Scalloped Potatoes or frets

I've never tried a guitar with scalloped frets, but I know Ritchie Blackmore's a big fan of them. I suppose it would help with vibrato and 1/4, maybe 1/2 bends - the downside, for me, would be that if you put too much pressure on the strings, you're going to be slightly out of tune with everyone else.

:D :D :D

Vic

I play a scalloped neck regularly. I find it is a little bit harder to do chording work, mostly because it feels weird to not feel the fretboard beneath your fingers. And Vic is right, if you go too far, you can end up going sharp. Which is not so much a problem (IMO) with soloing / runs, but sounds really off for chords. The flip side is that vibrato is really really nice, and for doing linear runs, it feels blazing fast _because_ your fingers never hit the fretboard, they just slide over the strings. "Hammeren"? Do you mean hammer-on, pull-offs? hammer on / pull offs, especially where you go on-off-on-off repeatedly, are a little bit harder / don't work as well on a scalloped neck for some reason. If you're curious, you should try one. Hit your local shop(s) and try to find a Malmsteen.

TZ

I have a scalloped guitar and I must say I find the opposite to TimeZone, if anything I find hammer n pull-offs marginally easier. Chords are no problem. You would have to have a very very heavy touch to make the notes go out of pitch, in which case I advise you get your fretboard scalloped to forced you touch lighter.
Vibrato is waaaayyyy easier. Bends are easier. You have more control over both. Tapping is marginally easier (barely) and sweeped arpeggios are a tiny bit cleaner.

But what, only 1-3% of all players used a scalloped fret board. Yeah, worth trying to find a Fender Malmsteen signature strat to see how one feels. read these reviews here : http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Fender-Yngwie-Malmsteen-Stratocaster?sku=511849
or http://reviews.harmony-central.com/reviews/Guitar/product/Fender/Yngwie+Malmsteen+Signature+Stratocaster/10/1