The vast majority of time in building a guitar goes into the neck and fretboard. I still cut an shape my own guitar necks but I've found this composite fretboard to be an enormous help. There is no way for me to match the quality without upgrading to some very expensive tool and at this price, I can't justify the time and materials to make the same by hand. The Zero Fret nut keeps the action low and even across all strings. I have also found the 25.5" scale to be the best for the guitars I'm building.