Compound Radius vs Asymmetrical Radius

[PBC]

Hey guys,

I know plenty of you have had experience with a compound radius, either the 12-16 of Jackson or Schecter or the 10-16 of Warmoth.

Has anyone made an asymmetrical radius or tried a guitar with it? Usually compound radius you start with 12 on the nut and 16 on the 24. I was thinking what if you had a 16" on the treble side and something like 12" on the bass side, it switches at the arc of the fretboard. My hypothesis would that it would allow more even action on the plain steel strings while providing more clearance for those larger wound strings.

Thanks

 

[Deegatron]

I hypothesize that your hypothesis is incorrect. You would create a fretboard that has all of the disadvantages of both radiuses and neither of the advantages.

 

[geoffstgermaine]

I really don't follow how having a fretboard with a curve that represents the "compound radius" you describe that varies across the width of the board would lead to the improvements that you suggest in any way. It could certainly work in terms that if the fret levelling is correct along the length of the string then it will

A "compound radius" is intended to have the surface of the fretboard account for the string spread that happens between the nut and bridge. That has a known benefit, though you can still arrive in the same place with proper fret levelling. I really don't understand what benefit this system could have.

 

[marcwormjim]

OP, are you trying to win some kind of over-engineering award? The reasoning behind conical fingerboard radii is that you're compensating for the fact that none of the string-paths are parallel to the center-line, with the starting radius at the nut being dictated by nothing more than common preferences in comfortable barring. The sole benefit of "more even action" you're proposing is already accomplished with individually-adjustable saddle-height (assuming frets are uniformly-level).

If you want to double-down on this direction, why not make a trapezoidal fingerboard that mimics the curvature of human knuckles?

 

[dimension]

I know this is an old post but I am currently designing a 6 string with an "Asymmetrical" and compound radii, so I thought I would add. It has 8" in high side and 8.75" in low side at the nut, these taper down in a "compound" down to about 15-16" at the heel, It's a bit experimental but the primary reason was my proportional string spacing also caused one side of the board to be wider, so it's helps adjust for that. The Low side is flatter like you had expressed interest in, with the radii become tangent at the peak. The radii individually tapers with the 3 strings on either side and has a tangent transitional compound curve between the two along the center line that gets wider towards the heel, blending the two separate radii. In addition to the proportional string spacing, I chose to put the outer edges at slightly different taper angles towards the bridge where the edges follow parallel to the strings, allowing me to align the string centers which originally was a cosmetic choice. Needless to say a standard parametric fingerboard designer wouldn't help much, and getting it Plek'd would probably take it out of spec unless they upgrade the system in the future to accommodate "Asymmetrical" fingerboard radii. In the end it's a lot more difficult to design than a single radius, or even a compound radius, because you need to figure out how to get all the radii and edges to play well together. It is not impossible to get the concept to work.

 

[nightsprinter]

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