Anyone have guitars with different neck profiles ?? Can I adjust to it ??

eSully

I have a Les Paul trad with a baseball bat neck, Ja-90 with normal neck and an LPJ with a tiny neck. I can't say it makes much of a difference moving between them at all. I found the shape of the neck most important to me, for example the 2015 neck is massive but as it's nicely rounded it's comfortable. I bought one of the 2015 LPJ's back in the sale, I could not get on with the wide flat neck at all and when my hand cramped up after playing it for an hour (the only guitar that's ever happened with) I knew I couldn't keep it.

crunchman

riffpowers said:

ICBM said:

As a repairer I've played most of the neck shapes there are, probably - I used to think it didn't matter much, but as I've got older I've found that it does. It's quite likely my hands have stiffened up, and now I find necks that are too far from my ideal profile are uncomfortable, sometimes even extremely so and can cause real pain after quite a short time.

That's what I'm worried about.

I've always found shallow necks the worst though.  I've had wrist pain from guitars with wide shallow necks.  I think a lot is down to the profile though.  My Strat neck isn't big, but I can play it for hours.

Deeper necks seem much more comfortable to me.  There is a limit though.  I had a Gibson R8 which I loved the feel of, and it was very comfortable, but it was so big it affected my playing.  Not long before I sold it, I was recording something on another guitar, and thought I'd try it with the Les Paul to see what that sounded like.  It took me about 10 takes to play it cleanly on the Les Paul.  Having said that. I'd previously had a 60s necked Les Paul, and my wrist was getting a bit sore.  I'm not quite sure why some necks seem to have that effect and others don't.

Some of it is down to playing position as well.  The back angle of the neck on Gibson style guitars might not help.  Everything is linked up.  When I got some treatment when my wrist was bad a few years ago, most of the work was on my neck and shoulder.  When I started going to the gym a few years ago, and strengthened the muscles in my back and shoulders, my wrist got a lot better as well.

Having said all that, I've got several different guitars with different necks, and I can switch between them quite easily.  It might actually be a good thing as I don't find myself in the same playing position all the time.

normula1

If I go from a slim neck to a couple of my guitars with huge necks, it feels a touch strange for twenty seconds or so then it's fine.

ESBlonde

I had predominently fender style necks for a long time before getting my 335 and it took me a while to get accustomed to the flatter wider fingerboard and shouldered neck profile.  Now I can and do swap between them with ease. it took a few months to become unnoticable but is worth the effort.

Roland

ESBlonde said:

... it took a few months to become unnoticable but is worth the effort.

There are a lot of people who give up before they reach that point, and say “I can’t get on with xyz”. 

Funkfingers

The more guitars you have, the more often you will encounter differing neck profiles. The more often that you have to adapt to different neck profiles, the more quickly you will be able to adapt.

riffpowers said:

I just don't know if having a chubbier neck makes it play more like a bluesy guitar than a rock guitar.

Some manufacturers subscribe to the notion that a chubbier neck with a stiffer joint to the body makes for a "bigger" tone. 

Bucket

I recently sold an Ibanez with a Wizard neck but also have a Strat with a relatively fat neck, and it didn't take very long to adjust between the two - although I found myself picking the Strat up a lot more for various reasons.

Just occurred to me that I no longer have anything with a properly big neck - my Strat is the closest I have, and even that isn't THAT big. One day, however, I shall have a Tele with a proper baseball bat of a neck and it will be awesome.

Funkfingers

Bucket said:

One day, however, I shall have a Tele with a proper baseball bat of a neck and it will be awesome.

It shall be a Relic '51 Nocaster.

'51 shall be the number and the number shall be '51. Not '50 or '52 but '51. '53 is right out.

Bucket

Funkfingers said:

Bucket said:

One day, however, I shall have a Tele with a proper baseball bat of a neck and it will be awesome.

It shall be a Relic '51 Nocaster.

'51 shall be the number and the number shall be '51. Not '50 or '52 but '51. '53 is right out.

That'd be nice, but I think it's most likely to be another MJT to go with my Strat. Deciding the colour is the hard bit... and anyway, I have other stuff to buy before then. For now, I have my dad's 80s CIJ blue flower Tele on loan and it's great - been gigging with it recently.

The neck on that is quite skinny, in case you were wondering. He also has an 80s CIJ pink paisley and the neck on that is almost Ibanez thin - not what I'd usually go for, but it's one of the best Teles I've ever played.

Jalapeno

Can't get on with 50s Samoan War Clubs (Gibson AND Fender), other than that pretty flexible on girth and string spacing.

Prefer namby-pamby 60s necks and newer compound radii (as opposed to 7.5" radius fretboards).

rico

riffpowers said:

I tried a tokai love rock today . It was a fantastic guitar 

Buy it then! Don't forget to show us pics. The neck profile won't be an issue for more than about 30 seconds. 

tralfamadan

I find with flatter profiles I have to play barre chords quite differently. If I don't point the tip of my finger upwards then i'll get buzzes  on strings that sit underneath the knuckles. I really struggled with wide nut, flat acoustics (OMs generally) until I picked up the technique from a Classical Guitar tutor on YouTube (videos that I really recommend for getting better at finger picking, as an aside).  
That said, sometimes when playing a modern fender they're so easy to play that I get really lazy with my chord work and end up pulling the strings laterally when I grip. 

Overall I would say yes you can adjust. My advice would be to play in a good, comfortable position until you're used to it. I have knackered my hands (temporarily) whilst playing intricate pieces sat horizontally on my couch.

ewal

It's not something I'm overly aware of - I'm not even sure how the neck profiles of my various guitars compare. My Manta Ray neck is described as medium oval whereas my various partscasters probably have what they call modern C - I imagine that's pretty similar. Although the Manta Ray neck feels roomier, possibly because of the 12" radius.

mar10

Me & the gf were chatting about this.. 
 while everyone as their favourite (thin v profile for me)
i think a pro/semi pro/even just intermediate player should be able to grab whatever guitar & adjust to it 

imagine a racing driver who could only drive one car or a cricketer only being albe to use one bat ... what if you’re watching ur mates band play & a drunken guitarist falls off the stage & ur asked to step in!!!
 (Soz mate I only play wizardskinnypatternthinv necks )

on topic tho it takes a few mins for me to adjust going from my 7.25 radius strat to my log-necked homebiuld 

sometimes it’s nice to play a fat neck, less hand cramps etc

John_A

I regularly take a Tokai Reborn and a Washburn MG to gigs (for the floyd) the neck profiles are night-and day and it takes about 2 minutes to forget about it once I switch.  Just swap about what you play and you'll be fine.  I'm sure if you'd played nothing but Ibanez wizards for 20 years and got thrown in to a gig with a '58 Les Paul it might be tough going but I'm sure you'll adapt.