Your favorite neck shape and why

[St_Genesius]

Re: Your favorite neck shape and why

The honest answer: whatever neck I've been playing on a lot most recently. I pretty quickly get used to whatever I'm using and any big swing the other direction will feel weird at first. But only at first.

That said, I've always found the various versions of Gibson's 60s Slim Taper to be a pretty nice, middle-of-the-road size and shape for my hands: med-large, but with remarkably short fingers. I also love whatever shape my EBMM neck is, but it's also the one I've been playing the most for the past several weeks, so...see above.

 

[Blille]

Re: Your favorite neck shape and why

I’m weird; can get along with any neck radius from 7” to 16”/compound.

This blows my mind. I can’t do 7.25 - Do you have any setup tricks?

 

[NoOnesFang13]

Re: Your favorite neck shape and why

i like a thick c best. i dont like the shoulder of a d or u and dont care for the back contour of the v. i can make due with most things but a thick c is my favorite. 1" from nut to body with no taper is just fine

My favorite neck is from an Austin 70's Strat copy, its got a pretty tight radius as well (not sure which one but definately smaller than modern guitars) fits in my hand perfectly and bending is fine contrary to popular opinion. A good setup does wonders

 

[DavidRavenMoon]

Your favorite neck shape and why

I like thin C shaped neck like on my Parker P-38 and most Ibanez guitars with 12” of higher fretboard radius.

I like them a bit wider because I have long fingers.

I hate fat, baseball bat necks.


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[Silence Kid]

Re: Your favorite neck shape and why

This blows my mind. I can’t do 7.25 - Do you have any setup tricks?

In general I just keep the action between 1.5 - 2mm as needed at the twelfth fret. As long as the neck relief is good and pretty flattish, bends come easy. The G/D strings can go a bit lower if you want, because they’re less compromised by needing to conform to a non-flat surface than the outer strings, which need to lie more ‘sideways’ across the least flat segment of the radius, if that makes sense. The inner strings are more perpendicular to the radius curve since they don’t have a spread between the bridge/nut spacing. But again - I just say screw it and set things up around 1.5mm anyway, generally.

If you hand me a guitar I’m terrible at being able to figure out what the radius is just based on feel; it’s just not something that seems to matter for me, chords aren’t any easier with a small radius etc.

 

[Liam1963]

Re: Your favorite neck shape and why

What's known as a soft "V", the same neck that's on my Fender Jimmie Vaughan signature Strats....

 

[Ascension]

Re: Your favorite neck shape and why

Prefer a slim D profile with a flat wide board. Have real issue with a thick neck and in particular with a V profile as my hand will go numb on a long set.
Favorite neck is the 93 94 Carvin neck with the 16 radius board close second is the current thin profile neck option from Carvin / Kiesel next would be the necks on 1995 Washburn USA Mg's.

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: Your favorite neck shape and why

Mid-sized Fender C. The profile they use on the 62 Hot Rod and John Mayer is perfect. Thicker or thinner is fine, but shoulders and Vs aren’t my preference, after playing Fender C shape for so many years.

 

[GreatOz]

Re: Your favorite neck shape and why

I guess I'm in the minority with the soft-V shape being my favorite. By far my favorite shape is the Clapton-style made by Warmoth. Maybe it's bias because it's on my favorite guitar :18:

I play with my thumb level with where the face dots would be and I have quite long fingers, so the V sits comfortably right in the cleft between my thumb and index finger. Although, I personally care less about neck shape as I do thickness and fingerboard radius. I prefer medium to thin thickness. I cannot stand 7.25" radius, 9.5" is tolerable, 12" is my favorite, and anything flatter than 12" messes with me, dunno why.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Your favorite neck shape and why

What type of shape is the Music Man neck? (I've never tried Music Mans.) I assume from your description that it's a thin C or oval, is that correct?

Like a thin C, 1 5/8" at the nut.

The Strandberg's neck with the flat spot in the back is uncomfortable to me unless you play in purely a classical left hand position. I vary mine, so it is uncomfortable most of the time.

 

[ehdwuld]

Re: Your favorite neck shape and why

I like the Wizard II necks on my RGs
It's very similar to the Slim 60s C on my Epiphone Florentine
Both are very comfortable to me

Most of my other LP shaped guitars have a slim D that is a bit thicker but not uncomfortable

I like a 12 inch radius
Never played a compound radius
Really didn't like the 9.5 of the MIM strat

The super flat Ibanez boards are great to me

I think I prefer a narrow 42 mm nut as well
But 43 mm works as well

 

[dystrust]

Re: Your favorite neck shape and why

My ideal neck shape would be a C or soft V around .900" at the 1st fret with a slight taper, a 1 11/16" nut, and a 10-12" fingerboard radius.

My Explorer, SG, Les Paul, and 335 are all in that ballpark; the Explorer & SG maybe a little thinner and the 335 probably a bit thicker than that. I generally don't care for skinny necks, though I'm fine with my 80s MIJ Charvels for some reason. I had a 335 copy with the slim taper neck and sold it.

I have large hands so I can't stand a 1 5/8" nut, and I really dislike vintage Fender 7.25" radius.

 

[Boogie Bill]

Re: Your favorite neck shape and why

I have so many guitars, I'm switching back and forth all the time.

My first guitars were vintage Fenders, but any more I don't use the 7.25" radius. All my electrics have the 12" radius.

I like the Gibson 1-11/16" Slim Taper on my 335s and LPs. I have a few thin ones, but I have 3-4 that are slightly fatter, and those are really good. The necks on my Artstar AS-120 and GR-520 Ghostriders are essentially Slim Taper necks.

My 1960 Strat had a great neck. My G&Ls are very similar, but with a 12" radius and medium-jumbo frets. I think they call it the 1-C neck. I love it; feels like home!

For acoustics, my Taylor 710ce has a nice neck, 1.75" wide. I also have some newer Martins with their High Performance Taper neck, also 1.75" wide. But I'd have to say my favorite Martin neck is their 1-11/16" low profile neck that they've used since the late 1970s until recently. The 1.75" neck are just wide enough to make some chording a real stretch. I can do it, but the narrower Martin neck is more comfortable for me.

Some players seem to psych themselves out. I've found that I can deal with most any neck width/shape, if properly set up, with just a little bit of practice.

Bill

 

[B2D]

Re: Your favorite neck shape and why

C shape with about a .8" thickness at the neck with a slim taper, not too much shoulder. 1-5/8" nut width with a 12" radius. It just works so well for me and it's very comfortable, and I don't have very big hands.

 

[The_Junior]

Re: Your favorite neck shape and why

I think nut width And scale length does the most for me. Which is 1 5/8" at 25" or 24.75" scale, 12" radius or better. I'm generally happy with a 'standard thin' or I guess it would be a 'C' profile. I wouldn't shy away from a thin taper too.

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: Your favorite neck shape and why

Reading some of the comments here I’m realizing that width and shoulder/V are much more important than depth for me. The 1.675” Fender width with C shape works from under .800” all the way to .900” or a little more for me. 1” is just too much though.

 

[Demanic]

Re: Your favorite neck shape and why

Jackson compound radius 12"-16". Followed by Ibanez Wizard II. Though I don't tend to be so picky that I can't play a baseball bat neck.

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[Archer250]

Re: Your favorite neck shape and why

Thick Cs or soft Vs

Basically 50s Les Paul style. Gimme those.

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[formula73]

Re: Your favorite neck shape and why

Thin, narrowish Norlin Gibson neck like on most 70s LPs. It’s a little thicker and narrower than the modern 60s Gibson shape.

It fits my stumpy fingers like a glove. Everything else fatigues my hand in one way or another.

 

[Blille]

Re: Your favorite neck shape and why

Thin, narrowish Norlin Gibson neck like on most 70s LPs. It’s a little thicker and narrower than the modern 60s Gibson shape.

It fits my stumpy fingers like a glove. Everything else fatigues my hand in one way or another.

So Norlin got something right after all, uh?