Does Neck Radius Affect Tone (indirectly)?

[GreatOz]

Good day,

This is more of a curiosity question, but does the neck radius affect the tone for electric guitars?
If it does at all, my supposition is that it changes the position of the strings relative to the poles/bar, changing the tone.
Some pickups could compensate by just changing the pole piece height, restoring the "original" tone, but this would not be the case with all pickups.

What do you think, nonsense or no?

Thanks
GreatOz

[ICTGoober]

Re: Does Neck Radius Affect Tone (indirectly)?

It's not nonsense, but it is so negligible as to be unproveable.

[GreatOz]

Re: Does Neck Radius Affect Tone (indirectly)?

That's about what I figured to be honest.

[Chistopher]

Re: Does Neck Radius Affect Tone (indirectly)?

I'd reckon you'd hit the strings differently on a flat versus, say 7.25" radius guitar, but between the two extremes, I cannot say how big or negligible of a difference it would be.

[ItsaBass]

Re: Does Neck Radius Affect Tone (indirectly)?

Neck radius affects string radius, which affects how your strings sit in relation to the pickup and its pole pieces. I would say it affects string to string volume more than tone, but volume does have an effect on tone...

Take SSL-1s, for example. They are copied from pickups that were made for 7 1/4" radius with a wound G. They have a noticeably different volume balance on my Legacy with a 12" radius, than did the stock pickups, which were flat poled. That affects how each string hits the amp. Major difference on the G string, but even the other middle strings hit the amp harder and break up with less effort.

[GreatOz]

Re: Does Neck Radius Affect Tone (indirectly)?

I play a custom Strat-style guitar with a 12" radius. I wondered if the difference between 12" and 7.25" would actually be significant on singles. Probably not as noticeable for humbuckers since their output is summed (series), not separate (parallel) like it is for singles.

[ItsaBass]

Re: Does Neck Radius Affect Tone (indirectly)?

I play a custom Strat-style guitar with a 12" radius. I wondered if the difference between 12" and 7.25" would actually be significant on singles. Probably not as noticeable for humbuckers since their output is summed (series), not separate (parallel) like it is for singles.

You can adjust humbuckers for volume imbalances; that is the main difference. With old style singles, you are stuck with the stagger the factory gave you.

With a 12 inch radius, you'd probably like DiMarzio's vintage-modern stagger, found on most (if not all) of their pickups that use old-style Strat construction. It's enough stagger to work on most fretboard radii from 7 1/4" to 12". Yet it doesn't have that high G string magnet like the pickup models that use the old stagger, even though almost nobody uses a wound G on a Strat any more (e.g. the SSL-1).

IME, flat poled pickups are no good for me, even on my guitars with 12" radius necks. Still not a volume balance I like, even with the flatter 12" board.

Flat poles would probably work well enough for me on 14–20 inch radius. But on 12", they are still too quiet on the middle strings IMO.

[Mincer]

Re: Does Neck Radius Affect Tone (indirectly)?

It isn't something I would notice or consider. I *do* notice a volume balance on certain staggered pickups, but not tone. I usually opt for flat poles if I can.

[Phantasmagoria]

Re: Does Neck Radius Affect Tone (indirectly)?

I don't see it being anything a tiny nudge of your amp's EQ would'nt fix..

[kramersteen]

Re: Does Neck Radius Affect Tone (indirectly)?

Bee's dick i'm thinking haha.

I have flat radiused electrics i have made and ibanez/charvel 12'' or whatever they are and its so similar i can't tell.

I guess we have a lot of variables here so it's going to be hard to make a solid call one way or the other.

[GuitarStv]

Re: Does Neck Radius Affect Tone (indirectly)?

With humbuckers I always adjust the pole pieces to even out string volume issues (from the radius or from string gauges). You can't do that with a strat . . . so with a flatter radius it's better to get non-staggered pole pieces if you want a more even volume from string to string.