So, yeah.

dominus

King Midas to Cheap Guitars
I've been putting together Ibanez guitars lately, mahogany bodies, hardtail bridges, maple fretboard necks. On paper, the perfect guitar. They sound absolutely killer too.

I can't bond with the neck. Kills me.

Back to Squier I go.

More later.


iceman.jpg
 
Re: So, yeah.

huh.
You know, maybe that's my problem with my Epi SG. I never really thought about the neck as opposed the the Godin's....
 
Re: So, yeah.

huh.
You know, maybe that's my problem with my Epi SG. I never really thought about the neck as opposed the the Godin's....

I didn't care for the Godin Redlines either. I thought it was the scale length, but I think it's more the fingerboard radius now. I usually played Jacksons, Schecters, Squiers, and BC Rich guitars.. and they were all probably 9.5" radius necks.
 
Re: So, yeah.

I've got decent sized hands (I'm comfortable enough on a 7 string, but don't have the need for it, I just tune down on a 6), so I was fine with the BC Rich baseball bat necks I had a while back. I'm most comfortable playing on Strat-style bridges/saddles, and a hardtail bridge was perfect. I found a few Squier Strats and Teles with hard tails that I can make work, just have to get all the accessories and start putting them together.
 
Re: So, yeah.

Yeah, I wish Ibanez would make thicker (maybe soft v profile) necks... Not that I don't like thinner ones, but I feel like the tone and stability improves with thickness.
Sent from my RM-915_apac_thailand_213 using Tapatalk
 
Re: So, yeah.

Hands,
I have very long fingers, and thought how cool I must be. But after signing up on this forum and bragging about it a few years ago, I found out I'm not so special. Point being, on my SG, while I love how wide the neck seems, it is too thin for me. I still love playing it, but up around the 12-17 frets, there is no material like a set in neck or a bolt on, so my fingers, while no longer the worlds longest, still are long enough to get all cramped up in that position.
So I bought some 1mm headstock blanks from LMII and I cut them to fit on the sides of my finger board 2 pieces (mm) thick all the way up on the treble side, about 1/2 of the back of the fingerboard, finished them (maple, and highly flexable) with amber seal-a-cell, couple coats, 600 sandpapered, and now it is quite comfortable. And doesn't show, also easily removable as I used thin coat of regular wood glue.
Steve B.
 
Re: So, yeah.

Yeah,
I have about 3 things I have done over the years where I've been told that. One was the back of the "horn" aluminum thin long metal piece I sprayed black so as an extension, the strap attaches at the end of the metal-around the 17t fret (perpendicular) so that there are no weights needed on the butt of the strap so it doesn't neck dive. I am MOST proud of that one. I did so I would NOT have to add weight. It is a law of physics if you move the center of weight (in this case artificially) you negate the "pull" of a structures weight. Big physics for a small guitar.
It was a case of "need is the mother of invention". A lot of people called bull**** on that one. One guy had a poor example of what I was saying and I said so. Unbelievably, he got sh*t for that and said he "wasn't defending me, and did not know me". Couldn't believe it. Over a very simple, easy to prove yourself kinda thing. Judas Iscariot, hurt my feelings.
So I have 1 friend that still visits me in my old age, now I have a smart phone w/a camera, and he can't help me use it.
The other was a long dissertation on how to improve on Mr. Fradua's strat set up. His is great, I just figured how to remove 2 hang up spots rather than "make them work". Called out on that too. Anyway, I did it. Easy too look up, I guess under my name SJ318.
The neck thickening idea came to me after 3 or 4 awful tries with other materials. The best I can do is tell you what I used and it is easy to look up, maybe you can get a sense of it. It works GREAT. Proud of it. I love my SG and bought for the weight. Now it is closer to 6 lbs. than 7. But I never liked the cut off U shape, To thin for me.
It is a "WHHV-HDPLT VENEER MAPLE 1MM, 10 pieces for $8.50 (freight-$8.50). Luthiers Mercantile Int., Inc. (LMII.com)
Steve Buffington.
 
Re: So, yeah.

Got to figure out how to work that smart phone man ,always amazes me how complicated simple things can be. I got an idea what it looks like , I just want to see what you did and gawk at it properly with admiration. You actually have a friend that visits you still then you are way ahead of me , I have to call them and/or visit them almost no one enters the batcave.
 
Re: So, yeah.

Are these Jacksons custom? Because 9.5" radii doesn't sound like something Jackson would do stock, they always do 12-16" compound.
 
Re: So, yeah.

To Oinkus,
My first try was a paint stirring stick that was about 2.6mm thick and it was soft enough I let it sit overnight in water and strapped it hard w/string to the back of a sh*tty bullet tele neck I had that was beyond slim. A talented 2 year old could play it. Never the less it was a trial and it was so ugly, I moved it to the treble side of the back and tried to manually sand it down so the eges felt natural, the stick was an inch & 1/2 wide and went from the 2nd fret to the 12th fret.
You just can't hide that kind of ugly, although it did keep my fingers apart and relaxed.
So I knew I was right in theory, but had to get elegant in practice. When I called them about flexability and what I was planning, the guy paniced a little, like I was gonna hurt myself and sue them! He calmed right down when I told him about my Tele paint stick trick. I couldn't make that kind of sh*t up, or I'd still be married!
Thought you would enjoy the paint stick trial.
Stevey B p.s., if I ever get that camera going I am going to make a BIG DEAL out of it and show my cool SG fix, my "neck thickness" fix, and my Strat Super Drill fix. I think maybe Gotoh or someone has lengthened the plate holes so strings don't get caught in that part anymore. But the block really needs it to. It sould be Ball end stops, misses the block metal AND the plate metal on the way to the saddle. No tone was harmed while in the making of this mod!
 
Re: So, yeah.

You might be almost as crazy as I am Steve! Go do some searching on the internet someone has a how to use this dern phone up somewhere I would bet.
 
Re: So, yeah.

Nothing beats a Jackson, but I like Ibanez necks too, and ESP...

As long as the spacing isn't too wide (Lynch), or too narrow (slim taper), I can deal.
 
Re: So, yeah.

I love the Ibby necks that I have played. So, if at some point you wish to part with some of your creations, permitting that I am solvent at the time, pm me.
 
Re: So, yeah.

^^
Oh well, never hurts to ask, not that I could have afforded them now anyway.
 
Re: So, yeah.

Me neither - skinny D profile doesn't work for me. I'd love to have a roadflare red RG550, for example, but I'd probably never play it because of the Wizard neck.

Yeah, I wish Ibanez would make thicker (maybe soft v profile) necks... Not that I don't like thinner ones, but I feel like the tone and stability improves with thickness.

There are some guitars like the JS, AT and Roadcore which have thicker, more Fendery type necks.

The guitars in the back catalogue (pre-1987) generally have fatter necks. In the early 90s, there was the RV series for a while, which had V necks.
 
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