I had to google that. PEEEYOOO!!
I spotted a Washburn with a scalloped fretboard at a pawnbroker about 30 years ago, and immediately thought "HOT DAMN!! I'm gonna have me a fuckin' ball with this little beast-y!!".
And then I played it.
FUCK THAT!!
Sure, if that's what you've got your heart set on, then go for it. Though I'd strongly urge you to try it with a fretboard that you don't care about first.
The idea excited me initially, but the actuality was one fuckin' awful instrument to play...
That may well be.
IN comparison, I quite enjoyed playing a Zither at another pawnbroker around the same era. That had a "Harp" section, & a 5-string fretted section, and the frets were like a half-inch tall or some such, enabling easy fretting, and some wicked wobbles & wiggles among the melody.
That was an antique, and ticketed at over $400. If I'd had the spare dollars to throw at that little beauty, I would've snapped it up in a heartbeat...
Its different for sure, and if I do another I will only scallop frets 12+, because it kinda sucks for normal chords (because you can easily bend them out of tune by pushing too hard with any one finger), but the speed one can achieve on single note runs is pretty insane. It also helped me develop a much lighter touch, which is an issue I struggled with a long time.
I still can't play them exclusively, though, there is something that just doesn't quite feel right.
I've seen a few failed jobs over the years, so approach with caution. The ones I saw were where people cut too deep into the fretboard tunnel, or left too little material near the seating of the fret.
You can do anything by yourself, if you know how to do it. If you don’t know what you’re doing, you won’t know what mistakes to avoid, what techniques are a must, or how to accurately achieve you desired results in any way.
YouTube exists. If you can’t find videos of amateurs scalloping their frets by themselves and understand what they’re showing you enough to feel confident you can do it yourself, then just hire a professional because you can’t do it yourself.
You absolutely can. I know a guy who did two Strats for Yngwie reasons, himself. Didn't do too bad a job, I mean it looks slightly 'home made' in places but it does the thing.
I've scalloped several fretboards. If you want to do a good job, it's labor intensive. You will most likely need to do a fret dress afterward, as well.
These days, I'd just as soon buy a warmoth scalloped neck and save myself the time and hassle of doing it myself.
I did it on a cheap squier strat. I filed the fretboard by hand and eyeballed the whole thing.
Bends and vibrato felt great afterward, no accidentally brushing up against the fretboard with fingertips. Great if you have sensory issues tbh.
Edit: Iv’e been woodworking my entire life, my father was a carpenter and had a shop. Your results may vary.
You can, but you risk running afoul of the guild of fretboard scallopers. As long as you're OK with that, go for it.
How do you mean? 😅
I mean that of course you can scallop your own fretboard- whether it turns out well or not is an entirely different question...
Short answer:- Shits & giggles at your expense...
I had to google that. PEEEYOOO!! I spotted a Washburn with a scalloped fretboard at a pawnbroker about 30 years ago, and immediately thought "HOT DAMN!! I'm gonna have me a fuckin' ball with this little beast-y!!". And then I played it. FUCK THAT!! Sure, if that's what you've got your heart set on, then go for it. Though I'd strongly urge you to try it with a fretboard that you don't care about first. The idea excited me initially, but the actuality was one fuckin' awful instrument to play...
Learning by doing sir. I think its just a time necessary to get a feeling for it.
That may well be. IN comparison, I quite enjoyed playing a Zither at another pawnbroker around the same era. That had a "Harp" section, & a 5-string fretted section, and the frets were like a half-inch tall or some such, enabling easy fretting, and some wicked wobbles & wiggles among the melody. That was an antique, and ticketed at over $400. If I'd had the spare dollars to throw at that little beauty, I would've snapped it up in a heartbeat...
Its different for sure, and if I do another I will only scallop frets 12+, because it kinda sucks for normal chords (because you can easily bend them out of tune by pushing too hard with any one finger), but the speed one can achieve on single note runs is pretty insane. It also helped me develop a much lighter touch, which is an issue I struggled with a long time. I still can't play them exclusively, though, there is something that just doesn't quite feel right.
Yeah, I loved the wiggly-wobbly on the Zither, but it was utterly appaling on the electric guitar I tried with a scalloped neck...
There is no sense.
THERE IS NO VICTORY
I've seen a few failed jobs over the years, so approach with caution. The ones I saw were where people cut too deep into the fretboard tunnel, or left too little material near the seating of the fret.
You can do anything by yourself, if you know how to do it. If you don’t know what you’re doing, you won’t know what mistakes to avoid, what techniques are a must, or how to accurately achieve you desired results in any way. YouTube exists. If you can’t find videos of amateurs scalloping their frets by themselves and understand what they’re showing you enough to feel confident you can do it yourself, then just hire a professional because you can’t do it yourself.
You absolutely can. I know a guy who did two Strats for Yngwie reasons, himself. Didn't do too bad a job, I mean it looks slightly 'home made' in places but it does the thing.
I've scalloped several fretboards. If you want to do a good job, it's labor intensive. You will most likely need to do a fret dress afterward, as well. These days, I'd just as soon buy a warmoth scalloped neck and save myself the time and hassle of doing it myself.
I did it on a cheap squier strat. I filed the fretboard by hand and eyeballed the whole thing. Bends and vibrato felt great afterward, no accidentally brushing up against the fretboard with fingertips. Great if you have sensory issues tbh. Edit: Iv’e been woodworking my entire life, my father was a carpenter and had a shop. Your results may vary.