Scallop Your Guitar (Standard Scallop, Frets 14-21)

Hey again everybody.
I'm back, with another handy instructable if you're in the mood of cutting up your guitar even more.
This time I will explain how I scalloped my fretboard, and how you can too.

Scalloped fretboards are not very common these days, but have been around of hundreds of years (like the veena, an indian instrument with a mad crazy scalloped fretboard) Recently scalloped fretboards have been introduced to the world of electric guitars through plays such as Ritchie Blackmore of Deep Purple, and Yngwie Malmsteen. However, they both use full neck scalloped guitars, and this instructable is for a standard scallop, meaning frets 14-21 are scalloped.

So what exactly are scalloped frets? Scalloping a fretboard is when you remove wood from the fretboard so that when the guitar is played, the fingers only contact the string, not the wood underneath, eliminating massive amounts of friction. It is much easier to bend strings with a scalloped guitar, and many guitarists do claim that scalloped fretboards allow you to play faster, as minimal contact with the string is needed (though I have not experienced this, nor have other guitarists I have talked to).

DISCLAIMER: I am not responsible for any harm that may come to you or your guitar. You can scallop you guitar beautifully with absolutely no previous experience as a luthier. Minimal experience with wood is suggested (we've all taken shop one time in school).

Take you time and be patient.
You might want to do this on that old guitar sitting in your garage rather than your brand new guitar

Thank you to everybody who voted in the Art of Sound contest!

Step 1 Materials

-A guitar
-Some duct tape, or masking tape
-A rounded metal file (meaning its round all around) Mine was about 5/16" in diameter at the widest section.
-Murphy Oil (any wood cleaner can do I think)
-A toothbrush
-Sandpaper of many variates of fine grit.
-Dremel with a buffing wheel attachment, or a buffing wheel of some sorts. (A rag can work too)
-Screwdriver
-Wire clippers
-New guitar strings

Comments

[powercow244]

this seems really cool and awesome but... sorry, I don't wan't to destroy my guitar ... it means a lot to me and if i messed up... i would be really sad.

[xntrick]

very cool, i was going to have my superstrat scalloped by some guy on ebay but i may have to try this. I already have a YJM type of strat and the scalloped neck is such a treat to play, the more i play it the lighter my touch becomes.

[FrozenIce]

HAHAH THATS SOO COOOL!!! :) do u think doing it to a clasical would be usefull or good?? and reply would be usefull :P :)

[tsvoboda]

Do you think this could also be done with a bass?

[HTWTUSA]

Been playin' for over ten years and never even seen, heard of or considered this option...

just did it to my Artcore AF85 an I gotta say, after a couple of days getting used to it, I can freaking SHRED riffs faster than ever, with crystal clarity... (went all the way down to the 4th fret).

Thank you so much for allowing me to take my playing to a whole other level!

I've printed this 'ible and taken it and my Ibanez to my axe-smith...he'll be doing the mod on my other rigs for me, and possibly offering it to his other clients.

5 stars...all the way...good job!

[itsachen]

Thanks for the feedback!

I'm glad the mod worked out for you. One note though, I'm not a full blown luthier though (just a DIY'er who plays guitar), so I didn't mention how to properly finish and treat the wood after you file it. I'm sure your axe-smith (awesome word btw) will know what to do though.

Rock on my friend!

[HTWTUSA]

BTW:

To finish mine out, I just re-sealed the rosewood with a nice wood conditioner, followed by two coats of Minwax ultra poly with a run of 1000 grit between and after. Then I rubbed the whole board down with some super hard beeswax before I restrung it....

Plays like a rocket...xD

[HTWTUSA]

I'm actually a master carpenter, so the finish work was easy...I just never thought to mod my frets...*facesmack*...

But, seriously man, other than beating on my guitars every day for the past 10 years, nothing has ever improved my game as much as this did.

Thanks a bunch.

[BobMarleyFan]

I wouldn't clip the strings, the change in tension could damage your guitar, instead, loosen them and take them off or at least take most of the strain off of them and then clip them, plus this prevents strings from flying every where

[asdfcrow]

The change in tension will not damage the guitar, provided you aren't using 12's. Guitars are built from stronger stuff than that. However, it probably is a good idea to loosen them, I just unwrap mine.

[itsachen]

Correct, I just didn't write "loosen strings" before clip.

[jpman]

what do you mean when your fret board starts to bevel??
i have an ibanez S
i dont think it has that

[dodeca]

I suggest going to you local kitchen collection or other cooking store and get a half round micro plane i have also seen them in high dollar tool catalogs but i got mine cheaper at K.c . only cut into the wood not out of the wood

[classicrocker182]

You can eventually buff and use uber fine gritted sand paper and get the frets looking nicer but this 'mod' is for performance

[BFMV93]

how far should u file down to the fret?

[itsachen]

I'd say 1/16" to 1/8" is fine. Closer to the 1/16" though

[BFMV93]

Alright thanks man i appreciate it

[BFMV93]

ive been playing scalloped frets for about 4 years now and this instruction uve made has deffinetly helped to do it RIGHT lol. and i believe it does make you play faster. i play speed metal and thrash on a gibson explorer

[itsachen]

Thanks dude!

[!revenge!]

i've heard that if you remove the strings of a gibson guitar, the neck will bend because the tension is lost. so is it actually possible to do this on a gibson lp guitar?

[itsachen]

Removing the strings is kinda different than removing the wood. Strings are responsible for a great deal of tension, which explains why the neck bends. Taking a bit of wood off the neck won't significantly damage the structural integrity of the neck

[!revenge!]

yes i know that, but if you want to scallope your guitar, you will have to remove the strings. because the tension is lost, the neck can bend.

[itsachen]

You only remove it for a short amount of time. I think it would be insignificant

[!revenge!]

okay

[the_burrito_master]

Nice, I don't play guitar but for the short times that I've picked one up I've really seen the need for this. If i were to play I'd do this.

[PieMaster777]

by curved do you mean up and down? If so, then does it matter if it is curvy because the point of scalloping is to remove contact.

[BigMac96]

Would it be useful to scallop the frets on a bass?

[moogbeatz99]

not really.....

[rocketkid]

if you bend on it then, sure.... lol personally, ive never tried bending notes on a bass, but i mean, if u have enough muscle to pull that off, it would probably be badass...

[dfwsupergeek]

It's not hard at all to bend notes on bass. I could never get the range of bend out of them, but bending is no problem. Especially on my Aria Pro Integra Bass, which I broke the truss rod on years ago. I wish there was an instructible on how to fix those...
Oh, well- life goes on!
Again, great job!

[Clayton H.]

Billy Sheans bass is half scaloped. and its not that hard to bend a bass string.

[cj72396]

 I do a lot of bending in my bass solos, and it's not hard in the slightest.

[puzzledones]

I had a Vox Guitar back around 1969 that had all the frets scalloped. Sold it at the time to buy my first Trumpet.

[itsachen]

Wow. Interesting story...

[puzzledones]

At the time I also had a Trainer Custom Reverb Amp with 4 10" Speakers. The problem with the Vox was that I couldn't get any power out of the amp with it. Do not remember my original guitar. But I got lots of sound out of the amp, so it must have been something in the Voxs' Pickups

[Dark Solar]

love that rubber-band model airplane layout background! classic!!! : D

oh, top-notch 'ible too.

[dermord]

ehhh do a video playing the guitar....so we can hear how its sounds!

(sorry for my bad english)

i like how it looks....bad whats with the sound?

[pickboy2mm]

why did you scallop the neck?  it makes solo's sound out of tune unless your yngwie or something?  it makes a descent guitar player sound bad?

[dfwsupergeek]

It will make the guitar sound out of tune if you don't change how hard you push the strings at those frets. As other folks have pointed out, you have to train yourself to play more gently- just touching the strings as opposed to pushing on them and relying on the wood to stop your fingers.
Great instructable! I may try this, but not on the guitars I have now- (Washburn electric, BC Rich Warlock NJ Series)... I'm going to have to go pawn shopping for a scalloping experiment now! :)

[mae-kitty]

The only real reason it would sound bad is because most people are used to having to press hard on the strings. With a scalloped neck you have to train yourself to be more gentle. When you try to sweep or do bends, go easy on the strings. Scalloped necks actually help increase the play life of strings because they arent being used so heavily. Scalloped or not is based on preference.