Is a 14 Inch Radius Easy to Play Guitar
Whether you are new to understanding neck fretboard radius or are seasoned and have a pretty good idea of what you prefer, you should experiment with different playing styles on all types of radius to truly understand whether you like a traditional uniform radius across the entire neck or a compound radius.
A rounder radius of 9.5 to 10 inches is popular for open position chords. A flatter radius of 12 to 16 inches is popular for guitar soloing and bending notes. A compound radius offers both, starting rounder in open position and flattening out as you move higher up the neck.
Let's take a look a bit closer at what the most popular radius options have to offer.
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WHAT ARE NECK RADIUS OPTIONS?
7.25 is a vintage spec typical of what you will find on early model or vintage reissue Fender Stratocaster's. It has a very rounded top arch on the fingerboard.
I personally don't care for it for open position chords, and certainly not for soloing.
Many iconic guitar players played this neck radius including David Gilmour, Jimi Hendrix Ritchie Blackmore etc.
My feeling is that they simply did not have many other options.
Check Neck Radius Options on Ebay here:
A guitar like the Stratocaster was such an incredible innovation that they grew up playing them that way and that's ultimately the way they developed the muscle memory in their hands to be comfortable on that radius.
I believe many of these greats and more may have opted for a flatter radius across-the-board had they been available at the time.
9.5 and 10 inch radius has been the new standard radius for Fender Stratocaster's.
Actually 9.5 has been there go-to radius for production model guitars for probably the last 30 years, with a 10 inch becoming more standardized within the last 10 years or so.
And they are actually putting out more and more 12 inch radius options present-day.
9.5 or 10 inch radius offer a good mix of curvature or arch on the top side of the fret board for playing chords and flatness for single note bending that does not buzz out or fret out.
12" radius is in the ballpark of Gibson style guitars which had been celebrated over the years for their overall playability for chording and soloing by countless players including greats like Jimmy page, Slash and Gary Moore.
I truly like a 12 or 14 inch radius for overall playability as well. They certainly offer a lot of room to bend notes without buzzing or fretting out and have a very comfortable feel in open position for chords.
14" inch radius is on the flatter side, still in the ballpark of Gibson and approaching the feel of an Ibanez. This will be a great neck for soloing and open position chords for players that prefer an across-the-board flat neck.
Side note: A uniform 12 or 14 inch neck that feels good in open position playing chords between the first and third frets will also be easier to play barre chords and power chords on a bit further down the fret board anywhere between the fifth fret and the 12th fret.
Side note: Classical and flamenco guitars are super flat, if you find you enjoy the way that feels, a 14 inch or 16 inch radius will definitely work for you on an Electric Guitar.
16" radius is about as flat as it gets for modern-day electric guitars with some rare exceptions, Ibanez will commonly have something like a 16.9 inch radius and Jackson guitars may commonly have a 12 to 16 inch compound radius (but more on compound radius in a minute)
Typically these ranges will be superfast necks for soloing where you will be able to literally push the strings for days without fretting out or buzzing out.
20 inch radius guitars are few and far between and are basically like playing a completely flat fretboard. They are out there so just understand if you come across one it will be literally as flat as it gets while maintaining some form of radius.
After 35 years of playing I have now fully realized that I enjoy a straight 16 inch radius neck above any radius I have ever used.
I also was a product of my environment at the time falling into the 9.5 to 10 inch radius as they were the common dimensions for Strats when I grew up playing.
I always liked Strats, and always liked Gibsons but wound up gravitating toward Strats because the string spacing is a bit wider than Gibson necks. (1&11/32 inches Strat versus 1& 5/8 inches Gibson)
I really enjoy soloing on Gibson necks that had a 12 or 14 inch radius neck as it felt effortless compared to a Strat which always seemed to need a little more dig and bite in the solo department due to the rounder radius.
When I started playing we did not have many compound radius necks, or none that I was aware of unless it was an exclusive option.
So you basically had to pick a neck radius size that could handle both comfortably and go with it.
Yes you generally had to compromise a bit in one way or another, but you got used to it.
And like some of the earlier greats used, had their only been 7.25 radius available, I am sure I would ultimately been able to get comfortable playing those.
Interesting how it took me so long to stumble upon this but I simply never had a straight 16 inch neck before.
This is why I urge everyone at any skill level to go ahead and experiment with other radius sizes even if you feel you already found the best option for you.
You cannot really determine that until you have sat with all the popular sizes for a period of at least a week or so.
This is why it's hard sometimes to make that determination in the field when you're at a music store looking to make a purchase.
With only an hour or so to tinker with an instrument you are interested in, you really don't get a chance to fully understand for yourself if it suits All of your needs.
And if you do fall in love right away with it, chances are good it will just get better the more you sit with it.
I do generally subscribe to going with that initial gut reaction.
WHAT ARE COMPOUND RADIUS NECKS?
Compound radius necks go from a rounder curvature in open position between frets one in three and they flatten out the higher you go up the neck generally getting as flat as they will be around the 12th to 15th fret.
The concept is really great and the general consensus is that a lot of people love them.
I personally do not because over the years I have found that there is something psychological that interacts with my playing where I feel I am more at peace playing on one set radius that is uniform all along the fret board from fret 1 to 21 or 22.
For whatever reason it seems I have some kind of subconscious hiccup having to change the way I posture and hold the guitar going between two types of radius on one neck.
If I'm going to play a 12 inch neck, I want it to be 12 inch all the way across.
If I'm playing a 14 inch neck, I want it to be 14 inch all the way across the neck,
and so on, and so on.
Side note: I never played 24 fret necks simply because the more frets you include within a scale length the less space is available between each and every fret.
I prefer to have a bit more space in between each fret for my finger then have that full second octave going all the way up to the 24th fret.
Some players will find the full second octave of a 24 fret neck is essential and I completely get that,
I did just want to mention so you do realize you'll get a little less space in between each fret to squeeze those extra two frets on the scale length of the neck.
WHAT ARE CLASSICAL AND FLAMENCO STYLE NECKS?
Classical and Flamenco style necks are traditionally flat with no radius at all whatsoever.
But more and more companies are introducing a very slight radius as an option to capture more of an audience that otherwise would not be interested in a completely flat neck.
So it's not uncommon to see a radius' somewhere between 16 inches and totally flat being offered.
This is also a good bit of information; If you know you enjoy playing these types of guitars you are an excellent candidate for a flatter radius neck on your electric instrument.
So there are the basic options, what's your initial reaction to what you think suits you best?
Start with that, and then start looking in either direction after that to get a comprehensive idea of what is going to be the optimal selection for you.
HOW TO DETERMINE FRETBOARD RADIUS
If you are not sure what neck radius you have on a guitar that you currently own because you cannot find any information on the new make or model, you can get something called Radius Gauge.
Two radius gauges should be all you ever need.
They are square metal pieces of rigid sheet metal with notches for the strings that come with a different radius size on each side.
So one radius gauge can have 7.25, 9.5, 10 and 12"
Another one can have 14, 15, 16 and 20"
That should pretty much cover all your bases to give you a spot on assessment or a really close assessment if you have some kind of oddball size.
RADIUS INTERACTION WITH NECK PROFILE
We are talking a lot here about the top of the necks fret board, but keep in mind that the back of the neck (called the neck profile) may impact the way any given radius performs on that guitar.
Meaning you might try a flat radius neck and absolutely hate it on a fatback super thick neck, while that same radius may be the secret recipe for you on a ultra-thin wizard style neck.
So always keep this in mind.
I have found that they have been times I pickup a guitar and say there's something definitely there but there's something definitely missing or wrong as well.
This will take a little experience for you to determine whether it is neck profile or the radius itself.
So if you experience that you're not quite satisfied with a particular radius, take a step back and think if it may have just been the neck profile that you didn't like but the radius was really awesome.
The same can be true for any dimension radius. You might find you can deal with a 7.25 very rounded radius neck on a thinner neck while that same radius on a thicker neck is just way too big and feels something like a baseball bat in the hand.
RADIUS & SLIDE GUITAR
A quick note about radius and slide guitar is that you can make any radius work.
Greats like Mark Knopfler or Bonnie Raitt did just fine on the rounder radius of the Stratocaster while Duane Allman and Warren Haynes found their sweet spots on Gibson style flatter radius.
The key to note here is that the optimal guitar setup for slide guitar will always have the action set somewhat higher than an absolute perfect set up.
Having the strings set a bit higher allows you greater flexibility to slide up and down without clicking and clanking along any of the frets.
The only difference is that on a rounder the neck you will obviously have to follow the curvature of the neck and angle the slide a bit when approaching the high strings or the low strings,
whereas on a flatter radius you can just hold the bar more uniformly in one position and run the slide up and down catching all the strings relatively cleanly.
FINAL THOUGHTS
At the end of the day, this is all about feel.
There is no right radius or wrong radius. It all boils down to what you ultimately feel comfortable with and what can ultimately suit your needs comprehensively.
Ideally you will stumble upon a dimension where chords is a dream and soloing just gets better.
I would say keep experimenting with different radius sizes until you can find an option where you are really happy doing both tasks.
Maybe you are strictly a rhythm player and it doesn't matter as you just need something that will be great for chords and rhythmic work. Then your task should be somewhat easier to find a size that works.
I find that for most players, it is finding that balance without making too big a trade-off in either direction to where they are happy with rhythm and lead work identically with one particular size for a compound radius neck of a certain dimension range.
As I mentioned earlier in the post it was way too long for me before I found the ultimate radius for myself, you will be well ahead of the game if you can figure this out early on in your playing career.
We can all learn to cope with things, and learn to fall in love with things,
but the general mantra contained in many of my posts is that if you start from a place where you are in awe of how great something feels or sounds at the get-go,
it will generally just get better from there instead of trying to force yourself into an option where you reason a way that you can learn to live with it.
Check Warmoth Guitar Products Here, They are a great resource for neck specs and much more.
I wish you all the very best!
Source: https://waymoresound.com/what-guitar-neck-radius-is-best/
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