Steel String Fretboard Templates

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Steel String Fretboard Templates

Our collection of fretboard templates for steel string acoustic guitars covers a range of scale lengths and string spreads to fit a wide range of acoustic guitar styles. There are no hard and fast rules however important considerations are the scale length, the string spread at the nut (nut width less E-string inset) and the string spread at the saddle. Refer to the table below for the specific dimensions.

Please be aware that these are layout templates, NOT routing templates. They are 4.5mm thick. If you would like a 6mm thick routing template, please order the template you require and at the checkout, add a note telling us that you require a 6mm thick template. And it wouldn't hurt to send us an email as well ;-).

The standard scale lengths are as follows:

Gibson Short 24 5/8"
Gibson Long 24 3/4"
Martin Short 24.9"
Martin Long 25.34"
PRS 25.0"
Fender 25.5"

We have chosen to match the most common US nut widths and designed the fretboard widths to match common string spreads at the saddle. We also allowed 4mm inset on both the treble and bass E-strings at the nut. You may choose to widen this a little if it suits. The nut widths are:

Narrow 1 11/16"= 42.8mm (which we call 43mm)
Medium 1 3/4" = 44.5mm
Wide 1 7/8" = 47.6mm

String spread at the saddle typically ranges between 54 - 56mm (2 1/8" - 2 3/16") but some guitar players may prefer something wider or narrower and a 12-string will definitely be wider. Nevertheless, these templates can tolerate variation of +/- 2mm overall without causing a problem of string run off along the fretboard; refer to the table below. As a general rule of thumb, the template width at the 14th fret is the width at the 12th fret plus ~1mm.

If you are looking for something else to meet a specific need, then please order the Custom template and tell us what you require. We'd be happy to do a design.

SKU	Name	Scale Length	Nut Width	12th Fret Width	SS @ Saddle
T-FBGS445	G-Short Med	24.625" 625.5mm	1 3/4" 44.5mm	53.6mm	54-56mm
T-FBGS430	G-Short Narrow	24.625" 625.5mm	1 11/16" 43.0mm	53mm	54-56mm
T-FBGL445	G-Long Med	24.75" 628.65mm	1 3/4" 44.5mm	54mm	55-57mm
T-FBGL430	G-Long Narrow	24.75" 628.65mm	1 11/16" 43.0mm	52mm	54-56mm
T-FBMS445	M-Short Med	24.9" 632.5mm	1 3/4" 44.5mm	53mm	54-56mm
T-FBMS430	M-Short Narrow	24.9" 632.5mm	1 11/16" 43.0mm	52mm	54-56mm
T-FBML445	M-Long Med	25.34" 643.6mm	1 3/4" 44.5mm	53mm	54-56mm
T-FBML430	M-Long Narrow	25.34" 643.6mm	1 11/16" 43.0mm	52mm	54-56mm
T-FBML476	M-Long Wide	25.34" 643.6mm	1 7/8" 47.6mm
T-FBP445	P 25" Med	25.0" 635mm	1 3/4" 44.5mm	53mm	54-56mm
T-FBP430	P 25" Narrow	25.0" 635mm	1 11/16" 43.0mm	52mm	54-56mm
T-FBF445	P 25.5" Med	25.5" 647.7mm	1 3/4" 44.5mm	53mm	54-56mm
T-FBF430	P 25.5" Narrow	25.5" 647.7mm	1 11/16" 43.0mm	52mm	54-56mm
T-FBCUST	Custom	TBA	TBA	TBA	TBA