How often do you play at the dusty end?

thomasross20

I'm always talking about guitar ergonomics, how easy it is to play at the high end on my PRS and how I found the Suhr a tad more difficult in that regard, and any single-cut guitar even more so.... but how often do you actually play up at the dusty end and how much of a consideration is high-end playability to you (and is sound or playability more important to you)?

HAL9000

Very rarely play beyond, I'd guess, the 17th fret. Dusty end accessibility simply isn't a consideration for me when buying. When buying it's a combination of sound, looks, and playability. Any one of those which is wrong would be a deal breaker.

capo4th

Anything after 13 is unlucky ?

57Deluxe

more and moreso... and appreciating the harmonic tones of the guitars unplugged whilst doing so as I can hear how these will be enhanced once through the amp. A part of my playing that is now starting to make more sense -  at last...

photek

I play up 'that' end 2 or 3 times a gig just to give the solo's a bit of a build up. It is fun trying to squeeze your hand in the the cut away on a Les Paul

stickyfiddle

12-17, absoutely. Beyond that, very rarely. That said, I generally prefer guitar with easy access - Strat, SG, CS336, Explorer. I think I'd get one very well with Firebirds too

JezWynd

What! You're supposed to play past those two dots? Must try that sometime.

ElectroDan

I made a conscious effort a year or so back to venture there more often. It's not as easy to play up high, but can make a great crescendo to a solo, if you can get great bends and vibrato going with a touch of harmonics.

Sound of a guitar is not as important as feel/playability for me ( as long as it's doesn't sound awful ).

Moss

I'm frequently around the 20th fret, but more for harmonic noise as opposed to all out shredding

thomasross20

Playability also edges it over sound for me

Drew_TNBD

Quite a bit when I do solos.

thomasross20

I find playing the bass strings at the dusty end to be interesting - a lot to be gained there!

jd0272

Me digits are often up that end, but the result isn't always akin to an instrument being 'played'.

viz

Isn't the dusty end the bit by the nut?

terada

Quite often. For solos I usually like to use 2 octaves for variety and as I play in A quite a bit, I'm up at the 20th pretty regularly.

I'll add that these days I'm mainly a Paul/tele player, but find that the inevitable fight against the cutaway lends a bit of urgency/grittiness to the tone that suits my style nicely. It's almost like you can hear the struggle going on - but in a good way.

Edit: is that 1 octave? my theory is non existent. I mean if soloing in A, I tend to play phrases at the 5th and then again at the 17th.

ourmaninthenorth

viz said:

Isn't the dusty end the bit by the nut?

If it ain't between the 5th and 8th fret, well it's simply another country...

Plus, I'm a Les Paul player, any higher than the 8th affects the fulcrum, invariably I fall over...

Marshall_stax

I get up there now and again I guess. Never really have any accessibility issues as most of my collection are Ibbys and a PRS. It's a good point though, I've never stopped to think how I'd get on with LP. 

What's the general preference here between 22 & 24 frets?

Phil_aka_Pip

I find the frets are too close together up there, and you cant get any further across than the 3rd string, so I don't spend a lot of time there. If I go there it's for the climax of the solo, and I don't stay there long. I'm best off between the 7th and the 15th fret ...

thomasross20

Marshall_stax said:

I get up there now and again I guess. Never really have any accessibility issues as most of my collection are Ibbys and a PRS. It's a good point though, I've never stopped to think how I'd get on with LP. 

What's the general preference here between 22 & 24 frets?

I actually love the "scale" (?) of a 22 fret guitar like my Pro S4 - neck not too long, all very comfortable. But prefer how the heel on 24 fret guitars is that much lower down, aiding the ergonomics

jpfamps

No money up the dusty end.

A very rare venture for me.

underdog

Unless it's a cover, then I can rarely be bothered