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But how do you have a "standard" measurement of the actual shape? I think you're asking for the moon on a stick.
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!
Go to 'back profile 6-string'
Been uploading old tracks I recorded ages ago and hopefully some new noodles here.
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.
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
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
I think some guitars (PRS 594?) actually have an asymmetric profile
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.