Bunderation
A good playability of your own instrument is particularly important for the musician. Creativity and joy of playing can best develop when the instrument is well set. In this case, the instrument is pleasantly easy grip and allows in all situations an equally powerful attack without hitting the frets. The height of the string position, ie the distance of the string to the frets, is heavily dependent on the type of player, his technique and his personal preferences.
A good alliance, however, is the prerequisite for being able to set up an instrument ideally to the needs of the player. If the crowns are aligned in a slight curvature along the fingerboard, the vibrating string has the space it needs.
Bund deviations can arise for various reasons. In addition to the normal wear and tear when playing, frets can also be caused by inaccurate Bundierungen or loose frets and thus generate background noise. If the fretboard has the correct longitudinal curvature, such deviations can usually be remedied by grinding the frets. As a rule, the work includes grinding the crowns, rounding with the bundle file and the polish. Afterwards the upper caliper and the saddle are readjusted, often a much lower string position can be realized, without it “clanking” in individual bands.
Now it is (only) the task of the guitar maker to pay attention to the personal needs and habits of the player in order to adjust his personal performance.
If the fingerboard has too much or too little longitudinal curvature, this has a central effect on the entire function of the instrument.
Usually too strong longitudinal curvatures occur due to incorrect positioning of the instrument or incorrect stringing, which results in a high string position. This is in addition to the poor playability consequences for the intonation especially the upper layers. To fix this problem, the string height at the bridge is often reduced. However, this leads to significant loss of sound due to the less favorable web angle and the decrease of the pressure on the web thrust. In the extreme, it comes to the so-called “sitar effect”, the string has so little pressure that it moves uncontrollably on the bridge pad and produces buzzing noise.
Correcting a strongly deviating longitudinal curvature is considerably more complicated than dressing the frets. To do this, the old frets must be removed, the fretboard curvature corrected and the fret slits reworked. After the fine-tuning, the band is re-bandaged, trained and finally a setup is made. If the deviations are too strong, the neck material is too flexible or the fingerboard is extremely worn, replacement or doubling of a new fingerboard is sometimes necessary. Such a measure is usually carried out by the large amount of work only on more valuable instruments.
In order to determine the technical reasons for problems with the playability, you usually have to look at the instrument. Often photos only give part of the necessary information. We offer a fair, professional advice, please use our speech day or make an appointment.