What's your idea of the ideal guitar neck?

[Nitro Express]

For me it would be a maple neck finished in nitrocelliouse laquer with a large Fender headstock and a bullet truss rod. 25.5 scale, 9 inch radius at the neck compounding to 12 at the 22nd fret, The nut width would be the same as an American Standard Strat. I would fret it with big ass Dunlop 6000 frets. I like large black position marker dots. The back profile would be a offset U shape. Much like a Wolfgang but a tad slimer.

[ZahZoo]

Mine is simular in specs as Nitro's but I prefer the soft-V shape for Fenders or anything pre-CBS with the thin C shape. Don't like the fat C shape of today's Fenders. I mostly play strats if you can't tell...

[ashstralia]

yep, much the same here.

but i really dig the smaller 60's style headstocks,

and i have 6100 frets installed in all my electrics.

i have a tele, a strat, (both maple) a jem, (rosewood) and a '83 roadstarII (maple).

[Big Fat Sammy]

25.5 scale big round neck w/ big frets

Rosewood or stripped maple...back of the neck stripped of any clear coat.

I started on a guitar that was so worn I got used to the smooth unfinished wood...and now I take sandpaper to those necks!

I hate how Fender doesn't have anything w/ big frets, like they do on heavy metal guitars like Ibanez ..etc...

[ashstralia]

Originally posted by Big Fat Sammy
I hate how Fender doesn't have anything w/ big frets, like they do on heavy metal guitars like Ibanez ..etc...

me too, costs me $100 to have my luthier change them.

i ring him and say 'i just bought another strat'
he goes 'great, i'll pick it up tomorrow!'

bastard.

[Big Fat Sammy]

Originally posted by ashstralia
me too, costs me $100 to have my luthier change them.

i ring him and say 'i just bought another strat'
he goes 'great, i'll pick it up tomorrow!'

bastard.

Wow thats cheap...its at least 250 US anywhere around here.

[ashstralia]

Originally posted by Big Fat Sammy
Wow thats cheap...its at least 250 US anywhere around here.

yeah, i'm lucky cause the guy does top notch work.
he's also a golfing buddy and he looks after me.

[Nitro Express]

I just learned how to refret and cut nuts myself. You have to spend a few hundred dollars on tools and put the time in but you get what you want.

[Nitro Express]

I think Fender would have a winner if they just took the Yngwie Malmsteen strat with the huge frets and sold a simular model without the scalloped fretboard in sevral pickup and bridge options. I think they would sell a lot of those if the price was around $500.

[Big Fat Sammy]

Yeah, if Fender made a budget model...w/ big frets and a 2 point tremelo...that would be great.

Like a Highway 1 Strat with jumbos...call it a "blues strat" or something.

[Redballjets88]

they would never sell it for 500 anything that has a guiatrists name on it goes for 800-2,000 for the most part

[Big Fat Sammy]

They should take his name off of it and sell it for $200!
:)

[Redballjets88]

yeah i think fender is over priced but people buy it unknowingly because thats they only thing they have ever heard of...i'll take a gibson over a fender any day

[Nitro Express]

I like both Gibson and Fenders. I buy individual guitars. Both Fender and Gibson have made some real shit and they have also made some good stuff. I looked at some stuff out of the Gibson Custom shop that was horrible. Like an Ace Frehley Les Paul with bad fret work.

I think both companies are guilty of coasting on the brandname status at times. I really don't think one is better than the other. Fender makes so many models of the same guitar it's gotten rediculouse. Plus they merchandise some cheesey cheap shit and charge a fortune for it.

Gibson is less crazy. The Les Paul is their equivalent of the Stratocaster. It's the flag ship so to speak. They really haven't overdone the Les Paul like how Fender has with the Strat.

I also think it's fine that Gibson remains the high end American brand and Epiphone is the economy overseas brand, but they are available in copies of some of the classic Gibsons. My Epiphone G-400 is a good guitar for the $270 I paid for it. The Gibson equivalent would be over $3,000. My only beef with Gibson is they price gouge on their signature and classic models. So does Fender but at least their prices are lower.

[ashstralia]

Originally posted by Nitro Express
I just learned how to refret and cut nuts myself. You have to spend a few hundred dollars on tools and put the time in but you get what you want.

cool nitro! you will get great knowledge of how guitars work,
and how to achieve exactly what you want.

i have a lot of experience in the wiring and set-up areas,
but i prefer to leave the actual luthiery to my bud.

he specialises in resonator guitars, acoustics and lap-steels, builds some mighty
fine stuff, used by lots of well known aussie and overseas artists.

i'll ask him to join and post a link to his site.

[ashstralia]

Originally posted by Nitro Express
I like both Gibson and Fenders. I buy individual guitars.

yep, all instruments have their particular 'thing'.

every guitar builder will occasionally turn out a freak great guitar.
we joke that these get finished on wednesdays, you don't want a friday afternoon guitar
or a monday morning one!

working in music shops for 15 years, i've been really lucky to play
hundreds of different instruments.

for me though, as a player, i keep coming back to those beautiful fenders.
just perfect.

[Big Fat Sammy]

I've got a $99 "Premier" strat copy made in Taiwan....It has a natural finish...not really, its laminate. LOL The truss rod doesn't even work. I replaced my '52 reisue Tele neck with the neck from the Premier...and its unbelievably cool...it just feels perfect. Big frets on a Fender type neck for $50 total.