Fretboard radius... What it means and free (printable) gauges.

Just wanted to share a link to some free printable radius gauges! http://www.pickguardian.com/pickguardia … Gauges.pdf

If you don't understand fretboard radius, I'll try to give ya a little rundown...

The fretboard radius is the side to side arc /curve of the fretboard. You can see this best by looking down the fretboard from the neck end, you'll notice the slight (horizon like) arc or curve it has... This is measured in inches. To understand how this works, you need to know that a radius is the line from the center of a circle to it's outside parameter. Now imagine or draw a 24 inch circle and look at the curve or arc of the outside line. That is a 12 inch radius since the center of the circle is 12 inches from the outside. The same applies to other radius's 10, 15, 17, 20, 9.5 inch, etc... The circle would always be twice the radius.
   Most typical steel string acoustics range in the 12-17 inch radius range. The lower radius fretboards, like 12, have more curve and are easier to wrap your hand around and often easier to barre on but tend to fretout when doing alot of bends. For that reason most fingerstyle guitars tend to be 15 inch radius or higher (flatter) for better bends and string work but they tend to be harder to barre on. Classical guitars tend to be very flat and electrics tend to have a lower radius or more curve with some older tele's going down to a 9 inch radius.
  The radius is really important if you ever try to level your frets or do any other fret/saddle/nut work. It's also good to know if your ever ordering a guitar without being able to play it first. Hope that helps explain things a bit... -Pix