Carved Top Tele comfort

[Endnote]

How's the comfort on the carved top tele? I have a flat top tele with black binding, and as you can see in the attached photo, it's very uncomfortable to play with the sharp edge. Warmoth won't offer a flat top with a forearm contour and drop top binding. I've considered building a carved top, but am curious what some of you might think of the flat top with forearm contour vs the carved top - how do they compare in terms of comfort? Am I going to be dealing with similar problems on the carved top?

 

[bagman67]

It's very, very comfy.  There's an edge there, but it's nicely rounded compared to the 90 degree angle on a bound telecaster.

 

[pabloman]

^^This guy knows. He's got some beautiful examples to compare.

 

[Cagey]

Another thing contributing to the comfort of a carved top Tele is they carve it down from a standard thickness body, so the edges are thinner than they would be if they added a top to it and carved that. Very nice design. Highly recommended.

 

[Endnote]

Thanks for the replies fellas. I like the black binding too much to go with a flat top with a natural accent and forearm contour, so this is likely in my future. Now just to decide on what color and woods.

 

[Ace Flibble]

Depends on the bridge, for me. With a tune-o-matic or wraparound, it's as comfortable as any common carved top (e.g. PRS, Les Paul) or rounded flattop with an arm contour (e.g. Strat, Jazzmaster). With a flat mount bridge, I found the carved top Tele to be a little nicer on the forearm than a regular Tele but not by much. It feels a lot like having a rounder edge radius, rather than a full forearm contour.

 

[fdesalvo]

I have a tele with comfort contours and its just as comfy as a strat.

 

[Endnote]

Depends on the bridge, for me. With a tune-o-matic or wraparound, it's as comfortable as any common carved top (e.g. PRS, Les Paul) or rounded flattop with an arm contour (e.g. Strat, Jazzmaster). With a flat mount bridge, I found the carved top Tele to be a little nicer on the forearm than a regular Tele but not by much. It feels a lot like having a rounder edge radius, rather than a full forearm contour.

You bring up a good point Ace. I had a carved top guitar in the past with a TOM bridge, and I never had problems with comfort. I was considering a flat mount bridge like a hipshot or narrow strat, but I guess I'll have to think about which way I want to go, because the possibility of the change in comfort being minimal crossed my mind for a flatmount bridge.