Question for guitarbuilders

[bzja]

Presently building a guitar with a 10" radius neck. Hoping to use a stop tail Tune-o-matic bridge which are usually 12" radius. Should I abandon the stop tail for a Fender hardtail type? Will the difference 10" to 12" be nominal?

[Ratae Corieltauvorum]

Don't worry about it, the difference is minimal

[mrbrown49]

First off, I'm not a builder, more of a moder. But I can tell you sometimes a flatter radius on the bridge is actually what you want. Most guitars are set up with the low string's action set a bit higher than the high strings. That gives the strings an effective radius slightly wider than the fret board radius.

 

 

Anyway, the difference between those two radii is quite small. Get a bridge with unslotted saddles and you should have plenty of play in the slotting to get the action just where you want it.

 

 

FWIW, I put a 14" radius bridge on a guitar with a 12" fretboard radius and it feels great.

[meandi]

And if it does present a problem for you, the saddles on the tune-o-matics can be easily notched to correct the problem.
When I refretted my les paul, I shaped the fingerboard with a 12-18" compound radius...that's how I fitted the bridge to it.

[bzja]

Thanks for all the replies, it never occurred to me to modify the saddles. This is what makes this board so important.

[EADGBE]

Thanks for all the replies, it never occurred to me to modify the saddles. This is what makes this board so important.

Yes but don't modify before hand. Because like Ratae Coritanorum said the difference is minimal.