Thin guitar necks-

[projectx1106]

So, for just about every metal, or "shred" oriented guitar advertised or built, there seems to be a popular notion and popularity of thin guitar necks, as often advertised will "play fast" and whatnot- Honestly, I love the feeling of baseball bat necks and I've never felt that the thickness affects your speed in any significant way. They way I see it is, if you got chops, then it doesn't matter what kind of neck your playing on, you'll still play good and fast. I find it hard to believe that something thicker will just immediately deter from any speed or technical proficiency. Why do people believe the ideal that thin necks are better for shredding? I've tried both, and playing a wizard neck doesn't make me Michael Angelo Batio.

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: Thin guitar necks-

I prefer a slim C, modern Fender is fine. Clone #003 is pretty thin and I like it, but I wouldn't necessarily say I play faster. It definately promotes thumb behind playing, where as the thicker V shaped Tele neck promotes thumb over playing. So in that sense, I probably play the Tele slower than all the others.

 

[Mark Cearlock]

Re: Thin guitar necks-

Gotta love the ball bat necks! I have big hands, so a thin neck just dont cut it for me. The bigger the better! My red tele has a v neck. Its ok, My cream tele has a big c shape, I love it. My peavey has a wide ,thin neck, and I cant gel with it at all. Overall, the fattest neck I have now is on my lp bass! When it comes time to order my warmoth neck for the mahog. tele deluxe, It will be a fatback style. Should be perfect, I hope.

 

[Empty Pockets]

Re: Thin guitar necks-

the first thing you gotta do is eliminate the notion or idea of a 'metal' guitar.

Iron Maiden use Strats and High On Fire use Les Pauls and some of the heaviest tones I've ever heard come from Telecasters.

I prefer "vintage" or "modern" when describing guitars.

"Vintage" tends to refer to chunky bodies, fat necks, and low to medium output pickups. Telecaster, Les Paul, SG, Strat...pre-70's designs.

"Modern" is the term i'd use for so-called "metal" guitars...thinner necks, EMG's, Floyds...the result of the Eddie Van Halen era.

Something like a Paul Reed Smith i guess you could call 'vintage modern' haha...a modern spin on the vintage design.

I understand where the terminology originates...ESP and Jackson and Ibanez definitely market to the metal kids more than the old rockers...but you can do metal on a 335 almost as easily as you can do country on a Truckster.

That said, I've played Ibanez and ESP's with nice fat necks and there's an SG at my shop that's practically got a Wizard...

And also, don't forget that it's easy to put EMG's in a Les Paul with a nice fat 50's neck if that's what feels better to you. You could also put Seth Lovers in an EC-1000 and get close to Les Paul tone with 'modern shredder' feel...i mean it's just music :smokin:

 

[Christopher Caruana]

Re: Thin guitar necks-

my kramer '85 baretta RI has what is called a "K" slim speed neck. It's a VERY small neck, I love it!

 

[ibanezrocks]

Re: Thin guitar necks-

I find I can play faster on thinner necks but my hand fatigues much faster. For me the ideal neck size/shape is the one that slows me down the least while not making my hand cramp up.

 

[super rad stuff]

Re: Thin guitar necks-

probably the most comfortable neck i've ever felt was on the esp explorer body with the natural/satin finish, which i believe has a D profile. not exactly thin, just a good shape. but i like a medium neck, between a fender and gibson slim profile.

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: Thin guitar necks-

Overall, thin necks work better for me. It's still pretty much case by case, but thick necks make the tendonitis in my left wrist go nuts.

However, for me the issue isn't so much speed as it is longevity.

 

[Curt]

Re: Thin guitar necks-

I love me a good fender neck, its my favorite neck, i've played wizard necks, and they are sooo ****ing annoying to play.

 

[j9fd3s]

Re: Thin guitar necks-

i've got short fingers, but big palms, so i like a bigger neck, but not too wide.

actually a mild V near the nut feels really nice, i want the neck to support my hand, and hand position is different with open chords vs leads

 

[Hot _Grits]

Re: Thin guitar necks-

I think the real wide/thin necks are possibly a chops booster if you're doing a lot of playing with your thumb at the back of the neck. Nowadays when I try and play like I do now on one of those necks I get a sore hand pretty fast.

I like a fat back that isn't too wide. Chunky, yet playable, and something I can really get a grip on.

 

[cayle_6]

Re: Thin guitar necks-

i love the thin Ibanez necks. they're just comfortable for me to play. i did not buy my guitar for "metal", but i felt really comfortable using the wizard ii neck.

 

[Petrovsk Mizinski]

Re: Thin guitar necks-

I play an Ibanez RG 7421, which comes with a Wizard I-7 neck.
It's actually not ultra thin, it's a fair bit thicker than the necks on old RG 550s/770s.
Even though the guitar might scream "modern metal" and/or "shred", I still play lots of blue rock type solos.
I found thick necks felt uncomfortable to me for bending, or to play for long amounts of time, they just fatigued my hands.
The Wizard I-7 neck is about as close to perfect a neck I can find for my playing and my physiology.
Not too thin, not too thick, easy to play and it lends itself to great sustain as well, and I never get problems with hand fatigue anymore.
I don't think thinner necks are necessarily better for shredding.
For me, it's a combination of flatter fretboard radius and bigger frets that contribute to faster playing.
The thin neck is just there for comfort reasons IMO. I can still shred just as fast on my friend's Jackson 6 string guitars with thicker necks than my Ibanez, but I can play for longer and in more comfort on the Ibanez.
I play a lot slower on guitars that don't have a certain kind of neck, because I'm very picky.
It needs to be something like an Ibanez, Jackson or ESP or similar kinda neck for me to play at my best.

 

[dr. ad]

Re: Thin guitar necks-

IMO the thickness of the neck has more to do with instrument tone and player comfort than anything else, but the fingerboard radius has a major bearing on the mmmetal factor. eg a 7 1/4" radius is great to play anything but shred on, and a 16" radius superstrat neck is the complete opposite

i can play on any neck that isn't ridiculously thin and remain comfortable, and have relatively large hands; if i'm trying to play the solo to 'domination' on my tele i usually run into trouble though