Describe my neck with accuracy?

Philly_Q

Kittyfrisk said:

Hmmmm. I still don't get that a more standard quantifiable measurement is not available or attainable?

Depth of the neck at first and twelfth frets is certainly quantifiable.  So is width at the nut and, say, the end of the fretboard.

But how do you have a "standard" measurement of the actual shape?  I think you're asking for the moon on a stick.

thegummy

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?

Apart from the cramp part, pretty much.

I have long thin fingers so for me most necks I've tried just stay out of the way when I'm pressing on the fretboard. Except my LP copy (PRS Bernie Marsden) which I'd describe as very thick because, unlike the others, I can actually feel the back of it in my palm while playing it.

Only ever felt a V shaped one briefly on someone from this forum's Warmoth neck and in that brief time it felt great, kind of feeling it in my palm but not in the intrusive way that fat necks do. Would love to actually have a try of one of those V type necks. Though, having recently spent 550 quid to get a neck that was the same as my other Strat's neck (with the intention of never having to buy another guitar neck again) I'd be bummed out to then find out there was a different profile I liked even more!

soma1975

https://musikraft.com/faq-2/

Go to 'back profile 6-string'

paulnb57

I seem one of few people who really are not bothered about neck profile or fret size.....

Slash'N'burn

I only started to notice neck size when I started playing lead/rhythm stuff with my thumb over the top - I have small hands, so even on a medium C/D shape it's a real stretch to be able to barre across 1-4, and my thumb to fret 6th string and just about mute 5, while noodling around scales & chords.

I noticed  that my acoustic has a fat, soft-V shaped neck, yet doing the above feels about the same? The V shape makes the neck 'smaller', so although the back of the neck is touching my palm, it has less width at the shoulders so my hand can still wrap around the fretboard, and it feels better.

With the C/D shape, my hand is stretched but there is a decent gap between my palm and the back of the neck.

Ideally I would probably reshape my tele & LP necks a little to give a slight V profile.

xchrisv

I find first and 12th fret depth measurements helpful as they give you an idea of the neck taper and also how palm-filling it’s likely to be. That said, the amount of shoulder is one of the biggest factors in terms of player comfort – and it’s hugely subjective. My favourite necks have plenty of depth but very soft shoulders. Ultimately, I think you need a combination of numbers and words to get a sense of how a neck feels, and there’s no substitute for playing as many guitars as you can and working out what suits you best. 

guitars4you

^^^^^ - Like ChrisV's comments above - I favour quoting the 1st + 12th fret measurements, but the shoulder can make so much of a difference to the feel, size and ultimately the comfort

In many ways I'm fortunate that I touch so many guitars that I have various reference points to hand - So if I say Ibanez RG wafer thin, or Gibson R8 Fat, then that is only useful if you are aware of such guitars - Yet obviously such guitars might well be strangers to others

Even manufactures references like a Gibson saying a 50's profile can be confusing as it whilst it has more meat on it than a 60's profile, it is not as chunky as most R8's  - Like wise a PRS wide/fat and wide/thin is only something like 1/32" difference at the deepest part of the profile - You can feel it, but it is a small amount

Otherwise adjectives are just a guide line - Better than nothing - Ultimately it is the hands on experience that determines if it suits you

randella

paulnb57 said:

I seem one of few people who really are not bothered about neck profile or fret size.....

I'm not, I've got a variety.  If it was an *extremely* fat neck I might give it a miss, only because I don't have the biggest hands.  Other than that I'll play most of them - even the Fender HM Strat with the wide, flat fretboard and D shoulders.

However the one I notice most is my dad's recent USA Strat that has the boggo Modern C.  Thing is, my early 90's USA also has the modern C but they (Fender) have fattened it up in the interim.  They're not the same.

I keep meaning, just out of morbid geeky curiosity, to get the calipers on it.  I bet there's next to no difference, a bit like when you crack a tooth and the tiny bit that's missing feels like a crater when you run your tongue across it.

Weirdly that's the one that gets me every time I pick it up.  Two minutes with it and it's fine but I can't get over how obvious the minuscule difference feels at first.  I guess if you were buying unseen to replace an instrument that you'd picked up and played every day since Oasis were in the charts with Don't Look Back in Anger, it might be of concern...?

The old man's guitar is also slightly heavier, which is another thing that doesn't bother me overly but is another can of 2nd-hand guitar worms

Wolfetone

Fishboy7

I think some guitars (PRS 594?) actually have an asymmetric profile

Kittyfrisk

Thanks to everyone for all the help & information, it is really interesting.

FWIW, unlike many people, I don't have a fixed preference for a neck shape or profile, as I find the way that a different guitar feels will make me play differently, which I find more interesting.

My post was trying to find out how to better describe a neck in order to reduce misunderstandings or possible statements of misleading descriptions when buying or selling an instrument without being able to try it out.
For example, my idea of 'slim' or 'skinny' will certainly differ from almost everyone else's.

I'll admit I hadn't fully considered the complexity of the quest to improve objectivity, but I don't regret asking the question (however dumb that might make me appear to some) 

Anyway, I'm now feeling much better equipped to describe a neck with minimal subjectivity & I hope that this thread information will help others like myself that are not as hugely knowledgable as professional repairers & makers.  

chris45

If you ignore the outliers like the 51 U compared to a modern Ibanez, then the Fender diagram posted earlier shows that the measured differences between many profiles are less than 10% of an inch.  So if I you take into account differences due to sanding and application of finish there will be a fair degree of overlap in between similar profiles.  Ideally you have to try but at best remotely you can only judge IMHO on big v small.