Anyone honestly enjoy most neck profiles?

[DarkMatter]

Re: Anyone honestly enjoy most neck profiles?

I have a slight preference for fat necks but thin ones don't really bother me much.

 

[KeeperOS]

Re: Anyone honestly enjoy most neck profiles?

I have noticed that in the course of a little more than a decade now I have grown to be more versatile.

However to this day I cannot play the typical Fender C without getting cramps in my hand, and that's the neck of my very first guitar, a 2000 MiM Strat.

Also, I've noticed that no matter how used I get to a neck that I feel perfectly comfortable with, the moment I take the guitar with my favorite neck I still feel like I've really returned at home.

 

[Vasshu the humanoid typhoon]

Re: Anyone honestly enjoy most neck profiles?

None of my guitars have the same profile, they go from slim to huge, and about all inbetween...
Never obsessed much over that anyways!

 

[Kam]

Re: Anyone honestly enjoy most neck profiles?

I like to think I'm pretty versatile. My favourite neck in my collection is the one on my 2004 Mexican Tele. I even prefer it to the one on my 2002 Mexican Tele, though I couldn't put what the difference is into words. Apart from that, the neck on my Supersonic is tiny and the neck on an old Les Paul copy is pretty huge. I generally prefer C shapes, but my Westone has a fairly fat D shape and I really like it, too.

Shape is more important than size, in my opinion (just like boobs, really).

For instance, I've never really bonded with the neck on my Aria because it's thin but has quite a wide fretboard. I tend to play with my thumb over the top of the neck, so the edges dig into my hand without really filling it. If it had a more narrow fretboard, I wouldn't care that it's thin.

I've never played a wizard neck, but I don't think I'd like them very much.

I also prefer the radius to be quite round, and I've REALLY lost my taste for big frets lately.

I've never played a neck with a V profile, but I'd like to. I've thought about it before while watching my hand as I play, and I think that I'd find it pretty comfortable. It's too much of a risk to buy one without playing it first, though.

I don't like heavy finishes on necks.

I don't have a preference on scale length. My two main guitars are 25.5" and 24".

I put more thought into this topic while writing this post than I have ever done before.

 

[sosomething]

Re: Anyone honestly enjoy most neck profiles?

I put more thought into this topic while writing this post than I have ever done before.

Bwahahaha

It's funny re: scale length.

Half my guitars are 25.5" and the other half are 24.75" and I like them both fine.

But I don't care for 25". Feels weird to me.

 

[dystrust]

Re: Anyone honestly enjoy most neck profiles?

I have rather large hands with long fingers, so I prefer a bigger neck in most cases. My current #1 is a Fatneck 335 which has a HUGE C profile. I also have a '01 LP Standard, SG Standard, & Explorer so most of my necks are larger Cs. OTOH I have a '86 Charvel Model 4 with a rather skinny neck on it, but it's set up to play pretty slinky so it doesn't bother me too much. My recently acquired partscaster Tele has a modern-C with a 1 5/8" nut and it drives me crazy. As soon as funds allow I'll be replacing it with a USACG neck sporting a 1 11/16" nut and .900" soft-V to C backshape.

Overall the only things I can't really bond with are 6230 or 6000 fretwire, a 1 5/8" nut, 7 1/4" radius, or a really skinny backshape.

 

[Flint Stone]

Re: Anyone honestly enjoy most neck profiles?

Haven't found a neck profile that is a deal breaker, but I find some necks are better suited for certain styles of play better than others. When reading comments below, bear in mind shredding is not in my repertoire.

Les Paul Studio - It's a baseball bat, and I completely love it. No style of music I can't play on it.

Carvin TL60 - Wide, fast and easy to play, even with relatively small hands. Plays all styles of music well.

PRS C24 - This is supposedly a "wide/fat" profile, but I do detect a slight V in the shape. Probably the profile I like the best of what I own. Good for all styles I play.

Peavey Firenza P90 - This neck has more shoulder on it, and would be described as D shaped. I have to take off the wedding ring to play it, if not, I'll tear up the bottom of the fretboard. Once the ring is off, I don't really notice it.

Squire Jagmaster - The 24" scale, classic Fender C shape, and 9.25" radius makes this a great guitar for chord work to the 12th fret. Above the 12th fret it takes a little getting used to. Not a lot of room for complex fingerings due to the scale length, and bends die out too early if not careful due to the fretboard radius. I've only had it for a few months, so I'm still adjusting to it.

my .02 cents worth.......

 

[MetalManiac]

Re: Anyone honestly enjoy most neck profiles?

Negative Sir. Cannot tolerate Wizard profiles. Thin U necks are the worst- just unplayable for me. Not really hep on modern C Fender or thin Warmoth Standard necks. My style requires some substantial meat behind the neck and a D or fat C profile preferably. Boatneck Strat necks are cool, SRV profiles and Gibson 50's necks ideally.

 

[MetalManiac]

Re: Anyone honestly enjoy most neck profiles?

Les Paul Studio - It's a baseball bat, and I completely love it. No style of music I can't play on it.

my .02 cents worth.......

Do they make that neck profile in P-90 configuration?

 

[Jessie's ghost]

Re: Anyone honestly enjoy most neck profiles?

I have thick hands and short fingers, so I'm picky about how much overall circumference a neck has. If it's deep, it can't be too wide. If it's wide, it can't be too deep.

But I'm sensitive to my fret hand cramping up, so I need something that will keep my thumb and fingers apart when I'm not hooking the thumb over the back of the neck. So an Ibanez Wizard is rough on the hand, while a Wizard II is fine, and their 7-string necks are just about perfect.

I don't like hard V-shaped necks, or ones with a flat, simple radius and a thick C-shaped back. A compound radius with a D-shaped back and a fairly narrow nut width usually works really well for me.

 

[Bludave]

Re: Anyone honestly enjoy most neck profiles?

I prefer a "V" neck. I have a Santa Cruz OM that particularly fits well in my hand. I also have two EC Strats that I like a lot. One a lot more then the other due to its tone, not its neck. That typed I have a lot of other guitars & I can play all of them with little effort. If the neck is flat out uncomfortable I would pass on the guitar. That's why I can't buy a guitar online. Lots of guys do, but me... well I just can't. I have bought one guitar online & I was fortunate that it worked out but it as a risk I had to take. I simply could not find the guitar in any stores...

 

[kirbyg]

Re: Anyone honestly enjoy most neck profiles?

I tend to prefer more of a thicker 50's style Gibson neck but I can pretty much get along with most other neck profiles to as long as it's wide enough so my fingers don't get too crowded on the fretboard.

 

[SrDeMaFp]

Re: Anyone honestly enjoy most neck profiles?

I love having lots of different neck profiles. It's kinda the first impression you get when you grab a guitar. A neck profile has never kept me from being me but they can dictate what kind of styles I'll play more or less on that particular guitar. All of my guitars have very different neck profiles.

Yep, same here!

 

[Zhaggy]

Re: Anyone honestly enjoy most neck profiles?

As long as it doesn't have that thick layer of sticky lacquer I'm usually fine with it. However some deep V shape, über super wizard necks and to some extent the Charvel neck shapes I do have some problems adjusting to but it only takes a few minutes then I'm good.

Of course it depends on what style I'm playing and with what guitar. When I play LP's I tend to play certain way and for that I usually prefer a little beefier neck. When on Strats I like a bit smaller things. (I'm more from the Yngwie-style camp)

If I had to pick one profile for a custom guitar, I wouldn't know. It would probably end up near 60's LP shape. If I were offered a signature guitar line thing, I would absolutely have to have (at least) two types of guitars. One LP style with meatier LP style neck and one Strat Style with Strat style neck. Maybe one super shredder style neck as well.

 

[orpheo]

Re: Anyone honestly enjoy most neck profiles?

I used to love it all and i have many guitars with different profiles but my fret hand simply said NO. I cant play anything thats thinner than. 97''. My favorites are a healthy 1.2'' thick and VERY asymmetrical to the point of them looking undone. As if the luthier was lazy. In fact, he did exaclty what i wanted. Warmoth'｠s boat profile feels nowadays skinny.

 

[Kam]

Re: Anyone honestly enjoy most neck profiles?

Bwahahaha

It's funny re: scale length.

Half my guitars are 25.5" and the other half are 24.75" and I like them both fine.

But I don't care for 25". Feels weird to me.

I honestly don't think I could tell the difference in a blind test. Maybe between 25.5" and 24.75" (if the same guage and brand of strings are used), but I don't think I could differentiate between one of those and a 25".