Fretboard radius and playability

[WC_Guitarist]

I am for sure going to earn my official "Guild Geek" badge with this question. :0)

So, the fretboard radius of my exceptionally smooth, effortless and silky playing Yamaha LS-26 is 400 mm (15 3/4").
The fretboard radius of the smaller bodied guitar (not the rejected vintage M-20, diff. guitar) I am also looking at is RADIUS: 16''.

Assuming the action has been set lower on the second guitar, how will the quarter inch difference in fretboard radius affect playability?

Whoa! Serious uncharted waters here. I better put on a life jacket.

Here's my "first world problem." The Yamaha LS-26 is simply too good of a guitar. My only knock against it is it's heavy. I am looking for a smaller bodied, lighter weight guitar that sounds and feels as good. I've got one contender but the contender has a larger fingerboard radius. My concern is that even after lowering the action, it won't feel as good as the LS-26.

Is it possible to make a Martin play fast and silky like the Yammie?

What else do I need to know?

 

[WC_Guitarist]

PS Why can't Yamaha just make a 00 spruce/hog guitar with a 12 fret neck and slothead??? Would sure make my life a lot easier! I tried the FS5, great guitar but too big for what I'm looking for.

 

[davismanLV]

1/4 inch radius difference will not really be noticeable in my opinion. I wouldn't worry about it. I don't even think you'll need the life jacket unless you're playing on a boat.

 

[ronbo]

Agree with Davisman that 1/4" won't be noticeable. Nearly every guitar I own is 12" except my Recording King D18 clone which is 16", like almost all Martin necks. I like the flatter radius fretboards and have rarely played and never owned any guitars with neck radius less than 12" except a couple of older Tele's that had a 7.5 inch radius and I could not get along with them at all. I recently bought a G&L Doheny V12 that has a 9.5" radius and I really don't like the feel. I didn't think it would make a difference and couldn't figure out why I didn't like it until I looked closely at the specs.

I've lately been looking for Guild electrics with P-90s like a SFIII-P90 or a Blues 90, but now see that Guilds standard radius on these is 9.5 also, so I'm starting to rethink my desire to have one. Amazingly their acoustics all have 12" radius boards, so I was surprised to see this and surprised how much I felt that 2.5" reduction....maybe just aholdover from earlier days of their electrics? There really aren't any examples of Guild electrics locally to try except a used Newark Street X350 at the Guitar Center in Denver, so I may have to go check it out. It actually looks like a pretty cool guitar, but not sure if I want/need a 3 pickup P90, but at least I can decide if the radius on a Guild neck profile will be a deal breaker before I start my pursuit.

 

[GAD]

I have a set of radius gauges and 130 guitars so I have some experience here.

Of course everyone is different but as other have said you’re not going to feel that difference.

In my experience extremes are of course noticeable. For example if I handed you a 7.25” radius Strat and then a 20” radius super-Strat you’d probably notice. If I handed you a 7.25” radius Strat and a 9.5” radius Strat you probably would but might not depending on your history and skill level.

A 9.5” and a 10”? I’d say only a real virtuoso would notice and even then I’d be impressed. IMO the flatter it gets the harder it is to tell based on the nature of resolving a smaller and smaller section of a larger and larger circle. The difference between an 18” and a 20” is substantially subtler than the difference between 7” and 9”.

 

[WC_Guitarist]

Great input from you guys! I knew I could count on you.

So if I like the way the neck feels, and just want the action lower, that should in theory work out. I just didn't want to spend the money for the guitar, the time & money having it set up, only to get it back and think Hmmmm.... I could've had V-8. You know what I mean? Like the juice ends up not being worth the squeeze?

 

[wileypickett]

Complicating things are guitars with compound radius necks. (Or is that"radii"?)

 

[GGJaguar]

If I handed you a 7.25” radius Strat and a 9.5” radius Strat you probably would

Agreed. I have Jaguars and Jazzmasters that have both of those radii and I can definitely tell the difference. Same for my G&Ls with 7.25 and 9.5" radii. Where it gets fuzzy is telling the difference between say 12, 14 and 16". I think GAD is right that flatter boards are more difficult to tell apart.

 

[Christopher Cozad]

...I am looking for a smaller bodied, lighter weight guitar that sounds and feels as good...

At some point, aren’t we all?

...Is it possible to make a Martin play fast and silky like the Yammie?

In my experience, not without altering the Martin neck.

Others have already correctly pointed out that it is unlikely you would be able to detect the difference between a 15-3/4” and 16” radius. Let’s assume 16” is your target radius, one you are comfortable with. It isn’t just the radius you are noticing on your Yamaha neck.

I would suggest that the width and depth (thickness) of the neck, the shape of the back of the neck, and even the finish used on the neck are very responsible for the glowing review you have given of the neck on your Yamaha. Remember that “fast and silky” is in the hands of the beholder. And different brands have different approaches to “fast and silky.”

If you have the opportunity to play several different brands of guitars, you can quickly build your own encyclopedia of knowledge that may get you closer to discovering a guitar neck as comfortable for you as your Yamaha.

 

[WC_Guitarist]

At some point, aren’t we all?



In my experience, not without altering the Martin neck.

I think it's part of getting "less young." A milestone on our guitar journeys, like getting bifocals.

Am I the only person who has a love/hate relationship with Martin? (Rhetorical question)

I think I already know that even if I lower the action on the Martin I'm looking at so that it's the same as on my Yammie, it will not feel the same. Now the question is... do I want to fork out the money for that? Or do I want to find another workaround for the guitar I already love so much. It's fine when I play seated. It's very heavy to play with a strap standing. I'm short; I prefer to perform standing up. When I sit down, I disappear. The audience can see right over my head. I feel like a kindergartner in the little chairs from elementary school. Maybe I just need a taller chair?

I might have just saved myself a bundle, and a headache or three.

We're battin' two and oh!

 

[Christopher Cozad]

I think it's part of getting "less young." A milestone on our guitar journeys, like getting bifocals.

I am sorry, what was that? Could you please speak up?

Am I the only person who has a love/hate relationship with Martin? (Rhetorical question)

Have you tried Taylor?

...Maybe I just need a taller chair?

I might have just saved myself a bundle, and a headache or three.

You keep this up, and we’re all going to start coming to *you* with questions.

 

[WC_Guitarist]

I am sorry, what was that? Could you please speak up?



Have you tried Taylor?



You keep this up, and we’re all going to start coming to *you* with questions.

If I could find a Taylor that I liked my life would be so easy. But alas, I have never warmed up to the Taylor sound. I cannot understand why Martin and Taylor don't get together for a "joint venture." Taylor ease of playability with Martin sound = WORLD DOMINATION. Call me crazy!

Happy to answer any questions anyone might have. Just send them along. I turned 60 recently, and "suddenly" I'm so smart. Only took six decades for the heaps of life experience I have acquired from being NOT so smart to crystallize into something usable. Glad to share. LOL!

It helps that I'm married to a very smart guy, a non-musician, who can see through a lot of the GAS for what it really is... a solution in search of a problem.

Maybe what I really need is a 12 string.... she said, ducking.

PS Yes, I did notice you have one or two in your sig line.

 

[bobouz]

Typically, I prefer the more rounded 12” radius as opposed to the flatter 16”, but as Chris said, there are many other neck dimensions that come into play, as well as the unique size & shape of you hands! Most of my guitars have a 12” radius, but some with 16” also feel comfortable, usually because of a smaller overall neck profile on those particular instruments. So generalizations will only take you up to a certain reference point, and then you’ve got to get the guitar into your one-of-a-kind hands.

 

[Minnesota Flats]

Since I switched to predominantly playing bass, I've been able to reap the joys of "less flat" fretboards. Love the comfort/playability of the 7.25" radius on my Mustang.

Not much worry about "fretting out" those step-and-a-half bends when you're playing bridge cables on a bass.

But we digress...