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Interesting stuff. I've always done it Bob's way, with the edges of the fb staying parallel with the E strings, 1/8" out, plus maybe a bit more on the treble side.

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Mike

"The Dude abides. I don't know about you but I take comfort in that. It's good knowin' he's out there. The Dude. Takin' 'er easy for all us sinners. Shoosh." The Stranger

Hey, thanks Bob. That is what I meant. In part, this allows for greater sideways string excursion higher up the neck where it's easier to push or pull the string sideways. It also seems to feel more natural to have the board follow the spread of the strings.

But I also said a couple of times that there's some leeway here for taste and playing style. For example, I usually put the high E a little further from the edge of the board than the low E. This is so that a player doing a pull-off or sideways vibrato on the high E won't pull the string off the board; the extra space isn't needed on the low E.

[BTW, isn't it funny that the string we call high E sits closer to the ground when we play than the string we call low E? Makes sense if we are talking about high and low pitch, I guess. But then we call the high E the first string when its pitch is at a bigger number of Hz; doesn't the low E come before that, pitch-wise? So it should be the first string, no?]

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Howard Klepper
http://www.klepperguitars.com

When all else fails, clean the shop.

Howard : I would much prefer those two matched. I refer to the low one as the first string and as 'low E'...it probably ticks off the classical players, but all the other guitarists I speak to know exactly what I'm talking about.

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Bob Garrish
Former Canonized Purveyor of Fine CNC Luthier Services

I've always confuse others by refering to the high E string as the top string. But it's right. I've been using the 1/8" rule and haven't noticed any change in the way I aproach teh guitar. Although I tend to steal a hair from the bass and add it to the high E as I go up the neck. Seems to work better for the "wrap around thumb" technique. And adds a little to the high E for bends and vibrato. Clinton