anyone else here hate super flat radius FB's?

[Ed Hunter]

I prefer the old 12" gibson or even the fender 9 1/2". my kramer baretta has a 12" that i love and my charvels have compound radi fb's that go 12"-16"
I played a Ibanez prestige RG yesterday and it had a 17" radi fb the whole length of the neck and absolutely hated it! playing lower on the neck felt very alien to me and it had a back profile that was a super thin D shape. then i tried a music man axis and that neck was a dream to play.it had a 10" radi anyone else not into the paint stick feeling of the super flat radius fingerboards?

 

[IanBallard]

Re: anyone else here hate super flat radius FB's?

I can adapt to whatever. My acoustic has a 20" board and I love it. But I also like 7.25" Teles if I'm not gettng too wild with bends and things. But I generally like the middle-ground. I like my Mighty Mite 9.5"-12" compound. It's Fender to Gibson and that's really as flat as I need on an electric and I still like the action medium-high.

 

[TheProphet]

Re: anyone else here hate super flat radius FB's?

Nope ... I prefer a flat 16'er. I can get along with 12's, but anything rounder and I hate it.

 

[Diego]

Re: anyone else here hate super flat radius FB's?

Same here Prophet. My Ibanez has a 12" and that's as flat as I like to go.
My sweetspot is anything between 9.5" and 12".

I used to have a Prestige RG and it took me some time to realize the neck radius wasn't doing it for me.

So flat, it felt like it wasn't made with human hands in mind!

 

[Uk Ant]

Re: anyone else here hate super flat radius FB's?

As someone who plays blues and hard rock and I much prefer the flatter radius of of my RG or my Charvel... that said for really slow stuff my Tokai LP wins hands down... but that is mainly the tone rather than playability.

 

[Grandturk]

Re: anyone else here hate super flat radius FB's?

Hate is a strong word. I have and play 7.25, 9.5, 12, 12-16 and have relatively little difficulty moving between them.

 

[CTN]

Re: anyone else here hate super flat radius FB's?

I like 12's.

14's I can deal with

16s just feel too flat

 

[KeeperOS]

Re: anyone else here hate super flat radius FB's?

Generally, 12" is where I'm at, but I do love the 10-16 compound radius my SS6 has

 

[Invader09]

Re: anyone else here hate super flat radius FB's?

I don't like flat radiuses either. But I also don't like 7.25.

I had the neck on my 75 Strat re-radiused. it goes from a 10"-12" compound. Perfect. I like 10" and 12" (my les paul has a 12" all the way, and it's great)

Another big thing for me is, must have big frets. Dunlop 6000 is great, bigger than that works great too.

And while i'm on the subject, the neck profile makes a big difference too. I hate those flat shapes.

 

[JOLLY]

Re: anyone else here hate super flat radius FB's?

I'm pretty much a 12" radius kind of guy.

 

[WhoFan]

Re: anyone else here hate super flat radius FB's?

i prefer a 10-12 radius... but i'm much more effected by the thickness of the neck then the radius... when i was having some what serious trouble with my wrists and muscles trying to be able to play at Vai speed on fat necks all i could play was a thin necked axe while i recovered... i was kind of stupid in those days and never warmed up and never stopped at the firts sign of pain... until snap..... 2 Jacksons with paper thin necks and a 16 inch radius was all i was able to play on for a few years... luckily i avoid surgery!

but if you are not comfortable on any aspect of a neck take it from me that it's important to work on a guitar your body can gel with...

 

[sosomething]

Re: anyone else here hate super flat radius FB's?

I really don't like anything flatter than 12" unless it's a compound radius that flattens out up the neck.

 

[Ed Hunter]

Re: anyone else here hate super flat radius FB's?

I really don't like anything flatter than 12" unless it's a compound radius that flattens out up the neck.

amen to dat!

 

[Diego]

Re: anyone else here hate super flat radius FB's?

I've never tried a compound radius neck. The concept sounds great at least.
Do luthiers charge more for working on the frets on those or something?

 

[LtKojak]

Re: anyone else here hate super flat radius FB's?

I don't HATE flat radius fingerboards, but I must admit that I find myself at home with a 12" radius... my first pro guitar, a '68 Gibson Les Paul that I got after my first tour as a pro (I was fifteen) set the basis for all other guitars to be measured with.

I guess you like what you know when you know what you like.

 

[voggin]

Re: anyone else here hate super flat radius FB's?

I really don't like anything flatter than 12" unless it's a compound radius that flattens out up the neck.

I used to dislike flat necks until I tried the new Charvel pro mods with the compound neck. That's a really nice blend. So now I do see the advantages, or at least the reason behind, flatter on the upper frets. But chording, etc. below the 10th or 12th, I prefer rounder.

I just realized this is about my fourth post praising pro mods. I think I want one more than I'm willing to admit to myself.

 

[Nagash]

Re: anyone else here hate super flat radius FB's?

The 12-16 compound radius and the Ibanez flat radius are probably a shredders thing. I'm very comfortable with those...