Compound radius + TOM =?

[fdesalvo]

I don't see this making sense.  TOM has a fixed radius and the conical fretboard is considerable flatter at the 22nd fret.  Where am I going wrong?

 

[tfarny]

This has been pretty well covered, but briefly - TOM has a 12" radius. The W compound radius works itself out to around 18" at the bridge. In practice, it's not a huge deal, in fact the differences are a bit hard to see with the naked eye. The net effect is that your middle strings have a little higher action in the upper frets. Some people dont do anything about it. others, including me, file the bridge saddles down in the middle to approximate an 18" radius. A little filing goes a long way. You want a triangular file from any hardware store and a good 18" radius gauge, either homemade or the stew mac kind, plus a tiny file like a .010 nut file to re-notch the saddles grooves, and something to smooth it all down and get rid of the burs when youre done.

 

[GratefullyRedd]

This has been pretty well covered, but briefly - TOM has a 12" radius. The W compound radius works itself out to around 18" at the bridge. In practice, it's not a huge deal, in fact the differences are a bit hard to see with the naked eye. The net effect is that your middle strings have a little higher action in the upper frets. Some people dont do anything about it. others, including me, file the bridge saddles down in the middle to approximate an 18" radius. A little filing goes a long way. You want a triangular file from any hardware store and a good 18" radius gauge, either homemade or the stew mac kind, plus a tiny file like a .010 nut file to re-notch the saddles grooves, and something to smooth it all down and get rid of the burs when youre done.

I think you should change your name to dr.file, or maybe the nutmaster

 

[CrackedPepper]

I think you should change your name to dr.file, or maybe the nutmaster

Hu-hu - he said "nutmaster"

 

[AprioriMark]

Yeah, "nutmaster" is pretty darned epic.

-Mark

 

[GratefullyRedd]

yes I did

 

[Strat Avenger]

I'm using a Floyd Rose (10" radius) with the compound radius neck, and I immediately noticed that the middle strings are higher action than the rest. If I had known about this ahead of time, I probably would have gone with a 12" straight radius instead.

If you file the center saddles for lower string height, wouldn't that make them too low for the frets closer to the nut?

 

[Dan025]

I'm using a Floyd Rose (10" radius) with the compound radius neck, and I immediately noticed that the middle strings are higher action than the rest. If I had known about this ahead of time, I probably would have gone with a 12" straight radius instead.

If you file the center saddles for lower string height, wouldn't that make them too low for the frets closer to the nut?

your looking at it wrong, think cone. the strings should fan out just the same as the board. 18.5 radius is the calculated ideal but anything from about 14" up will work ok

 

[Doughboy]

For Floyds, I shim or file down the saddles to match my 16" radius. For TOM, the saddles have to be filed down, but tend to not be a sturdy as floyds for some reason. I have a compound radius with a TOM & it feels fine. However, next time, I will get a 12" so it's perfect.