Improving fret access - strat lower horn
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kramersteen
PowerMetalRaph
Re: Improving fret access - strat lower horn
Depends on what sort i guess but i usually use a trusty wood rasp file and a spoke shave if i can get in there.
Depends on what sort i guess but i usually use a trusty wood rasp file and a spoke shave if i can get in there.
Myaccount876
Amira-Maker
Re: Improving fret access - strat lower horn
I'd use a rasp and get rid of the edges of the neck pocket/backside of the lower horn to give extra room for the hand.
I'd use a rasp and get rid of the edges of the neck pocket/backside of the lower horn to give extra room for the hand.
kramersteen
PowerMetalRaph
Re: Improving fret access - strat lower horn
IMo the front isn't the problem its often the heel. So if you want something that's a bit different and adds ease of playing i would go for...
La charvel jackson fusion style. Easy to do with a home made mdf template and a router with a template bit.
I did this one on the blind guardian custom with a rasp, it Might be a bit extreme but i had my reasons.
IMo the front isn't the problem its often the heel. So if you want something that's a bit different and adds ease of playing i would go for...
La charvel jackson fusion style. Easy to do with a home made mdf template and a router with a template bit.
I did this one on the blind guardian custom with a rasp, it Might be a bit extreme but i had my reasons.
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ItsaBass
New member
Re: Improving fret access - strat lower horn
Take the body apart, take it to your local hardwood store, and have them plane about 1/4" off the back.
Of course, due to the vibrato system, it's not that simple. But there is lots of validity in the basic idea IMO. The original Fender prototypes, and very early production Esquires were 1-1/2" thick. That was Fender's original design. But early on after some trials by working musicians, and appearances at trade shows, it was decided to make the guitar a little bit higher class, so it didn't seem quite so cheesy as the thin-bodied, black, cheap pine guitar that it was. This was done by giving it an ash body with a translucent finish, and by making the body more substantial by adding 1/4" to the thickness. In other words, Fenders were designed to be skinnier, and were made as fat as they are for strictly cosmetic reasons. The thin body made a return later on "student" models like the Duo-Sonic and Musicmaster (and later the Mustang, Mustang Bass, and Musicmaster bass). Because of this, these models offer significantly better upper fret access than the standard thick-bodied Fenders (though the short scales really cram the frets together up there).
Also, most don't notice this, but G&Ls, the instruments Leo Fender stated were the best he had ever built, use the thinner body. As a result, they are easier on the back (shaves 1/6 off the weight of the body - over 5/8 lb. from an average 4 lb. 1-3/4" body), and they allow more comfortable upper fret access. So, later in life, when he had a more established reputation and the freedom to have more creative control (no need to worry about his instruments seeming cheap - bolt-neck guitars had already caught on big time), he went back to his original idea of the thin body.
Take the body apart, take it to your local hardwood store, and have them plane about 1/4" off the back.
Of course, due to the vibrato system, it's not that simple. But there is lots of validity in the basic idea IMO. The original Fender prototypes, and very early production Esquires were 1-1/2" thick. That was Fender's original design. But early on after some trials by working musicians, and appearances at trade shows, it was decided to make the guitar a little bit higher class, so it didn't seem quite so cheesy as the thin-bodied, black, cheap pine guitar that it was. This was done by giving it an ash body with a translucent finish, and by making the body more substantial by adding 1/4" to the thickness. In other words, Fenders were designed to be skinnier, and were made as fat as they are for strictly cosmetic reasons. The thin body made a return later on "student" models like the Duo-Sonic and Musicmaster (and later the Mustang, Mustang Bass, and Musicmaster bass). Because of this, these models offer significantly better upper fret access than the standard thick-bodied Fenders (though the short scales really cram the frets together up there).
Also, most don't notice this, but G&Ls, the instruments Leo Fender stated were the best he had ever built, use the thinner body. As a result, they are easier on the back (shaves 1/6 off the weight of the body - over 5/8 lb. from an average 4 lb. 1-3/4" body), and they allow more comfortable upper fret access. So, later in life, when he had a more established reputation and the freedom to have more creative control (no need to worry about his instruments seeming cheap - bolt-neck guitars had already caught on big time), he went back to his original idea of the thin body.
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kramersteen
PowerMetalRaph
Re: Improving fret access - strat lower horn
Wow what a primo styler. Bro why do all your guitars look so rad yet your pictures suck balls? Did you have a smoke machine running in the room or something::biglaugh::? It looks all misty.
Man these guitar are begging for some good quality shots. Please!
Wow what a primo styler. Bro why do all your guitars look so rad yet your pictures suck balls? Did you have a smoke machine running in the room or something::biglaugh::? It looks all misty.
Man these guitar are begging for some good quality shots. Please!
Re: Improving fret access - strat lower horn
The heel is the biggest problem to access. I grind the bottom corner of the neckplate off at an angle (removing the one hole completely) and use a wood rasp to bevel the heel dramatically. I drill a new hole in the neckplate for the fourth screw. It's amazing how much more access this little mod gives you.
You can also rasp out more of the cutaway of the lower bout (don't think I'd go quite as far as ChAoZ did, however!! Seems like that might weaken the neck too much.).
The heel is the biggest problem to access. I grind the bottom corner of the neckplate off at an angle (removing the one hole completely) and use a wood rasp to bevel the heel dramatically. I drill a new hole in the neckplate for the fourth screw. It's amazing how much more access this little mod gives you.
You can also rasp out more of the cutaway of the lower bout (don't think I'd go quite as far as ChAoZ did, however!! Seems like that might weaken the neck too much.).
Rand-O-Monium
New member
Re: Improving fret access - strat lower horn
'Zat a Reverend?
Didn't they do something similar?
The lower horn is decorative, not functional. I say take it off completely:
'Zat a Reverend?
Didn't they do something similar?
bababa3216
Senior Member
Re: Improving fret access - strat lower horn
ginal Fender prototypes, and very early production Esquires were 1-1/2" thick.
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ginal Fender prototypes, and very early production Esquires were 1-1/2" thick.
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DrNewcenstein
He Did the Monster Mash
Re: Improving fret access - strat lower horn
See Steve Vai's Green Meanie, and then his original JEMs, and then the Ibanez RGs that were based on his mods.
Get you a large-diameter sanding barrel on a router or powerful 2-handed drill, a work table, and some clamps, and knock out about half the inside of the horn.
And don't worry about the heel. Randy Rhoads had no trouble hitting the 22nd fret of a Les Paul Custom, and Yngwie has no trouble with the stock Fender heel, nor did Blackmore, Tipton/Downing, Murray/Smith, Gilmour, Jeff Beck, and a banana-boat full of others.
See Steve Vai's Green Meanie, and then his original JEMs, and then the Ibanez RGs that were based on his mods.
Get you a large-diameter sanding barrel on a router or powerful 2-handed drill, a work table, and some clamps, and knock out about half the inside of the horn.
And don't worry about the heel. Randy Rhoads had no trouble hitting the 22nd fret of a Les Paul Custom, and Yngwie has no trouble with the stock Fender heel, nor did Blackmore, Tipton/Downing, Murray/Smith, Gilmour, Jeff Beck, and a banana-boat full of others.
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L
Little Pigbacon
Guest
Re: Improving fret access - strat lower horn
That's good news! Which of those guys is going to be playing the OP's guitar?
That's good news! Which of those guys is going to be playing the OP's guitar?
kramersteen
PowerMetalRaph
Re: Improving fret access - strat lower horn
Hello me ... Meet the real me And my misfits way of life
Hello me ... Meet the real me And my misfits way of life
Rand-O-Monium
New member
Re: Improving fret access - strat lower horn
Got a pic of the Green Meanie cutaway job?
I remember reading about it forever ago,just never saw any pics...
edit:
The Alvarez electric immediately came to mind,think they called it the "Scoop"?
& then there's the Chaoz soloution...
Got a pic of the Green Meanie cutaway job?
I remember reading about it forever ago,just never saw any pics...
edit:
The Alvarez electric immediately came to mind,think they called it the "Scoop"?
& then there's the Chaoz soloution...
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