Fender Fingerboard Radius (7.25 vs 9.5 and others)

[Diminished Triad]

Re: Fender Fingerboard Radius (7.25 vs 9.5 and others)

Well, the reason barre chords would be 'easier' on a vintage radius is because your index finger remains curved. This is irrelevant if you learned to play them (or are used to playing them) on flatter boards, though.
I will say that a scalloped neck takes away all of my concerns about a vintage radius, though.

How does a scalloped fretboard compensate for a lack of curvature in the fretboard...all things being the same would a 9.5 scalloped be close to a 7.25 non-scalloped in terms of ease of playing barre chords?

 

[Mincer]

Re: Fender Fingerboard Radius (7.25 vs 9.5 and others)

I just think that you tend to use less pressure playing barre chords with a scalloped board...you only use enough to get the chord to sound, and any more, it goes out of tune. So it is less hand strength, no matter what the radius. It also makes it easier to bend strings on a tiny radius.

 

[Silence Kid]

Re: Fender Fingerboard Radius (7.25 vs 9.5 and others)

Overall the action on a scalloped 7.25" fretboard will still need to be higher. One advantage of big frets is that your hand gets "trained" so that you'll use less pressure on barre chords on any radius thereafter; but it can be a challenge to acclimate to the correct pressure required to not pitch the chord up. I assume that's moreso with a scalloped board.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Fender Fingerboard Radius (7.25 vs 9.5 and others)

Yeah, scalloping really doesn't feel like big frets to me...it has its own thing going on. Some really hate it, but I dig it. But mine is on a 9.5 radius. My Strat with 7.25" isn't scalloped. Setups on a vintage radius are a little more difficult, I think.

 

[Diminished Triad]

Re: Fender Fingerboard Radius (7.25 vs 9.5 and others)

Yeah, scalloping really doesn't feel like big frets to me...it has its own thing going on. Some really hate it, but I dig it. But mine is on a 9.5 radius. My Strat with 7.25" isn't scalloped. Setups on a vintage radius are a little more difficult, I think.

How do the two necks/fretboards compare for playing chords across the fretboard from open chords up to chords around/above the 8th+ frets?

 

[AlexR]

Re: Fender Fingerboard Radius (7.25 vs 9.5 and others)

It depends on the player.

Personally I prefer 7.25" for any fender. I don't like flat fretboards or thin necks etc. But there is a high proportion of speed oriented players here where those aspects I prefer would be detrimental to playing. But for me I find the curved fretboard the most comfy for my style......and I do play using barre chords.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Fender Fingerboard Radius (7.25 vs 9.5 and others)

How do the two necks/fretboards compare for playing chords across the fretboard from open chords up to chords around/above the 8th+ frets?

Now, I am really used to both, since I play both a lot. I don't notice chords being difficult on either. But if you were used to one, and switched, it would be weird.

 

[Diminished Triad]

Re: Fender Fingerboard Radius (7.25 vs 9.5 and others)

^^^ Finally doing a scalloped build for myself ( Finished that Blue xmas build ) Been thinking of the Scalloped for 25 yrs for myself

What radius measurement for your neck build will you use/make?

 

[astrozombie]

Re: Fender Fingerboard Radius (7.25 vs 9.5 and others)

I really hated playing with those radii. I can't believe I played on fingerboards that curved for so long!

I feel at home with the flatter Gibson radius.

 

[ehdwuld]

Re: Fender Fingerboard Radius (7.25 vs 9.5 and others)

I really hated playing with those radii. I can't believe I played on fingerboards that curved for so long!

I feel at home with the flatter Gibson radius.

This

While I have a Mexican Strat with a 9.5
I am so used to the Squire with the 12s
The Ibanez with the 16s
And that darned Epiphone with the 12 and super low frets

The MIM seems odd

 

[RorySquier]

Re: Fender Fingerboard Radius (7.25 vs 9.5 and others)

I have quite a few guitars and I have one with a 7.25" radius...my 1952 AVRI Telecaster. I like the radius and the guitar plays great. I usually like a flatter radius like Gibsons which I believe are 14" radius. I have a Hagstrom Viking Deluxe guitar with a 15" radius FB and I can get lower action and bend the strings without fretting out.



;>)/

 

[KNUCKLHEAD]

Re: Fender Fingerboard Radius (7.25 vs 9.5 and others)

What radius measurement for your neck build will you use/make?

It Looks about Identical to my 7 string ( the Radius only + the fact that I only build Maple/Maple on my Personal Necks) , approx. 12" thereabouts, or less <-- but it is a 6 String --> I'll most likely play it in Standard E ( but that gives me Ideas : )

 

[KNUCKLHEAD]

Re: Fender Fingerboard Radius (7.25 vs 9.5 and others)

I think 7.25" fretboards are almost useless unless one is a total Slowhand . I would change out that Radius gegardless of value of an Ax or trade it for 1 i liked ( Flatter


mincer articulates things better than I do

 

[Little Pigbacon]

Re: Fender Fingerboard Radius (7.25 vs 9.5 and others)

I really cut my teeth as a player on flatter boards, so for me the 9.5 is a good compromise between those and a vintage radius. The current version of the Deluxe Roadhouse Stratocaster has a 12" radius, just one of several reasons why I'm glad mine is a 2015.

 

[KNUCKLHEAD]

Re: Fender Fingerboard Radius (7.25 vs 9.5 and others)

^^^ Indeed 12" is just about right

 

[esandes]

Re: Fender Fingerboard Radius (7.25 vs 9.5 and others)

Never put a 7.25" radius neck on a guitar that has a fixed bridge, saddle heights must be adjustable. ( LP for example with the fixed tune-o matic bridge on a 10 0r 12 " radius can get away with non adjustable saddles using just the 2 bridge height screws)
You can slightly raise the outer strings to somewhat remedy fret out ( as long as your frets are tall) if your saddles are adjustable.
Some high end usa customs have compound radius 7.25-9.5 instead of 10-16 compound like warmoths,so if you prefer the vintage feel for easier rhythm / bar chords etc but have issue with fretting out
when bending in the upper frets go with the usa customs or similar compound radius.

Mustang bridges are fixed at 7.25 , but due to physics 7.25" is not the ideal bridge radius for action, even when it corresponds to the neck. I always prefer adjustable saddle action. That said, it doesn't matter terribly, but say a tune-o-matic bridge or Floyd on a 7.25" radius does matter and will play sort of terrible.

A lot of cheap Jacksons use compound radius, as well as more expensive guitars; even then, these don't tend to have Floyds or Tune-O-Matics tuned to the radius.

This is the reason why the mastery bridge, for example, is great for the 7.25" radius.

 

[Silence Kid]

Re: Fender Fingerboard Radius (7.25 vs 9.5 and others)

The Mastery offers more control over action than a Mustang bridge but I always looked a bit askew at them to be honest; don't really understand *why* they engineered the bridge to have even less control over intonation or action than a Telecaster, which at least has three saddles. Then again, I'm "that guy" who never had a problem with stock Jaguar/Jazzmaster bridges. And I think the bridge still needs to rock; if only Staytrem had adjustable saddles.

Still I'm not a huge fan of the fixed-radius Mustang bridge (or any fixed radius bridge; ) in a lot of cases, it's easier to set up a Mustang with a Jaguar/Jazzmaster bridge, as difficult as that is to fathom, considering most people do the opposite. To walk back my comments once more, I DO still have a stock bridge on my Mustang; I'm anal enough to obsess over its imperfections AND still be obsessed with 'vintage tone.'

...To get back to the topic at hand, I find I obsessed more about neck radius when I wanted something to blame when I couldn't learn a lick Practice makes perfect; nowadays I only notice for the first minute or two. But I'll always choose compound if I have a choice.

 

[philthis]

Re: Fender Fingerboard Radius (7.25 vs 9.5 and others)

The rounder the radius, the easier the sweeps, but yes, non-barre chords are a pain to play on vintage radii necks.

I'll take 9.5" and 12" over 7.25 for my main axe any day of the week.

I'm with Archer on this too. I got an Eric johnson strat and its a 12 radius and I like it better then even my 9.5 radius neck strats. I now prefer to play it almost exclusively all the time.

 

[esandes]

Re: Fender Fingerboard Radius (7.25 vs 9.5 and others)

If you haven't tried a mastery or equivalent or understand their functions you can be misinformed.

They are ugly but they add sustain, they don't allow the strings to jump out of that stock "ridge", they don't bind wound strings when using the whammy causing tuning issues, they allow for low action and they don't have the dreadful buzz typical of stock.

 

[Silence Kid]

Re: Fender Fingerboard Radius (7.25 vs 9.5 and others)

I get that Masteries work for some people, and that apparently I'm weird... But I never had buzzing problems with the stock Jazzmaster/Jaguar (or Mustang) bridge. I own three at the moment. I also use 9s, which are much better trapped in the saddle grooves, so I don't have a jumping issue either. So I never needed an upgrade the bridge, although I do not have firsthand experience with the Mastery.