scale/fret position

I have a question on fret location before I commit on my aphid build. Here is the fret location for the 6.5" scale Aphid will have,



It is based on the chart from a scale calculator here.



It looks ok, in fact allot better than the Tangi Mini Uke I have, but allot different, especially past the 12th fret. The Tangi mini seems to be about a 6.5" scale, but the frets are vastly different beyond the 12th.

Anyway, i started wondering if scale fret location is scale fret location, and it isn't, or is different for ukes, or other string instruments. Does it matter what instrument you are building or tuning when figering out fret location? Or are they all the same on the same scale length?

I just ran the calculations on the StewMac fret calculator and except for the rounding off of the last digit the measurements match up. So I'd say you are good to go.

Fret scale position is fret scale position and the only thing that will vary will be the compensation at the bridge based on the string type. Steel strings of a particular gauge will have a different amount of compensation to a nylon string of another gauge.

Surely you're not using more than 12 frets? At the 17th (and I think I count 17 on your board) the frets will near enough be touching each other!

Actually, that raised another question. On the Tangi, they have 15 frets, and yeah, the high frets are pretty close together. I don't want a huge gap at the body with no frets, I think that will look even weirder than having them close together. I originally wanted to only have no more than 14, but it would mean making a shorter neck, which in turn would shorten the scale to 4" or so rather than 6.5" scale. So, what would you recommend in that case. The tangi, the higher frets are pretty much worthless as far as playing, but again, it would look weird if they weren't there.

The sopranos I've made are 13.5 in scale, 12 frets to the body + about an inch of fretboard over the top. Proportions look good.
On the same basis, you could go 12 frets to the body + 1/2 in extra fretboard. Even then, the top 5 frets would be mainly decoration it seems to me.

Can't tell from your picture where the body join is, but I'd stop fretting there - that's a traditional look for sopranos.

The 12th fret is going to be about an 1/8" from the edge of the body. The fretboard is going to overlap the body about an inch or so and have the 13th-? But, like you say, I may just go to 14 just for aesthetics, because on such a small scale, they really aren't useable.

The body/neck joint should be right on either the 12th or 14th fret. Twelve frets is plenty for an instrument of this size IMO, but you need to also pay attention to where that places the bridge on the body.