Neck reshaping...

[deeaa]

Found out one more thing to do while babysitting - reshaping necks!

I have this Flying-V that was custom built by yours truly and a luthier, but I never was happy with the neck shape really. A wide U shape just felt too thick.

So...I went ahead and sanded the neck upside to a sharp V, i.e. so that instead of the fretboard and such start off at 90 degree angle, now the 'slope' starts already at the fretboard. Pretty much like a straight line from the edge of the fretboard to the middle of the neck back. I left the lower side intact.

I just love this type completely asymmetrical necks. When you have a thick U in the lower side it fills the hand SO nicely and isn't tiring but since the upside is carved very much more, the thumb rests very close to the strings in the playing position, so that overall the feel is like of an extremely thin neck.

All my necks are now V; two of them are rather normal V shapes, 19mm thick at most and V both sides, and one is extra thin V, something like 15mm only for the whole thickness and V only on the upper side (fastest neck I ever played but too thin overall in live playing, tiring for the hand) and now this totally asymmetrical V/U shape.

If I had realized how good it is to play a V shape neck or especially asymmetrical V, man, I would have developed into so much better a player.

The pic of course exaggerates some, but the general idea:

http://deeaa.pp.fi/vasymnm.JPG

[gordy_sg_no1]

my favourite thing to do when i get a guitar i want a different neck is go scouting around in misic shops and find a killer neck shape. i just find the dimensions with a tile marking guage and follow the contours onto card with a good fine liner. i converted a westfield strat copies neck into a '57 strat profile, then set about putting on the more rounded angles at the headstock (well as near to it as the amount of wood you have lets you) and on that note i think i may have a bash at the shine bass neck i have in the cauls at the mo getting a headstock repair. as for the story about the shine it involves a 15st newfoundland dog.

[deeaa]

Right on Gordy and BTW just been walking round Musselburgh from Fort Kinnaird to Joppa and to east of there...and went to a jam in Musselburgh last night too...loving Scotland, terrific people here...gonna go see the castle & old town in a mo now...superb town, and very cheap too compared to Finland...eating out and such, like with McDonalds comparison everything is half price or less here so we're having a ball...I had the best beef baguette ever in Fisherrow last night, with three coffees and two cupcakes too, and it was seven pounds...why you can hardly get a coupla cupcakes for that back home...

[Bloozcat]

The "soft V" is my favorite neck back contour. It just fits my hand best and there's never an issue with hand fatigue. The last three necks I've ordered for Strat/Tele projects were V's. Love 'em.

[deeaa]

The "soft V" is my favorite neck back contour. It just fits my hand best and there's never an issue with hand fatigue. The last three necks I've ordered for Strat/Tele projects were V's. Love 'em.

Yep, I guess my customs are pretty close to soft V...I don't mind even a thickish neck, it's only better for fighting fatique, but, yeah, I want my thumb pretty close to the strings.

[Bloozcat]

Yep, I guess my customs are pretty close to soft V...I don't mind even a thickish neck, it's only better for fighting fatique, but, yeah, I want my thumb pretty close to the strings.

Your's looks like the asymetrical V's I've seen, Dee. I've never tried one but the concept sounds practical and comfortable.

[deeaa]

Ayuh, they do work very well. I don't mind a thin wizard type either and normal c but v hybrids do work in any style and situation superblyI've experienced.

[gordy_sg_no1]

take it you are back from your holidays dee. and i know from experience the price gap as i went to finland with a couple of friends just a couple years ago. but if you think edinburgh was cheap down where i am its like a good 25% less. as ediburgh is our capital city its extortionate in comparison. oh and back on the subject of necks its never been so much the profile for me i like mine worn in and old feeling, kinda like a t shirt youve had since you were a kid that still fits and you'll never part with it even if its falling apart. but if im honest d, c, u it would seem are my prefference, never got into v shaped as i got put right off by an ovation accoustic i had that had sorta between a medium and a hard v profile and it crippled my wrists. after about a month it got put on ebay

[deeaa]

Yeah Gordy...well, London seemed to be about on par with prices here in many ways. To my surprise alcohol seems - for a change - just as cheap here as anywhere else, or cheaper...used to be much more expensive here.

The most striking difference I guess is the price of public transport...seems to be in the range of 2-4 times more expensive here for buses etc. which is why I can't ever afford to ride buses etc. here, only my own car, because it is way less expensive that way, even with petrol costing 7,4 dollars per gallon these days. If I go to my workplace which is under 2 miles away by bus, it'll cost me eight pounds a day, or 13 USD...gas costs are a fraction on such a short burst of driving. We go to a shops w/ the whole family and back, it'll cost us a minimum of 24 dollars, that's just insane, in Edinburgh it was something like six pounds no matter how far in the city and back. Taxis too...the ride from Edi airport to center was under 20 pounds, the ride (much shorter) from our airport to our house was about 35 pounds...but the real difference was you just jump in a taxi and get clear accross the city for 3 pounds or so, here it'd be at least 10-15 to get much anywhere.

[gordy_sg_no1]

Yeah Gordy...well, London seemed to be about on par with prices here in many ways. To my surprise alcohol seems - for a change - just as cheap here as anywhere else, or cheaper...used to be much more expensive here.

The most striking difference I guess is the price of public transport...seems to be in the range of 2-4 times more expensive here for buses etc. which is why I can't ever afford to ride buses etc. here, only my own car, because it is way less expensive that way, even with petrol costing 7,4 dollars per gallon these days. If I go to my workplace which is under 2 miles away by bus, it'll cost me eight pounds a day, or 13 USD...gas costs are a fraction on such a short burst of driving. We go to a shops w/ the whole family and back, it'll cost us a minimum of 24 dollars, that's just insane, in Edinburgh it was something like six pounds no matter how far in the city and back. Taxis too...the ride from Edi airport to center was under 20 pounds, the ride (much shorter) from our airport to our house was about 35 pounds...but the real difference was you just jump in a taxi and get clear accross the city for 3 pounds or so, here it'd be at least 10-15 to get much anywhere.

the bus in edinburgh is like £3 for the whole day unlimited travel. but its a political thing here as the government is trying to reduce congestion in the cities so has priced the oil realy high but made public transport very reasonable, i cant afford to run a car hear as its like 1.20 per litre of gas and 1.30 a litre of diesel. and london is mega mega expensive, it costs me like 1.90 for a pint where i live and its about twice that in london.

[deeaa]

Yep gas here is pretty much the same, but curiously vice versa in gas/diesel...in GBP about 1,30 a litre for gas and 1,20 for diesel.

BUT it's still cheaper than trying to use the public transport.

It's no wonder, though, when you think about it, Finland and Scotland have roughly the same 5 million inhabitants, but Finland's area is almost 4,5 times larger...it's tough to build a good network of public transport here, when most towns have like 20-30.000 inhabitants only...they just cost too much for the city to run.

Especially for a family with children...there is no way I could survive without a car, and we also pretty much need to have a trailer for stuff as well, otherwise we'd have to rent one all the time for hauling stuff around.

[Jimi75]

Got a V-shaped neck on my Jimmie Vaughan Strat and it is the most comfortable shape for me.

[hubberjub]

My Modulus has an asymmetrical neck and it's one of the easiest playing guitars I've experienced. I wish more guitar makers would offer this. I know that the Gibson had one on the 2008 Les Paul Standard. I don't know if that is still available.