Acrylic fretboard?

[bannyd]

Hey everyone -- I know absolutely nothing about luthiery or even really modding guitars for that matter - so thats my disclaimer.

I was just wondering - I work in a shop that works strictly with acrylic and I keep reading through people's build threads - and they put a laminate or they choose what wood to use on their fretboard.

Is there any way to use an acrylic fretboard?
is this even possible?

again - i know nothing about building guitars or fretting or anything like that
so if this is a stupid question, just let me know -- but I think if you were to have a really nice 3 or 5 piece neck and a clear acrylic fretboard to show that off -- or even a black gloss fretboard, that'd look great

 

[HOKENSTYFE]

I saw this guitar last year. I've been debating to try one out. Now, it doesn't have an acrylic fretboard but, it is acrylic body & headstock. So, ask someone at Steve's Music Center, the creator of this guitar. I imagine he must have tried to or, at least envisioned it.

I'm going to keep an eye on this thread. Good Luck.

 

[bannyd]

thats pretty wild -- i've seen acrylic body guitars before like the BC Rich and Dan Armstrong -- but i'm mainly just talking about using it as the fretboard

 

[bannyd]

i wonder if i can make an acrylic guitar body... hmmmmmmm

 

[Mr Wright]

Didn't Taylor or Martin use some synthetic compound in fretboards at one point?

I've heard of glass being used on fretless guitars as well, so I don't think acrylic would be a stretch.

 

[JLP2005]

A glass fretboard? That sounds insane, and ridiculously chimey.

 

[Danukenator]

I don't see a reason why it wouldn't work. Provided it isn't prone to warping/shrinking/expanding there's no reason why it wouldn't work.

 

[AxeHappy]

A glass fretboard? That sounds insane, and ridiculously chimey.

On fretless it's often a mirror that is used. Supposed to be somewhat bell like, but it lets you use round wounds instead of flatwounds for guys whom want that sound/feel.

 

[RobDux]

A member on TDPRI made an all acrylic Telecaster: Scatter Lee's 2011 TDPRI Build Challenge Thread - Telecaster Guitar Forum

 

[Klzow]

Like the all acrylic telecaster above i tried to build something like that before!
An Les Paul Jr all in acrylic:

And yea its possible to build the fretboard in acrylic, but when buildning the whole neck in it it becomes weak. Acrylic is not as stiff as wood and the preasure from the strings will make it bend very easy.

I made a test where I checked how much the neck would flex. Compared normal guitar necks to the acrylic one. The test was very simple, i just hung a 1kg weight at the end of the head and measure how much it flexed. A normal neck flexed around 1mm while the acrylic one flexed 7mm.

 

[codycarter]

Like the all acrylic telecaster above i tried to build something like that before!
An Les Paul Jr all in acrylic:

And yea its possible to build the fretboard in acrylic, but when buildning the whole neck in it it becomes weak. Acrylic is not as stiff as wood and the preasure from the strings will make it bend very easy.

I made a test where I checked how much the neck would flex. Compared normal guitar necks to the acrylic one. The test was very simple, i just hung a 1kg weight at the end of the head and measure how much it flexed. A normal neck flexed around 1mm while the acrylic one flexed 7mm.

Up until this post I had dreamt of making a completely acrylic headless 8 string

 

[Gregori]

Up until this post I had dreamt of making a completely acrylic headless 8 string

There is no reason you couldn't put in some carbon fiber rods. Stewmac sells them.

 

[bannyd]

A member on TDPRI made an all acrylic Telecaster: Scatter Lee's 2011 TDPRI Build Challenge Thread - Telecaster Guitar Forum

i looked thru all 22 pages of that thread -- absolutely epic attention to detail
thanks for posting

 

[Necromagnon]

I made a test where I checked how much the neck would flex. Compared normal guitar necks to the acrylic one. The test was very simple, i just hung a 1kg weight at the end of the head and measure how much it flexed. A normal neck flexed around 1mm while the acrylic one flexed 7mm.

y= F*L^3/(3*E*I)
Basic beam mechanics, you will find more on wikipedia if you want.
But yes, acrylic (that quite a very very wide definition...) is much stiffless than wood.

About the op, I would only care about surface hardness (to not scratch the fingerboard with your finger), and maybe someway of "tear out" of the frets. But other way, it seems to work.

The only matter, imo, is that you'll see the truss rod and everything, so your work has to be chirurgica, while a wood fingerboard allows you to work as shitty as you want.
I need to find that post: I think it was on tdpri, a guy build a plexi telecaster, with steampunk inspiration, and gears drawn on the gluing joint of the two layer of the body... Just A-MA-ZING.

 

[Klzow]

y= F*L^3/(3*E*I)
Basic beam mechanics, you will find more on wikipedia if you want.
But yes, acrylic (that quite a very very wide definition...) is much stiffless than wood.

About the op, I would only care about surface hardness (to not scratch the fingerboard with your finger), and maybe someway of "tear out" of the frets. But other way, it seems to work.

The only matter, imo, is that you'll see the truss rod and everything, so your work has to be chirurgica, while a wood fingerboard allows you to work as shitty as you want.
I need to find that post: I think it was on tdpri, a guy build a plexi telecaster, with steampunk inspiration, and gears drawn on the gluing joint of the two layer of the body... Just A-MA-ZING.

Yeah you have to work alot on details and sand every damn corner of everything, it's a real challenge but the result is awesome!

I think this is the build i were talking about, its really cool

Kwerk's 2011 TDPRI Build Challenge Thread - Telecaster Guitar Forum

 

[Necromagnon]

Yes, it's this one... Thanks...
Wait a second, I'm gonna suicide and I'm back...