Favorite neck profile & why?

So those of you that like fatter necks, are you putting the heel of your thumb on the neck? I like the thinner necks and have just my thumb tip on the back of the neck, classical style.
 
I'm partial to the dimensions on my JPXI and Majesty. Less hand fatigue. I also have an 1982 Original San Dimas that has the best Maple Neck I've ever played.
 
I've never measured my main guitar (late 80s custom shop strat), but it's a most comfortable guitar neck for me. I know it's a compound radius neck with an ebony fretboard, and about a year ago I had it refretted with med-jumbo stainless steel frets. The thread has piqued my curiosity. I will get the calipers out and do some measurement.
 
Rook said:
So those of you that like fatter necks, are you putting the heel of your thumb on the neck? I like the thinner necks and have just my thumb tip on the back of the neck, classical style.
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While playing I vary from thumb over the neck to thumb behind the heel of the neck(on thick necks and thin necks). I play electric in a classical style sitting position, when I stand up the guitar is in the same position as when I sit down. Thin necks - I like them, but not my favorite. I have one on a USA Soloist, it cuts into my hand where the thumb goes over the neck a little when I do bends but it is nothing that makes me dislike it. The thin neck used to give me thumb cramps but that is no longer an issue. I got used to it.
 
Glossy is ok but I prefer the natural feel also. Seems the V profile has some fans, I may need to re-visit it sometime. The thicker profiles are a bit harder or at least I have focus more which I do enjoy, but always come back to the thinner profiles. The action has to be low regardless. :)
 
Huge fan of the original Wizard necks, here. That 17mm thickness at the nut is awesome :)

I have a bunch of 87/88 Sabres that all have those, as well as an '87 Radius and "custom" '86 RS440 (both built with with parts from eBay and re-finished by me) and an '86 ProLine and all of those also have (non-stock) Wizard necks, too.

Don't like finished necks at all... the "satin" feel of the Wizards is pretty good. I have a couple that were stripped to bare wood when I got them, and I actually prefer that feel the most - bare-naked ;)

Also, the '87-'88 necks have smaller frets and I find that I actually prefer the ones after that with jumbo frets a little more.

I play both with my thumb on the back, as well as over the neck - all depends on the scenario...
 
I love my EBMM Luke III necks with the stainless steel jumbo frets (the PDN Neptune Blue models) with the soft V. The neck is so comfortable in my hands and fast. Also love my EBMM silhouette C shaped necks especially the roasted maple one.
 
I have two favorites:


  1. The Ibanez Wizard, (really love its precursor on Roadstars). Wide, thin, and relatively large radius;
  2. Soft V, as on my DBZ Imperial. Still wide, with a bit more meat.


I've always been fond of thin necks. The neck on my Tamura classical, which I've had for 40 years, is quite thin for a classical. The first time I picked up an Ibanez S540, I fell in love with the neck. The soft V on the Imperial was a departure for me. It felt weird for about 39 seconds, and it's felt very natural ever since. I switch effortlessly between it and the Wizard, even though they're quite different.

Thick lumber and sharp V profiles? No likey.
 
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Some people gawk when I tell them this, but I prefer all of my necks to be sanded down with no finish on them. Personally, I like the back of my neck to feel kinda like a drum stick so I don't have any resistance when I play.

As for the shape, I am pretty open minded. I prefer a compound radius, 11/16 width and a Thin C. I was blessed with big hands, so it doesn't really matter to me. Medium C, Wizard, whatever. Also, always always always maple as the base wood (and usually the fretboard). Big frets too, please.

+1 - for this post. It's great hearing people talk about their preferences as I compare it to my own. About to create a super strat with either Musikraft or Warmoth. Haven't decided the neck profile I want yet!
 
I have smaller finger to palm ratio compared to a lot of guitarists.

With that in mind, I found it really depends on neck thickness to nut width combined with neck scale and a really flat radius that works for me. The shape can vary for me depending upon those ratios and relationships.

For example, the easiest guitar for me to play is my insanely thin Dusk Tiger neck whose specs are:
Radius: 12 in
Width at nut: 1.695 in
Thickness: 0.80 in
Scale Length: 24.6 in
Shape: seems to be more of a shallow D

Compare the above specs to my next easiest playing guitar imho, my PRS SE Singlecut with Trem:
Radius: 10 in
Width at nut: 1.71 in
Thickness: a little more than an inch, no official specs
Scale Length: 25 in
Neck Shape: C shape

I found for the ergonomics that I need in order to not to tear out my wrist tendons, I really need to actually play the guitars to see what feels good, rather than just go on pure specs.
 
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Rook said:
So those of you that like fatter necks, are you putting the heel of your thumb on the neck? I like the thinner necks and have just my thumb tip on the back of the neck, classical style.
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I tend to play with a classical left hand position a lot of the time also. I like fat necks, but I've got a double jointed thumb so that never gets in the way. Thats possibly another reason why I like D shaped necks (classical guitars tend to be more of a D shape).
 
Rook said:
So those of you that like fatter necks, are you putting the heel of your thumb on the neck? I like the thinner necks and have just my thumb tip on the back of the neck, classical style.
Click to expand...

It totally depends on what I'm playing. I'm the song writer, singer, and guitar player in a three piece original band, so I use a lot of different playing techniques in different parts of our songs to make our music seem fuller than it really is. To be totally honest, though, I don't really pay too much attention to "how much" thumb is actually touching the neck when I play chords that need the traditional thumb placement.
 
The neck on my Ibanez RG2127X, whatever that is. But my UV777 and RG7620 suit me ok too. Have never really played a non-Ibanez 7-string I've felt comfortable on. For 6-strings, I'm a lot less picky. I'm not into huge baseball bat necks, but my acoustics, my Strat, my ol' RG560, RGA121... doesn't really bother me. On the other side of it though, I definitely prefer a flatter radius.
 
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