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

Step 11 Admire

Pat yourself on the back if you managed to get this far.
After this mod I scalloped all the way down to my 12th fret.
Have fun playing your scalloped guitar!

Comments

[ntagn33]

Looks good. I did this once on a friends Jackson DInky. Except I just used a Dremel tool with those little drum sander bits for the whole job. That way you don't go across the grain. That got the job done in no time, and it came out clean enough that my friend was able to sell the guitar. I wonder how it's done at the factory.

[Hazzard2theworld911]

they use what is basically a drum sander controlled by a computer, but very few factories make these features, as they are expensive and difficult on Mass Production....

[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

[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?

[victoraez]

Hi , i can Scallop my bass?

[itsachen]

I'm sure you can, but I don't know what tonal differences would result in a bass. I'm guessing nothing major should change.

[jdogsbart]

what does scalloping actually do for the guitar? or for you?

[itsachen]

Makes bending and vibrato a breeze, much easier than jumbo frets.

[jdogsbart]

what tool did you/could you use for this?

[itsachen]

If you look at step 1 of the instructable you'll see I used a file

[jdogsbart]

how deep should the finished scalloped fret be? srry for all the questions

[Cj slier]

That is brill, but your might cach fingerz in frets wen sliding!

[itsachen]

Tends to look like that might happen through the pictures, but its unlikely, unless your finger has a very small angle to the fretboard when playing.

[Postscript624]

Is the dremel necessary? I don't have a lot of power tools (read as: I have a power drill and that;s it) and I don't really want to have to go buy one. Is it desperately important to dremel polish (or polish at all) the scalloped frets?

[jeff-o]

It's worth buying a Dremel in general. It's an extremely useful tool to have.

[norsehorse]

I did mine without polishing and it was fine. Afterwards I just oiled the neck and the color came back to normal.

[TheMaker888]

the color changes cause the wood shavings get into the smallest indents in the fret board, the oil cleans the powder off :P

[beaverpuss]

thanks so much for the very cool instructable. A couple of things I would like to add...i)teak oil, tung oil, danish oil, lemon oil, etc. (in very minute quantities) will bring your grain out quite nicely (and unfortunately show your errors)on a rosewood neck but TREAD with caution when applying, because too much will contribute to your neck warping. ii)is it possible to attach a sound byte to instructables? 'cause it would be way cool to hear a little shred on your newly scalloped neck. Thanks again... ;)~

[itsachen]

Thanks, I'll try to upload a video one day, when I get better recording stuff.

[m4573rk3yb04rd]

Why don't you scallop the entire fretboard, or is that bad for it? or is it just a personal thing, like it feels wierd on 1-13 but cool on 12-21

[itsachen]

Scalloping the higher frets is easier as the width between frets is smaller, which means less paths to make resulting in a smoother shape (compare scalloping fret 18 and fret 3) Plus I hear from fellow scalloped guitar players that playing chords on wider frets is harder, as the strings tend to bend easier. You can get used to that though. I decided not to do a full scallop becasue I was too lazy.

[curbowman]

Uli Jon Roth (who inspired Yngwie Malmsteen) uses scalloping on his guitars and advices against using scalloping on the first frets. According to him, playing chords with scalloped frets tends to raise the pitch of the strings, so you need to use very low pressure and an even effort on every finger, and that's not easy; especially when doing barre chords.

[agaetisbyrjun23z]

How did you not completely destroy your fret wire?

[itsachen]

I didn't really try to put pressure on the fret strips while I was filing. They ended up being polished in the end though, with all the sanding.

[klee27x]

You could cover them with a strip of masking tape or thick cello tape, next time. Use a razor blade to remove excess tape.

[itsachen]

That's actually the proper way to do it. I was just too lazy to cover every fret.