Official Luthiers Forum!

Trying to find a formula for neck/fretboard width up the neck. What's the standard vintage Fender space from string slot to the edge of the fretboard?

Don't know much about Fender electrics but I use 1/8" on the low E and 5/32" on the high e. That probably won't work on a 1-5/8" nut

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Joe Beaver
Maker of Sawdust

I don't know why I assumed luthier to encompass stringed instruments that are electric. I'll find an appropriate forum.

Some of us work on electrics too. 1/8" works for them too. In fact, string bending might want you to go a bit more. It kind of depends on fret bevels, the parallelness of the neck, etc. I just usually eyeball it.

I normally used 3 to 3.5 mm treble, maybe slightly less bass. depending n the player.
I'm not often on it myself, but I believe you'll find a thriving section of this forum dedicated to electrics.
http://www.luthiersforum.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=10123

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

"I don't know why I assumed luthier to encompass stringed instruments that are electric. I'll find an appropriate forum."

We are not just "Martin Luthiers" - we do work on different brands.
Your initial query was for a formula for neck/fretboard width up the neck. I don't know of one for either acoustic or electric. There are some general guidelines, such as, as the fret space narrows the neck usually widens, but even this doesn't hold true for all fretted instruments.
If you ask a question for which no one has the answer you may not get a response.

I don’t believe Joe told you you were on the wrong forum. He was just giving you a context to his answer.

That is how this forum works. We share our experiences in the hope that helps. Some of us have more relevant experience, and some have related experience that may actually expand your knowledge and give you a bigger picture.

If you were looking for definitive answers from Fender technical support, perhaps you are right. This may not be the forum for you.


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