Orpheum Series Neck Feel Question

nyimbo

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I'm very interested in the Orpheum Orchestra 12 fret but I haven't been able to find one to play. I've exhausted the you tube videos listening to the tone which is quite nice as well as are the comments of those who play them.

I also did a search of all the discussions on this web site and in two different cases there were comments about the neck being kind of big. I'm trying to quote "one of y'all said it is baseball or baseball bat like." I forget the wording on the other comment that caught my attention maybe it was that the neck was "beefy." I'm not concerned about the nut width at 1-13/16 because that is what I have been looking for. I am trying to get a sense of the neck profile tho.

Since I have the D25 could any of you with an Orpheum tell me how it compares to the neck on the D25? I'm assuming that the jumbo and the slope d also have the same neck. BTW I've seen the comment that it is a soft-V but that doesn't mean anything to me so far. I also have a Taylor 414 if that help for a comparison point for me.

Anyway I appreciate your comments and thoughts, thanks
Keith
 
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fronobulax

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guitar-neck-contours.jpg


Food for thought while waiting for a useful answer.
 

merlin6666

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I'm very interested in the OM Orpheum but I haven't been able to find one to play. I've exhausted the you tube videos listening to the tone which is quite nice as well as are the comments of those who play them.

I also did a search of all the discussions on this web site and in two different cases there were comments about the neck being kind of big. I'm trying to quote "one of y'all said it is baseball or baseball bat like." I forget the wording on the other comment that caught my attention maybe it was that the neck was "beefy." I'm not concerned about the nut width at 1-13/16 because that is what I have been looking for. I am trying to get a sense of the neck profile tho.

I don't have an OM or a D25, but both an Orpheum Jumbo and an Orpheum 000 12 string. These two have kind of diametrically opposite neck shapes. The Jumbo neck feels long and slender, and the shape is described as a "vintage soft U", maybe somewhere in between the oval "c" and "u" in the image above. The 12 string 000 on the other hand feels short and stout, and is described as a "soft V". I have no difficulty switching from one to the other. The Orchestra has a longer scale and a narrower nut so the soft V would probably not be as chunky as the 12 string. The main negative aspect of the necks for me is their nitro finish which does not get along well with my hand and gets sticky after about two to three hours of playing. So I just spend a little extra time to polish the neck as often as I can.
 

adorshki

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I also did a search of all the discussions on this web site and in two different cases there were comments about the neck being kind of big. I'm trying to quote "one of y'all said it is baseball or baseball bat like." I forget the wording on the other comment that caught my attention maybe it was that the neck was "beefy." I'm not concerned about the nut width at 1-13/16 because that is what I have been looking for. I am trying to get a sense of the neck profile tho.
Since I have the D25 could any of you with an Orpheum tell me how it compares to the neck on the D25?
This used to be one of my favorite subjects until one day I realized " 'Chunky' (or 'beefy') is in the hand of the holder", to paraphrase a popular platitude.
The next question is "How big are your hands?" :friendly_wink:
But your reference to your D25 helps somewhat because my informal memory tally of reports is that Guild necks were kind of "beefy" at that time.
They varied over the course of production and not only due to the fact that every single neck in Westerly was finished by hand.
NO 2 are identical except by coincidence.
They did use "target" templates, so apparently the target templates themselves were revised periodically.
I first saw that diagram Frono posted in the "Fender Frontline" catalog of 2001 and it was a revelation to me.
Never realized there were "standard profiles" before that, only knew my '96 D25 had the skinniest neck I'd ever played, like the "modern flat oval", and I loved it to death at the time.
And I have relatively small hands.
Later on when trying to figure out why my Corona D40 felt like it had high action but measured out identically to the Westerlys with a 6/64 action height, I realized it had a "U" profile.
Over time as my grip strength has changed, I now find the '40 more comfortable than ever.
But it just goes to show how much impact profile has on playability and you're to be applauded for looking into it.
I'm pretty sure Merlin666 is that same guy who mentioned the "soft V" shape on his Orpheum. I always remembered the comment but not the author, because of my surprise due to it being so uncommon, for Guild, at least.
I can remember at least a couple of comments from folks who find "V"'s unplayable, and I'm pretty certain it would be for me too.
As Merlin clarified, Orpheums have different profiles according to model, but I would expect an extreme degree of consistency for a given profile because by the time of New Hartford, Guild had adopted Numerically
C
ontrolled machining of parts, like necks.
Hopefully somebody with one of the OM's can compare it to the diagram, while you determine where your D25 fits on it.
 
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geoguy

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No Orpheum experience to share, but I've found that the soft V neck on a particular Gretsch that I've played, is extraordinarily comfortable. Likewise with Martin's Eric Clapton model.
 
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