MIMF

I am trying to make a playable miniature guitar. The only problem I am having is positioning the frets so that they are not too smal to actually play. The neck of this guitar is only 5.5 inches long (I can probably make it six if it's really necessary) and I would like to have at least four frets. Can anyone help me place them so that I can play a few actual chords? thanks!

What you're describing would basically be a soprano ukulele, but with six strings (if you really want it strung in some semblance of a guitar). Do some uke searches, and you can also go straight to online tools like wFret and FretFind2D to print out fret templates.

What is the scale length you are planning? That will determine fret spacing. I would figure out your fret spacing then make your neck length such that it connects to the body at a fret line. Tell us more about the project. You will also have to make some descisions about string gauge and tuning, but it all starts at scale length. . .

Cavapoo - A quick review of fret position calculation seems in order here. Please forgive me if you already understand this information, but from your post, it seems like you might not. (BTW someone will be along soon to ask for your real name - we don't use screen names on this forum).

The modern evenly tempered musical scale consists of 12 semitones to the octave. To raise a vibrating string one semi-tone, you must decrease its length by a factor of 1/17.817 (this odd looking number is approximately the 12th root of 2, and "12th root" relates to the 12 semitones of the scale). Thus, the distance from the nut to the first fret is the vibrating string length of the open string (called the scale length) minus 1/17.817 times the scale length. The distance to the 2nd fret is calculated the same way, but using the new (shorter) vibrating string length obtained from the first calculation - the actual scale length minus the distance between the nut and the first fret. By applying this formula repeatedly for each fret, you will see that as the vibrating string length decreases, the distance between the frets decreases also. This is immediately obvious when you look at a guitar or any other fretted instrument. The percentage of how much shorter the distance is between frets is strictly controlled by the "12th root of 2" constant, multiplied by the scale length (which can vary from instrument to instrument).

The scale length for a guitar with a 5.5" neck will depend on where exaclty the bridge is placed, but probably will be somewhere in the neighborhood of 11 to 13 inches - very much in the same ballpark as the scale length of a soprano ukelele, as mentioned by Jason. Here is a chart of fret positions for a 12" scale (screen shot of WFret - click on it to see it larger):

BTW you can download Wfret from the library on this forum, if you are a registered forum member, for free.

Jon gave a lot more info (and said it better) about what I was trying to say. Your scale length will determine your fret location. Do as Jon says and download wfret, it is one of the most important tools you will use as you get into this craft. Not only will Wfret calculate the measurements for you (lots of programs do that) but it will allow you to print out an actual size template of the fret locations (some printer adjusting may be needed so measure your print out and compare to the measurements given). If fret placement is indeed new to you, spend some time reading and asking questions here until it makes sense. Then start reading about compensation and intonation. With a scale length that short, you will have to make some adjustments. MIMF can help you there too, but you will have to know what type of strings you intend to use and have an idea of the tuning range you want.

Jon Whitney wrote:Thus, the distance from the nut to the first fret is the vibrating string length of the open string (called the scale length) minus 1/17.817 times the scale length.

This sentence actually should read: "Thus, the distance from the nut to the first fret is the vibrating string length of the open string (called the scale length) times 1/17.817. The remaining vibrating string length is therefore the scale length minus the distance from the nut to the first fret."