Fretboard radius?

[High Flying Bird]

Hey guys, I am trying to figure  out what the fretboard radius is on my guitars.  My 535s have a slim neck with a wide fretboard on them where the 137 and my buddy's 550 have chunkier necks on them.  What are the various radius on Heritage fretboards? 

Thanks, Ron

[Kuz]

I believe all Heritage fretboards are 10 degrees (regardless of guitar model)

[AnH555]

I think their standard radius is 12", from what I've read. Makes sense because it's the radius specified for the standard bridges they use.

[Kuz]

Yep AnH555 I think you're correct. I did a google search and found a Heritage Owners Club index. And where it did not mention all the neck radius, the ones that it did were all 12".

 

I may have gotten confused with PRS. I know all their necks are 10"

 

Sorry for the misinfo.

[High Flying Bird]

Maybe I am axing the wrong question then.  I see two different necks on the heritages that me and by buds own.  The 550 and one 150 have round necks compared to the 2 535s and another 150. 

Cuz help me out here you must have different necks on your big boys compared to the 555s. 

[Kuz]

Ok I think I got the question now. The fret board radius has nothing to do with how fat or thin a neck is. The fret board radius is the curve of the fret board only. For example I have a '63 RI Tele with a 7.5" radius and when you play the guitar you can feel this round fret board ( I don't really care for it) A lot of the early Teles & Strats had 7.5" radius, but as more modern players started bending notes they changed to 9.5" radius. I think all set necks (LPs, 335s, ect) have at least a 10" radius and now even 12" (flatter) boards.

 

To answer you question, both of my archtops seem to have a  very similar nice fatter "D" shape neck. I have big hands so I love these necks.

 

My 555 & the 555Cust have completely different necks. The 555 I bought used (albeit mint) and I think the original owner wanted a thin "C" shape neck. It is very fast and although I like fatter 50s style necks I got used to it pretty quickly. When I ordered the Cust 555 I told them I wasn't going to pay an upcharge for a custom neck but if they were going to error, please error on the side of a Wide/Fat neck and boy did they nail it. Nice big "D" neck with a wider nut width.

 

So I think with the hand making of Heritage guitars all their necks will be slightly different. One neck sanded too much, no sanded to little. In the 50s Gibson made fatter necks, in the 60s they made slimmer necks.

 

Personally, I think too much is made of people saying I sold this guitar because the neck was too fat or too thin. Professional players change from Strats to LPs everyday on stage with no problem.

Now the width at the nut is a whole another deal. I find the '60s narrower nut width (1 11/16") a little to narrow for my big hands & fingers to make m7 flat 5th chords, ect.

I prefer the wider 1 3/4 nut width.

 

Hope that helps.

[High Flying Bird]

That's it Cuz!  "D" shape vs "C" shape.

 

I have never noticed the D shaped neck when switching from a C shaped neck but a few months ago I played the 137 or the 550 for about 2 weeks.  The next Saturday night I played the 535 and noticed how nice the neck felt to me.

 

There are a few Ricks in the mix and their necks feel like broomsticks compared to a Heritage neck of any type.  Fun to play though!

[GuitArtMan]

I've owned 6 different Heritages and all had sublty to not so subtly different neck shapes:

535 Almond Burst - Deep D shape

535 Antique Natural - Slim C

Millenium Limited Edition - Medium C

535 Anitique Natrual no. 2 - Slim D

535 Dark Almod Burst - Medium C

H-137 - Deep C almost a D shape

Heritage hand shapes the necks and so no two necks are exactly alike.

[Gitfiddler]

Kuz got it all in his post, so I'll only give you the different shapes of my Heritage gits:

 

Golden Eagle:  Slim C taper (extremely fast, but a bit tight at the nut)

Sweet 16:      Medium C taper (very comfortable)

H-575:          Medium D taper (a bit more shoulders up the neck)

H-555:          Medium D taper (damn near perfect for my big hands)

 

Since all of Heritage's necks are shaped by hand, each guitar will have its own carve/taper.  If I were to custom order, it would have a slightly wider nut for better fingering of those jangly first position chords.  Up the neck, where I hang out most of the time, a slightly chunky 'D' shape with shoulders works best for me.

[yoslate]

Hey guys!  A useful link here, thanks to John Covach, I think it was.  Don't have the address here; it's on the computer at work.  Google "Pickguardian," an outfit which makes stunning pickguards, custom and repro.  On their site, they provide downloadable radius templates, which you can print on heavy stock and then laminate.  Nifty thing to have!

 

slate

[JohnCovach]

Yep, it's www.pickguardian.com.  BTW, this guy is superb for plastic pickguards, though I don't think he does wooden ones.  Getting further from the fretboard radius topic, another good source for pickguards is a place called pickguard heaven, though I've haven't yet used them: www.pickguardheaven.com.

[skydog]

neither site mentions Heritage though. The guard albeit wood that came with my 535 is black. whomever made the decision to put this guard on a very light vintage sunburst instrument is color blind. look like chitt. I much prefer the creme one on my 150. But then it's plastic.

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e41/skydog653/000_0692.jpg[/img]

[JohnCovach]

Correct.  You could get a Heritage pickguard, but it would be plastic and you'd have to trace the current one, or send it along as a model.

[Kuz]

I prefer no pickguard (or Finger rest as Ren calls them) on wood that beautiful. I asked Heritage not to install it and they listened. They sent the pickguard in the case pocket.

[soybean]

The fret board radius has nothing to do with how fat or thin a neck is…

Lots of good information here Kuz!

 

 

I find the '60s narrower nut width (1 11/16") a little to narrow for my big hands & fingers to make m7 flat 5th chords, etc. I prefer the wider 1 3/4 nut width.

This is not quite correct. The narrow nut width on '66-69 Gibsons was 1 & 9/16th or 1 & 10/16th. The standard for Gibson on most other years was 1 & 11/16th. (early 1960's 335, Les Paul, most L5s, etc.) the only vintage Gibson with a wider fingerboard was the Johnny Smith archtop. The 1 & 3/4 nut width is mostly a modern development favored by fingerstyle players and guys with big hands like yourself.

[Kuz]

Lots of good information here Kuz!

 

This is not quite correct. The narrow nut width on '66-69 Gibsons was 1 & 9/16th or 1 & 10/16th. The standard for Gibson on most other years was 1 & 11/16th. (early 1960's 335, Les Paul, most L5s, etc.) the only vintage Gibson with a wider fingerboard was the Johnny Smith archtop. The 1 & 3/4 nut width is mostly a modern development favored by fingerstyle players and guys with big hands like yourself.

 

The '65 335 I sold about 8 months ago was all original and had the larger 1 3/4" nut width. Where the 1 11/16" was much more common, some were shipped (ordered ?) with a 1 3/4" nut width and makes them more disireable to vintage players. It was one of the reasons I did so well on mine.

 

But thanks for the great info

[Windstring]

Hello Kuz, Hello All,

There's nothing like an argument at the Christmas dinner table to bring one back to the Forum! Anyway, I just wanted to chime in for those of us who have small hands and are always on the lookout for the guitars you don't like, ie ones with skinny necks! I especially liked the late 60s Gibsons with thin necks, but I also played an old G***** Super300 from 1951 that had a 1 & 9/16 inch neck! I could really fly on that neck. So my point is to make it clear that one person's irritation is another person's joy, in the guitaristic realm at least. Happily, this divergence of preference also explains why guitars often end up for sale in the "used category", and thereby fulfil the needs of the all us guitar junkies in one way or another. Merry Christmas.

[soybean]

The '65 335 I sold about 8 months ago was all original and had the larger 1 3/4" nut width.

Wow, that must have a been a one-of… or maybe a custom order. For my hands, the standard 1 & 11/16ths is about perfect. By the way, Eastman guitars fingerboards are usually wider and have a scale length of 25 inches.