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Thinnest Guitar Neck


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I actually edited it before you posted and was hoping no one read it as I knew it was wrong. Just venting. I don't mind answering question, but what I don't like is assumptions about my work which I take a lot of pride in. I hope we can stay cool!

As far as the sound is concerned, it sounds great in my opinion and in the opinion of everyone who has tried. As an example to the comparison of sound, a guy at a Guitar Center was playing on his 7 string Ibanez with EGM's, asked to play this guitar and was shocked at the sound. I have actually compared it to my Jackson Kelly with EMG's and it blows it away, mostly due in part to the Floyd on my Kelly which has the middle of the body completely routed out which I have always thought sounded thin to begin with. It actually sounds better on clean if you ask me and I am a metal head.

As far as hand cramping, I thought it would be difficult to manage that at first but this is the only guitar I have been playing since I built it so I guess my hand over came the initial shock and adjusted quickly. My hand would probably cramp going back to a thicker neck now as I am conditioned to this thin neck.

In the end, its all about personal preference. Good luck with your design!

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Raga- no worries, and I apologise if I upset you.

I was venting too, but more about feeling the effects of getting older.

But there are some valid points here-

If you are going to be "thinking outside the box" like this, and presenting designs that are rather different than folks are accustomed to (which is not a bad thing at all) you are going to encounter this kind of backlash. Finding a graceful way of handling that will help you reach that niche market you are seeking.

It takes just as much practice as building the darn things, and is not always as fun.

Good luck :D

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I don't believe that metals would make a neck sound "thin". It's just that wood balances out the fundamentals against the higher overtones we don't enjoy hearing. Wood just makes a warmer balance. In my opinion. A metal neck - like a Travis Bean for example can sound fine. If properly voiced as part of the instrument as a whole.

Know what? I just didn't like the headstock. Otherwise? Fantastic. Imagine being able to use whatever material for the back of the neck you want. Even materials that wouldn't normally work mechanically, but otherwise have fantastic tone creating aspects. Stainless steel board with a plywood neck in the profile of a vintage Les Paul? Joke example, but this is an enabling development I think.

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I don't believe that metals would make a neck sound "thin". It's just that wood balances out the fundamentals against the higher overtones we don't enjoy hearing. Wood just makes a warmer balance. In my opinion. A metal neck - like a Travis Bean for example can sound fine. If properly voiced as part of the instrument as a whole.

Know what? I just didn't like the headstock. Otherwise? Fantastic. Imagine being able to use whatever material for the back of the neck you want. Even materials that wouldn't normally work mechanically, but otherwise have fantastic tone creating aspects. Stainless steel board with a plywood neck in the profile of a vintage Les Paul? Joke example, but this is an enabling development I think.

Don't laugh. Martin has released a really nice acoustic with a plywood neck.

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I took my friend's son's guitar home for setup and adjustment. I kept it for a week so in the mean time I loaned him my '67 Hagstrom III. he was reluctant to give it up because the neck fit his 12 yr old hands perfectly. Personally, i couldn't care about the neck size, each to his own and I have a whole range of neck sizes to play. But the 'hag" has the slimmest conventional neck only because of the unique truss rod construction.

And I've tried a few of the new Martin acoustics, basically a lam neck in 1/8" increments, almost looks like Doug. fir. The bodies are molded sawdust mixed w/ composite and your choice of mahogany, spruce etc. veneers. I don't know how they hold together over the long run, I can remember fixing a loose fret on a friend's martin only after a few months. I guess they would sound exactly the same after 20 years, is that good or bad? :D

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