Craig's Guitar

Frets

I made the head and bridge out of a lump of old redgum fence post. The nut was brass, the saddle aluminium. I was keen to avoid the deadening effects of plastic. Even the scratch plate was made from New South Wales Rosewood rather than plastic.
Usually a guitar fretboard is made of ebony for its wear resistance, while the neck is formed from a lighter, cheaper hardwood. However, I had picked up a lump of solid ebony substantial enough to form the entire neck. Ebony is not a local timber (I couldn't get ironwood, my first choice), but is so outstandingly dense that I had to use a hacksaw to cut it. Strength and stability would prevent warping and assist sustain.
I calculated the fret spacings and marked them off by sight with a metal ruler. This seemed pretty crude, and it worried me a bit. I'd heard of a commercial guitar maker using computer-guided equipment to get the frets positioned perfectly, and there I was, eyeballing them. I wondered if my guitar would play in tune. I also wondered if it would collapse when I strung it up. The tension of metal guitar strings totals over 40 kg (100 lbs).

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