Neck Radius Issues...

[Butch Snyder]

I love that guitar. I have really gotten right in there with the 7.25" radius. All it takes is getting used to it. I do agree that a flatter radius is better for lead. Well, After you get used to it, it's all good. 8)

Besides, I love the finish...

Cheers,

[Michael Murphy]

Butch-

(Sorry about not getting back to this sooner...)

I don't know if I can pick out any specific factor about why I don't like flatter necks. They're just not comfortable for me.

I have pretty large hands- bigger than almost any I've compared them to. My fingers are almost always longer than just about anyone's. My playing style may have something to do with it- I'm one of those thumb-over-the-top guys. Playing in the classical/flamingo style (thumb pressing on the center of the back of the neck) is almost impossible. I gotta wrap my hand around it. I probably bend more than most, but it's not the extreme pushing the E string all the way up to the D or A stuff.

With flatter necks it seems like I feel the treble-side fretboard edge cutting into my index finger between the knuckle and first joint. That edge is just in the wrong place for my hand's natural curvature.

I play an A chord down in the second fret using only my index finger. I just press and bend that first section back until it clears the E string. I started out using three fingers, but after while that kinda disappeared. Sometimes when I go up and play say, a B chord in the 7th fret, I'll use a full barre shape (thumb on the back), but if the next chord is an A, when I slide down the neck for it, it always winds up being a wrapper-arounder. I seem to be consistently inconsistent.

Fret size doesn't seem to be a factor for me, as long as they're not too fat. A little over vintage size is fine, but not bigger than a medium-jumbo.

The most comfortable neck I ever played was a '52RI that was probably a little out of spec. Seemed to have more shoulder than any other I've ever played. Tried and tried to get the guy to sell it to me, but he wouldn't budge. My James Burton has a great shape- very, very comfortable, but it's still tough for me to play for long periods of time since it's a 9.5. I had Tommy @ USACG duplicate the shape for me with both a straight 7.25, and a compound 7.25/9.5 radius (the change doesn't start happenning until somewhere past the 10th fret).

Way back when I bought the '63 it was a big change from the Ricky, but I got used to it easily enough. Twenty or so years later, though, it started feeling too thin to me. Now I can't hardly play it (but my son loves it) due to a botched refret a few years ago. The clown I let work on it really screwed up the fretboard, and I wound up having to have the thickness planed down a little in order to redo it properly. It's not a huge difference on a micrometer I'm sure- but it's one I feel bigtime (my ex-wife always did say I was too sensitive.).

Doubt if this helps ya much, but there ya go......


-Michael
Charter Member S. Texas He-Man Emoticon Haters Local #316