Hi everyone... with PRS's "white-fat" - "wide-thin" - "Skinny - huge" and Fender's C, V, slight C, large V, vintage U, wacky S neck profiles I was wondering if anyone even thinks about that when purchasing an instument? I don't give it much thought aside from "is it a big thick neck, or thin one?" But then, again, I know there are different nut widths, etc... Are there any "favorites" out there?
I have a no-name axe that I got 6 months ago and it is SOOOOOOO easy to play and it is so flat that the string action is ridiculously low. After playing it for a while I've come to the non-scientific conclusion that it is a "U" shaped neck. Very flat on the back.
Just wondering if others get confused by all this, or if they even care when looking/playing an instrument.
-=- Steve
"If the moon were made of ribs, would you eat it?"
I second the confusion. :?
I'm looking forward to the replies.
:)
Don
If it feels good, I don't worry about it too much. That said, I generally do prefer necks that feel beefier, as I like to fight with my guitar a bit, and hate those ultra skinny suckers that bend outta tune too easily. Among the particular features I've noted I like are rolled edges on a heavier necks, V- profiles, baseball-bat vintage Tele necks (hated these as a noob), wide fingerboards (used to play my 12 as a 6) and a nice volute at the neck/headstock junction.
Finishes are something I really notice. I like my maple in gloss nitro (front and back), but mahogany in worn nitro or oiled. And while I'm not crazy about a satin finish, I find a satin finish that's been played-in to a nice, soft gloss by hand friction plus oils feels simply 'delicious.'
-=tension & release=-
Love the tapered V-shape neck on my Birdsong bass. Can't imagine anything more perfect for me.
On electric guitar, the most comfortable neck for my hands is the one on the EBMM Petrucci sig model, 15" fretboard radius with a shallow profile, but more round than the flat Ibanez "wizard" style. It's not like a Fender or a Gibson neck; it's perfect.
"Everybody got to elevate from the norm."
Hi :D
Well, I'm sure that it comes as no surprise that I usually do notice the neck profiles on guitars.
(Though when recently asked about the neck profile on the Takamine Tan16C that I played - I didn't know. Was probably too wrapped up in ohhing over the rest of it! :P )
My acoustic has a MASSIVE V profile... Which doesn't bother me too much. It seems to exhaust my hand strength a bit
from time to time.
I can make the transition from my 88 Strat's modern C shape neck, no prob.
I think it's the difference in one being electric, and the other acoustic.
Two different feeling guitars overall.
In my mind, the human body takes well to V shapes ergonomically speaking.
(Look at the tried and true Colt .45 Auto - Very angular, and NO gun design has come close to being as comfortable or as easy to put on target as that)
It's just a matter of HOW MUCH V. As I said, mine is pretty extreme, resulting in fatigue.
Something like Fender's more modern (Or Martin's for that matter) soft V profile is probably much better.
I also have my 71 Strat with an INCREDIBLY HUGE U shape neck on it.
It seems rather awkward when switching from my 88's C shape - However, since my hands are a bit on the big side,
I end up warming to it considerably.
It's probably my favorite. (As I'm sure Nuno would agree! 8) )
I had a 60's Gibson SG that had the smallest/skinniest neck I EVER saw.
It was called a 60's slim tapered neck or something.
VERY uncomfortable to me.... And add in to it the short neck, and odd way that old SG's sit with a strap, and
you have the recipe for disaster with my 6' 4" frame.
I also have my old early 60's hollow body.... It doesn't have a trussed neck, soooo as some of you can imagine,
it has a HUGE THICK neck and WIDE fretboard. I LOVE it!
And, I usually know what neck profiles are going to be on what Strats/Tele's anyway, so I pretty much know what to expect,
as Fenders are usually the guitars I'll have a go at when visiting GC.
Ken
"The man who has begun to live more seriously within
begins to live more simply without"
-Ernest Hemingway
"A genuine individual is an outright nuisance in a factory"
-Orson Welles
I like necks, which don't suffocate...
