Describe my neck with accuracy?

Kittyfrisk

 OK, could be just me, but I'm really becoming increasingly puzzled/annoyed /tired/frustrated by statements such as 'XXX brand guitars have 'skinny' necks'.
Or " I have to have a baseball bat neck'.

This doesn't mean much in the world of baseball bats, much less guitars.
https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Number-of-elements-and-nodes-created-in-construction-of-bat-models_tbl1_267453146
https://www.baseballrace.com/baseball-bat-size-chart/

We don't describe anything else in such vague terms, so why neck descriptions?
If a body is 'X' mm deep, then that's what it is.
Similarly, a nut can be 'X' wide & 'Y' deep & a 'C' 'D' 'V' carve etc. can be described reasonably accurately, or at least in fairly uniform terms.

Is there some universal neck/curve/dimension template diagram available that can be used as an actual objective comparison?
Instead of more of the 'it's skinny, I love baseball bat(shit)'.

Funkfingers

Warmoth has a selection guide for neck profiles complete with dimensions taken at strategic points. Say, nut, seventh, twelfth, fifteenth fret. This is of limited assistance because sample points need to be taken far more frequently.

Some Fender Custom Shop customers supply a favourite neck that they wish to have replicated. Laser measuring devices scan that neck and a CNC machine produces duplicates. Even then, there is scope for variation due to hand sanding and finish thickness.

In the final analysis, how many of us could run a hand along a guitar neck and give accurate estimations of its width and thickness? We either like it or we don't.

ICBM

Fat, uncomfortable and like a tree with strings.

V-shaped and like a fence post.

Wide, flat and cramp-inducing.

That describes quite a lot of necks accurately. Any good?

Kittyfrisk

Thanks for the information.
However the comment relating to  "In the final analysis, how many of us could run a hand along a guitar neck and give accurate estimations of its width and thickness? We either like it or we don't."

Doesn't really advance my (possibly tilting at windmills) question, If anything, it just perpetuates it.
Bit of a bugger maybe, but I'm sure that we can arrive at a reasonable solution... or not?

Kittyfrisk

ICBM said:

Fat, uncomfortable and like a tree with strings.

V-shaped and like a fence post.

Wide, flat and cramp-inducing.

That describes quite a lot of necks accurately. Any good?

By George he's got it !!!    

JezWynd

Adam, is that you?

barnstorm

Fender's drawings can be helpful, but only if you've played a few different F shapes/profiles to begin with and know what you like, obviously.

Kittyfrisk

JezWynd said:

Adam, is that you?

¿Qué? Quien es Adam?

Kittyfrisk

barnstorm said:

Fender's drawings can be helpful, but only if you've played a few different F shapes/profiles to begin with and know what you like, obviously.

Helpful, but I was talking about guitars generally, not any particular brand. Ta, 

Sassafras

Giving me the size in millimetres doesn't mean as much to me as wide and fat, skinny, narrow or baseball bat.
Especially now we've left the EU and we're back onto imperial measures, God's own units of measurement.

Kittyfrisk

Sassafras said:

Giving me the size in millimetres doesn't mean as much to me as wide and fat, skinny, narrow or baseball bat.
Especially now we've left the EU and we're back onto imperial measures, God's own units of measurement.

I hear you, but.....I'll accept yards,inches, cubits,  barleycorns, specified species of whale fin sizes or fucking standard British dick inches, just make it bloody quantifiable, uniform & repeatable?

richardhomer

If you’re buying remotely I can understand why this matters - though you can always send something back if it’s really not working for you.

Otherwise, give something a try. My experience tells me that some neck shapes that are at odds with what you’re familiar with can initially feel off putting - but can work brilliantly for you once you’ve got used to their feel.

Kittyfrisk

If you’re buying remotely I can understand why this matters.
Nail : Head : Hit  

Sassafras

I still think it's difficult to judge how a neck will feel even with highly detailed specifications.

Kittyfrisk

Sassafras said:

I still think it's difficult to judge how a neck will feel even with highly detailed specifications.

I agree with you, but there has (please) to be a better way than that which exists at present (or not) to get closer to some accurate conformity?

JezWynd

Kittyfrisk said:

JezWynd said:

Adam, is that you?

¿Qué? Quien es Adam?

CasperCaster

Frank Zappa once said that describing neck shapes was like dancing about architecture.....or something.

Slash'N'burn

On one of the Les Paul forums I've seen owners record neck thickness at the 1st and 12th fret (not including the fret height) for different models. It can be useful if you are comparing another guitar with one you own, provided the neck profile is the same , e.g. they are both 'C' shape.  Agree it would be good if there was some sort of standard measurement that would work across different neck shapes, and relate to the size of your hand.

Kittyfrisk

Hmmmm. I still don't get that a more standard quantifiable measurement is not available or attainable?
As for the Adam Schiff reference, a bit tenuous & irrelevant.

Kittyfrisk

Slash'N'burn said:

On one of the Les Paul forums I've seen owners record neck thickness at the 1st and 12th fret (not including the fret height) for different models. It can be useful if you are comparing another guitar with one you own, provided the neck profile is the same , e.g. they are both 'C' shape.  Agree it would be good if there was some sort of standard measurement that would work across different neck shapes, and relate to the size of your hand.

Again, some sensible advice  

barnstorm

barnstorm said:

Fender's drawings can be helpful, but only if you've played a few different F shapes/profiles to begin with and know what you like, obviously.

Yeah, just saying I think they’re the best visual reference we’ve got, mostly because there are so many. I imagine most necks in terms of the Fender profiles when I see the basic specs from a manufacturer whose guitars I’ve not played before.