Pedalboy Posted February 16, 2004 Report Share Posted February 16, 2004 I hope this isn't a dumb question. But, when you see that a neck has a radius of 12" or 15" or whatever what does this actually mean? Thanks everybody. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jammy Posted February 16, 2004 Report Share Posted February 16, 2004 It is the curvature of the face of the fretboard. Look at a guitar, you will see the fretboard is not flat, but is slighly convex. The 12" or 16" refers to the radius of this curve (if it were a 12" radius, the curve of the fretboard would be a "section" or a circle, of radius 12") Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krazyderek Posted February 16, 2004 Report Share Posted February 16, 2004 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
renablistic Posted February 17, 2004 Report Share Posted February 17, 2004 thats why i hate fender necks so gosh*expletive* much, and LOVE rg's.... I love flat, fretless boards... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krizalid Posted February 17, 2004 Report Share Posted February 17, 2004 i agree half way through with you renablistic. the radius on fender really didn't appeal me too much but then again, i don't know if eric clapton or malmsteen have any comment on it you get what i mean... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Page_Master Posted February 17, 2004 Report Share Posted February 17, 2004 i like 14". why? it is not too curved like a 12" and it is not too flat like 16". it's just right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLS Posted February 17, 2004 Report Share Posted February 17, 2004 i agree half way through with you renablistic. the radius on fender really didn't appeal me too much but then again, i don't know if eric clapton or malmsteen have any comment on it you get what i mean... I dont think Malmsteen really notices he kind lacks a fretboard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krizalid Posted February 17, 2004 Report Share Posted February 17, 2004 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapbarstrat Posted February 17, 2004 Report Share Posted February 17, 2004 I do just fine on a 12", but actually on my own necks and about 30% of my customers necks, I like to plane the board and level the frets in the path of the strings, so on my own it's about an 11" at the nut and 13" or 14" at the 22nd fret Depends what kind of string height you're going after, and considering string bending along with that. ie : high action and 7.25" radius work ok. For my own playing, I require string height of 1/32" High E and 3/64" low E at the 12th fret. But I might go lower now, because my new home-made fret leveling bar is absolutely amazing. I just finished a 15" radius neck and got 1/32" high E and a little under 3/64" low E at the 22nd fret !!!!! That's right 22nd, not 12th fret. It's even lower at the 12th fret, but I'd have to go measure to get the exact numbers. Using the 22nd fret measurement on this one, because that's where the customer checks his action height. With the 7.25"-10" radius, you can't get real low action if you bend strings because when they are bent, they'll hit frets higher up the neck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbkim Posted February 17, 2004 Report Share Posted February 17, 2004 I prefer flatter too, 12" is tolerable but at least 14" preferably . Hmm... the smallest radius I can recall is 1.5" on the Solene (built from a 3" diameter aluminum tube) but it's not a traditional guitar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveq Posted February 17, 2004 Report Share Posted February 17, 2004 Do any of you who use the flatter (more than 12) fretboards use a locking nut? If so, where do you get yours? The ones stewmac sells as replacements are 14" radius but seem to be of lower quality than what you get with a floyd bridge. The ones that come with the bridges from both stewmac and warmoth are 10" radius and will work with fretboards up to 12" at the nut. If anyone knows where I can get a 14 to 15" radius locking nut in 1 11/16 width (spacing for no binding), please let me know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapbarstrat Posted February 17, 2004 Report Share Posted February 17, 2004 Peavey Wolfgang Locking nut is exactly, or just about, a 15" radius. The Fender 7.25" radius was designed to make playing chords easier. But I guess it depends on your particular fingers. !2" works for chords fine for me. Martin acoustics have a 16" and chording is pretty much all you do on an acoustic. Some even say a totally flat fret-board is superior for soloing AND chording. So, you don't know who to believe. I know I have a hell of a time trying to play chords on a flat fret-board classical guitar, but maybe partly because the neck is quite wide and fat. LOL, here ya go : Maybe you should place your fingers on a flat surface, then use feeler gauges to measure the gaps under your fingers, to get an idea of what the "radius" of your fingers are. You would need some pretty thick feeler gauges for the middle area where it has the biggest gap (at least my fingers have a big gap in the middle when doing this). Stupid idea ? Well, some people have their bodies measured to have clothes made to fit just right, so why not for a guitar ? I bet baseball players have their fingers measured to have custom gloves made. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krazyderek Posted February 17, 2004 Report Share Posted February 17, 2004 that's a neat idea, except guitar necks weren't meant to be warn on your hands, your fingers need to be able to reach all across the neck to all the strings, i think flatter radiuses accomodate this a bit more, cause you have to lift your finger less to move from one side of the board to the other, but chording, i could see how rounder (to an extent) would make that easier Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guitarfrenzy Posted February 17, 2004 Report Share Posted February 17, 2004 That's why in my opinion a compound radius neck is the way to go. I think Warmoth makes them that way also, they start off at around 10" radius at the first fret and gradually go to 16" radius near the end of the neck. That way you can chord alot easier, to me a 10" or 12" radius is perfect for chording in the lower range (1st fret - 5th fret). And you can play the fast licks farther up the neck easier with the 16" radius. I have yet to build a guitar like that, but basically instead of leveling the fretboard going parallel with the neck at all times, which will give you a constant radius, you'd follow a more cylindar pattern or the taper of the neck. Also, I highly doubt Malmsteen plays a standard Fender radius, I'm sure his is custom built and probably more like 12" or more. I know for a fact that SRV's guitar was 12" radius, and not the standard Fender size. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krizalid Posted February 19, 2004 Report Share Posted February 19, 2004 i really don't know what is my preferred radius, as long as i am comfortable playing it, its enough for me... don't you think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.