Neck Width/Thickness/Wood

[Laughing Kookaburra]

Re: Neck Width/Thickness/Wood

My toothpick necked Gibson SG Special is one of the best sounding guitars I've ever played/heard. Then again, what a professional defines as "awful" is probably what I define as "pretty darn great". With PRS, only the toppiest top of the line is good enough.

Yeah, my thin necked Hamer Specials sound pretty good too.

Still, I'm now thinking about those square Dobro necks...

 

[uOpt]

Re: Neck Width/Thickness/Wood

My current master theory on neck thickness and impact on sound comes in two parts:

1) Thick necks have a higher chance to come out good sounding than thin necks. There are thin necks that sound good but less than thick necks. My theory is that you need to have enough fibers that go through the whole neck and if you have a thin neck you have more fibers going into nothing. Not enough left going through - dud.

2) Necks can't be too stiff. Strats in particular need to be somewhat floppy. I think that is anther reason why heavy-duty truss rods ruin sound (in addition to weight and too much wood removed). Anyway, the thing is that you have a thick neck it might come out too stiff. So you can't just pack on wood like crazy and expect a good outcome.

 

[B2D]

Re: Neck Width/Thickness/Wood

My philosophy on neck sizes is roughly the same as it is on strings; get them as big as you can comfortably handle them without hindering your performance.

I like narrow nut widths due to having somewhat small hands but I do love the sound of a thick-necked Tele, for example. I can feel the extra mass helping the resonance and there's rewards in there for stability and strength as well. Of course it comes down to the actual cit of wood as well. My Music Man's neck is about as small as I'd like to go but the thing resonates like crazy so it's all good.

 

[orpheo]

Re: Neck Width/Thickness/Wood

I have several necks of the same material in different sizes (padouk, wenge, rosewood) in the same scales,and I swapped some necks and the differences in tone were all attributable to the size. the thinner ones all had more bite and treble, the thick ones all sustained more and had a fatter tone. and I have more than one neck in each size, all the sake fretboard, too.

 

[Jeremiah]

Re: Neck Width/Thickness/Wood

AFAIK, some graphite necks were actually made without a truss rod. No idea about the effect on tone, but it would mean you there was very little you could do in the way of adjustment.

 

[Edgecrusher]

Re: Neck Width/Thickness/Wood

AFAIK, some graphite necks were actually made without a truss rod. No idea about the effect on tone, but it would mean you there was very little you could do in the way of adjustment.

Some wood necks have been made without truss rods. I have a old danelectro that doesnt have a truss rod. Luckily the set up is in a playable condition.

 

[crguti]

Re: Neck Width/Thickness/Wood

Neck Width/Thickness/Wood means nothing... What's more important is the material of the strap.
Read the following thread: https://forum.seymourduncan.com/showthread.php?256321-how-different-straps-change-my-tone

 

[Zerberus]

Re: Neck Width/Thickness/Wood

I tend to agree with uOpt`S first statement. The second has some merit, too, but I feel the exact opposite, that`s why I personally prefer hard, unfigured woods for necks over their softer, figured counterparts like flame maple. Part of that is personal preference.

In general a thicker "meatier" neck will have a thicker more powerful tone IME. But it`s wood, so you never really know 100% what you`re gonna get.

Neck Width/Thickness/Wood means nothing... What's more important is the material of the strap.
Read the following thread: https://forum.seymourduncan.com/showthread.php?256321-how-different-straps-change-my-tone

That thread is full of misinformation, it`s not material or length, but the size of the holes for the button that make a difference. If they fit snugly it gets brighter and tighter, and if it`s a huge hole it sounds flubby and loose. Especially if you have small buttons.

 

[crguti]

Re: Neck Width/Thickness/Wood

^ good info. I'll experiment more with my straps

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: Neck Width/Thickness/Wood

That thread is full of misinformation

So is this one - and deservedly so!

 

[0v3nm4n]

Re: Neck Width/Thickness/Wood

Play a Lap steel guitar, then a regular electric guitar. here a difference? Probably not. Try strumming a guitar while the edge of its body is resting on a wood table. You will notice the wood from the table picks up the vibrations and becomes louder. I don't think adding more wood will change the tone. Wood is wood. All you are doing is adding more places for the vibrations to move in. If anything, it will make the guitar louder. If you prefer a thin neck, but do not want to compensate vibrations moving through materials, then you might consider using a guitar with a neck made out of denser wood.

 

[B2D]

Re: Neck Width/Thickness/Wood

Play a Lap steel guitar, then a regular electric guitar. here a difference? Probably not.

I noticed that I can set my drinks down on the lap steel when I play for easy reach. I need an amp for that with my other guitars.