What the heck is with guitar manufacturers and thin necks?

[MacBradley]

Re: What the heck is with guitar manufacturers and thin necks?

I'm probably rare in that I don't really care how thick/think the neck feels. My thumb is always along the center of the backside of the guitar neck no matter what. I tend to buy necks that are middle of the road when I have the choice, just because I don't lean either way towards particularly thin or thick necks.

 

[jmh151]

Re: What the heck is with guitar manufacturers and thin necks?

I like charvels but Ibanez are too thin for me

 

[Grizzly_Diesel]

Re: What the heck is with guitar manufacturers and thin necks?

the main reason i wont buy an ibanez or many of the new jacksons. the neck on my bich is thick and beefy and i have no problem shredding all over the place.

 

[jeffbennett251]

Re: What the heck is with guitar manufacturers and thin necks?

I have big hands and hate the 50s neck. Causes my hand into a u shape and can't fret properly.

 

[Masta' C]

Re: What the heck is with guitar manufacturers and thin necks?

I *want* to like a thicker neck, but I seem to naturally prefer a slightly thinner profile (not extremely thin, though, such as the original Ibanez Wizard).

Out of curiosity, I tried a ton of different guitars over the course of a month and took careful measurements on all the necks I came across that felt "right" to me. I was surprised to find all the ones I liked to be within an extremely tight tolerance, despite all of them being from different manufacturers and covering a production span of over 30 years.

 

[80's_Metal]

Re: What the heck is with guitar manufacturers and thin necks?

I'm not that picky, I like fat necks and thin necks both.
I think my hands just sort of adapt to whatever is in my hands at the moment.
I think the most comfortable necks I have ever played though, are the V necks from Dean, it's like they aren't even there!

 

[sosomething]

Re: What the heck is with guitar manufacturers and thin necks?

I've probably said this before but I've always felt that the super-thin / flat necks really benefited the guys with big hands and solid, classical technique (I.E. big-name shredders), because the size of their hands allows them to place their thumbs properly behind the neck and still get massive leverage on the strings.

I've noticed that people with smaller hands, including myself (who's hands are on the small side of "average") like a little meat back there to grab onto with the thumb, to provide leverage. This could be due to hand size or merely due to my technique which is far from classical most of the time.

 

[silvertonebetty]

Re: What the heck is with guitar manufacturers and thin necks?

i like an slimmer neck. i dont want to feel like im holding a bassball bat. but something like an jazmaster neck is nicer

proud boogie owner

 

[mojosman]

What the heck is with guitar manufacturers and thin necks?

For me, I prefer a larger neck. Some say it is an issue in regards to tone. Lindy Fralin sells strat and Tele necks on his website. They are beefy. He thinks the mass of the neck on an electric guitar has a bigger impact on your tone than the quality or species of wood used in the body. I don't know if there is science to back this theory up, but I thought I would mention it.

 

[sosomething]

Re: What the heck is with guitar manufacturers and thin necks?

For me, I prefer a larger neck. Some say it is an issue in regards to tone. Lindy Fralin sells strat and Tele necks on his website. They are beefy. He thinks the mass of the neck on an electric guitar has a bigger impact on your tone than the quality or species of wood used in the body. I don't know if there is science to back this theory up, but I thought I would mention it.

That's an interesting conversation and you'd have to be someone smarter than I am to figure out a good way to test it. In my years of purely anecdotal experience full of all sorts of impressions that I intuit and couldn't possibly articulate, I tend to agree with him.

I'd say it's at least 50/50, but possibly leaning significantly towards the neck.

It sort of stands to reason though... there is a lot more string passing over the neck than the body. It's thinner, narrower, and more resonates more easily.

Sent from my SM-N915V using Tapatalk

 

[B2D]

Re: What the heck is with guitar manufacturers and thin necks?

I've played guitars with thick necks that sounded like wet cardboard boxes, and I've played guitars with thin necks that sounded like angels cooing into your ear.

Then again, MOST of the best-sounding guitars I get my hands on have necks that lean towards the thick side, but they're also very well-contoured and shaped in the back, not just a baseball bat sliced down the middle. Brighter guitars like Teles seem to benefit from that the most. If I get my hands on a neck that is thick but comfortable, I know whomever shaped it did their homework.

And I think a guitar that's comfortable for you to play will tend to make you sound better in the long run due to the comfort factor.

My thoughts on necks are roughly the same as strings... go as thick as you can without impacting performance or comfort.

 

[Snake Aces]

Re: What the heck is with guitar manufacturers and thin necks?

not just a baseball bat sliced down the middle

That would be one of the most awkward feeling necks ever.

 

[Edgecrusher]

Re: What the heck is with guitar manufacturers and thin necks?

That would be one of the most awkward feeling necks ever.

I used to have the coolest ESP M1 custom. It was called bubble gum burst with 2 shades of obnoxious hot pink. Had Ultrasonic pickups and a top mount floyd, even had the Jackson shaped headstock...

but the neck on it, holy frack the neck on that thing. It really was almost like a baseball bat split INCLUDING the taper. Down by the nut it was huge and fat hard to get your hand around as you slid up the neck it tapered really fast and down where it joined the body it was in Jackson Dinky neck territory. was really an awkward guitar to play and the shape of the neck felt like it forced your hands to the upper frets.

 

[Snake Aces]

Re: What the heck is with guitar manufacturers and thin necks?

I used to have the coolest ESP M1 custom. It was called bubble gum burst with 2 shades of obnoxious hot pink. Had Ultrasonic pickups and a top mount floyd, even had the Jackson shaped headstock...

but the neck on it, holy frack the neck on that thing. It really was almost like a baseball bat split INCLUDING the taper. Down by the nut it was huge and fat hard to get your hand around as you slid up the neck it tapered really fast and down where it joined the body it was in Jackson Dinky neck territory. was really an awkward guitar to play and the shape of the neck felt like it forced your hands to the upper frets.

What? That sounds like hell man!