Official Luthiers Forum!

I see that guitars have a wide range of neck radiuses from 7.25 to 16 or so but I'm having a hard time finding information on the pros and cons of different radiuses, except that a cone shape neck is a better idea than a cylindrical neck.

Any comments?

Thanks,

Jon.

The tighter radii are in less use these days I think. The tighter it is for some people it's easier and more comfortable to barr chords but also when bending strings as you go up the radius on the tighter ones you will fret the note out on the next fret.

It's mostly personal preference but that's a couple reasons why it's done with any potential problems anyway.

I usually use a 16"radius tapered into 20" on steel string.

Keep in mind that on a wider fingerboard a given radius will seem more pronounced, hence my reason to taper to 20" on the wider portions of the board.

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Joe Beaver
Maker of Sawdust

The really tight radii have unique geometry problems, especially with extremely long tapered profiles like on a Jazz bass, besides the note bending problem.

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Old growth, shmold growth!

In the end it comes down to player preference, mine is for a 10" R board. Most of waht I make these days is a compound radius of 12"- 16" and most seem to find it agreeable. Another thing that has to play into this equation is the neck thickness and carve shape. All these contours must flow together and work with each other to create a comfortable playing guitar.

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Brian

You never know what you are capable of until you actually try.

https://www.howardguitarsdelaware.com/