Necks: Who is Bothered by This?

[Silence Kid]

I need to just shut up and play, but:

Mexico ('94) getting it right:


Japan ('96) also gets it close to right:


USA (Corona)


Does it about the same as Indonesia (Squier...)


Which are both still bettered by Mighty Mite (!)


...Continued...

 

[Silence Kid]

Re: Necks: Who is Bothered by This?

...I have had many cheap, import guitars where they were careful to shave as much of that stupid little ledge down as they could; is there any good reason to keep it? It's easier to play high up on the MiM Telecaster thanks to its absence... Its coexistence on the US Strat with the Deluxe shaved joint negates the others existence.

Here's CBS Fender killing it; useless to even put a ruler there.

 

[BriGuy1968]

Re: Necks: Who is Bothered by This?

Just a guess on my part, but I'd be willing to bet that all those necks with the ledge are being mass-produced for use in multiple bodies... presumably with different pocket lengths. Their thought process would likely be that nobody will mind too much if this little shelf sticks out some, but they'll DEFINITELY whine if there's a "shelf" on the body because the heel goes too far in to cover it completely. Therefore, make 'em a little long and everyone's happy! :dunno:

Or, I could be completely wrong and I should shut up and go home!

 

[treyhaislip]

Re: Necks: Who is Bothered by This?

That's not a measurement I've ever made/nothing I've ever taken notice of...lol I worry about frets and string distance to the edge of the fretboard

 

[Obsessive Compulsive]

Re: Necks: Who is Bothered by This?

That's a problem for little people with baby palm.

 

[Silence Kid]

Re: Necks: Who is Bothered by This?

It's not that my hand can't get around it; it's more like having a speed bump in the neck that my thumb runs into.

Not that the whole heel itself isn't a speed bump but... On the more shaved-down guitars, I have no trouble accessing fret twenty-two; it can be annoying to have that bit of "lag" or not be prepared to deal with it.

 

[Little Pigbacon]

Re: Necks: Who is Bothered by This?

Not even I have gotten around to complaining about that yet. Still, these are the kinds of things that can impact playability.

 

[aleclee]

Re: Necks: Who is Bothered by This?

Sometimes, a little extra meat around the neck joint can help prevent dead spots.

 

[Silence Kid]

Re: Necks: Who is Bothered by This?

Not even I have gotten around to complaining about that yet. Still, these are the kinds of things that can impact playability.

I think I was first conscious of it when playing guitars that almost had a "volute" at that end; a huge ellipsoid extending several frets back. Ugh.

 

[kramersteen]

Re: Necks: Who is Bothered by This?

Sometimes, a little extra meat around the neck joint can help prevent dead spots.

How?

 

[DrNewcenstein]

Re: Necks: Who is Bothered by This?

Has Fender ever made a model that had a deep-set neck that would require the butt of a neck to be that long?

I have this one particular Jackson Warrior mutt where I had to cut away a portion of the heel to make the neck fit the pocket and intonate (because the heel of the neck I used went all the way to the end of the board), and as a result, the heel transitions more smoothly to the outer corners of the pocket, without the butt being so noticeable. It's a bolt-on that plays as smoothly as a neckthrough with a scalloped heel. While the outside of the pocket is slanted, it's not scalloped as you find on the Dinky models, so every little bit helps.

The corner of the pocket does extend beyond the butt of the neck, but it's nowhere near as noticeable as the other way around when playing:

One of the projects I've got in the pipe is to shave down all of my bolt-on necks so they flow more smoothly into the pocket like this. It improves the feel on the upper frets immensely, and I imagine it would be an even bigger improvement on Fender's blocky heel.

 

[aleclee]

Re: Necks: Who is Bothered by This?

Sometimes, a little extra meat around the neck joint can help prevent dead spots.

How?

It's the old PRS "heel from hell" argument. It affects the flex of the neck. All I can say for sure is that the two "small heel" PRS guitars I've owned both had the dead spot issue (much more on my '89 than my '94) and the 2003 with the larger heel had no dead spots.

 

[crusty philtrum]

Re: Necks: Who is Bothered by This?

... it's more like having a speed bump in the neck that my thumb runs into.

Where the neck meets the body and things get chunky, it's a great reminder that you are reaching the higher registers and the zone that is likely to annoy people if you spend too much time up there. It reminds you to actually think about what you're doing up there at the screechy end.

Plenty of guitar legends have recorded classic tunes on standard instruments and not been worried about these things.

 

[Silence Kid]

Re: Necks: Who is Bothered by This?

Where the neck meets the body and things get chunky, it's a great reminder that you are reaching the higher registers and the zone that is likely to annoy people if you spend too much time up there. It reminds you to actually think about what you're doing up there at the screechy end.

Plenty of guitar legends have recorded classic tunes on standard instruments and not been worried about these things.

Acknowledged, but the three guitars pictured above that have a minimized ledge are "standard" guitars as well.

Also, my interest in design/ergonomics and improving things tends to get in the way of me actually being practical with regard to mass produced items, but that's just my nature