100ths & 1,000ths of an inch. 10's are going to be .017 & .026 for the 3rd & 4th strings diameter. They're going to look different in respect to the dots at hundredths & thousandths pf an inch. So it's more important that the nut slots are cut perfectly located and the bridge & saddles located and machined perfectly. The neck pocket has enough play to be loosened and tightened to locate the strings as relatively centered.

Other independent perfection, the pickup poles need to align for each string, and each string has to be located perfectly for the nut slot & saddle slots. The best I can suggest is to use a laser level tool to check all of these things with what has already been assembled after the fact. You can't change how the factory built any given guitar, only adjust it. Guitars are perfectly imperfect instruments in that regard. As for the pickup heights, the poles themselves need to be set for perfect/optimal heights & spacings. There's just too much going on for any guitar to be perfect, but perfectly within manufacturing tolerances, that's possible.

Ouch, this post hurt to think about it and then type it up. I think it's why some manufacturers went with thumb indexes at the side of the fretboard (Gretsch), Gibson uses those blocks, There are shark's teeth and so on. For me, I use the laser level, align the space between the 3rd & 4th strings from saddles to nut, if the dots line up, that's pretty darn close for what I have to check and adjust.

Thank you for taking the time to write that , all very good points .

 

[Mongoose]

i notice most dots are not centered between the frets.

depending on the gauge and placement of the strings decides where is "center" between them.

but uneven side dots are get what my goat.

Good point , im just OCD when i have to line things up . You should see me with a torque wrench when i have to tighten engine bolts on my hot rod , if ****s not right , i cant sleep at night lol

 

[nadzab]

and after getting it home , i swear the 3rd one from the nut looks a hair off

You could always post a picture…

 

[CB91710]

That's the thing....
These are guitars.
They are musical instruments... not precision scientific instruments.
They are made of an imperfect material (wood) by imperfect people.
There will be variations from one to the next, but they all do what they are supposed to do... make music.

Look again at the Goldtop I posted.
That cost a few hundred more than your custom shop. Strings don't line up with the pickup poles, neck inlay markers, and they are not even centered on the neck.
They aren't supposed to be... it's a reissue of a 1954, and the string offset is due to the angled overwrap tailpiece/bridge combination.
And it sounds and plays beautifully.

 

[Mongoose]

Never mind ..they sit great , it was an optical illusion , they are all in a line , like good little pearl dots..

 

[Mongoose]

Hmmmm, I don't think it's possible as it's an optical illusion.

What needs to be perfectly aligned ? Well the saddles for the 3rd & 4th string need to be located and aligned perfectly for their saddle slots with the 3rd & 4th string slots of the nut, the dots need to be perfectly aligned for their centers on the fretboard and at the 12th fret the dots have to be aligned perfectly.

The optical illusion aspect of it ? Let's take a set of 9's, the 3rd & 4th strings are .016 & .024 of an inch in diameter (.009, .011, .016, .024, .032, .042). Between the differences of the diameters, the 4th string is a core & wound string, the 3rd string is essentially just a core & an unwound string. The center line cores of those 2 strings are what needs to be perfectly aligned and therefore the strings will never center on the dots, The fact that 9.5's and 10's are different dimensions and that optical illusion of centering with the dots changes bu 100ths & 1,000ths of an inch. 10's are going to be .017 & .026 for the 3rd & 4th strings diameter. They're going to look different in respect to the dots at hundredths & thousandths pf an inch. So it's more important that the nut slots are cut perfectly located and the bridge & saddles located and machined perfectly. The neck pocket has enough play to be loosened and tightened to locate the strings as relatively centered.

Other independent perfection, the pickup poles need to align for each string, and each string has to be located perfectly for the nut slot & saddle slots. The best I can suggest is to use a laser level tool to check all of these things with what has already been assembled after the fact. You can't change how the factory built any given guitar, only adjust it. Guitars are perfectly imperfect instruments in that regard. As for the pickup heights, the poles themselves need to be set for perfect/optimal heights & spacings. There's just too much going on for any guitar to be perfect, but perfectly within manufacturing tolerances, that's possible.

Ouch, this post hurt to think about it and then type it up. I think it's why some manufacturers went with thumb indexes at the side of the fretboard (Gretsch), Gibson uses those blocks, There are shark's teeth and so on. For me, I use the laser level, align the space between the 3rd & 4th strings from saddles to nut, if the dots line up, that's pretty darn close for what I have to check and adjust.

you were right , turns out its an optical illusion when looking at it from a slightly left side angle

 

[Jimbo99]

you were right , turns out its an optical illusion when looking at it from a slightly left side angle

Tilt your head enough & it'll straighten out. I think it was way back in Jr High School art class, the instructor was giving us a lesson in drawing 1-3 point perspectives for 2D & 3D shapes. After that there was also shadowing for any lighting effects lesson later in the lesson. The hardest part of the photo I took with the laser level was getting the perfect vanishing point at the nut between the 3rd & 4th strings and aligning that where the 3rd & 4th saddles was against each other & then holding the smartphone at the correct angle steady enough. I don't think I ever got it perfect, that photo was the best attempt of the bunch & it was a frustrating exercise to try to demonstrate what I was trying to communicate.

Drawing 3D Objects in 1,2 & 3 Point Perspective

Take your drawings to the next level and draw accurately in perspective Drawing in perspective can be tricky, but you can learn step by step methods t...

www.conceptstart.net

 

[Bob the builder]

Never mind ..they sit great , it was an optical illusion , they are all in a line , like good little pearl dots..

Idk man,
That's lookin' a little screwed up at the 12th
Take a close look

 

[Mongoose]

Idk man,
That's lookin' a little screwed up at the 12th
Take a close look

let me grab my caliper so i can sleep tonight lol

 

[Mongoose]

Tilt your head enough & it'll straighten out. I think it was way back in Jr High School art class, the instructor was giving us a lesson in drawing 1-3 point perspectives for 2D & 3D shapes. After that there was also shadowing for any lighting effects lesson later in the lesson. The hardest part of the photo I ook with the laser level was getting the perfect vanishing point at the nut between the 3rd & 4th strings and aligning that where the 3rd & 4th saddles was against each other & then holding the smartphone at the correct angle steady enough. I don't think I ever got it perfect that photo was the best attempt of the bunch & it was a frustrating exercise to try to demonstrate what I was trying to communicate.

Drawing 3D Objects in 1,2 & 3 Point Perspective

Take your drawings to the next level and draw accurately in perspective Drawing in perspective can be tricky, but you can learn step by step methods t...

www.conceptstart.net

I think the thicker D string plays into it too

 

[Jimbo99]

I think the thicker D string plays into it too

I like the Gretsch thumb index markers for style, Hate the Gibson blocks and the PRS birds.

 

[integra evan]

Imagine a guitar company came out with a guitar that was modular in design so that you can actually make very small adjustments to neck alignment?
People's heads would explode.

 

[Scott Baxendale]

are your dots perfectly centered ?

Why?

 

[Torvald]

Is anything perfect?

 

[StratoMutt]

Is anything perfect?

Nothing thus far.