Flat fretboard option, why not?

[lidesnowi]

Flat radius necks are great in my opinion, i wonder why Warmoth don't offer this  as an option "especially on the Vintage Modern neck" 
I don't agree that it is uncomfortable to play chords on a flat radius neck ! for exemple Martin acoustic guitars  have a 16” radius and most all nylon stringed  acoustic guitars have a totally flat board and most acoustic players do play barre chords  !
A Vintage Modern neck with a  25” radius and big frets would have been great!
I have two Warmoth Vintage Modern fatback necks that is 16” radius and they are great but i would really like to have a 25 radius one! 





If you never tasted an orange how could you then know how it tasted like :icon_scratch:

 

[Dan025]

yeah the discomfort thing has to do with the what most people hold the guitar, the classical and the typical shred position has the neck high and the wrist winds up strait down, flat radius works for that, but some people want to do rythm playing where the neck is low and the wrist must bend. but i agree it should be an option to have a flatter or totaly flat board especially on the super wide and 1-3/4 nut widths where the neck up position is used more to be able to reach the low strings and the compound radius offered is good but not optimal, a flatter radius would be easier to develop than an alternative compound radius.

 

[tfarny]

You can already get a 16: straight radius, and the difference between that and 25" will be not visible to the naked eye.

 

[line6man]

the difference between that and 25" will be not visible to the naked eye.

Doesn't mean you can't feel it.

 

[hannaugh]

A flatter radius is good for playing slide.  I could have sworn that flat used to be an option, but I might be remembering wrong.  I'd give them a call or send them an email just to be sure. 

 

[Nando Vallart]

Why not try a slide guitar?? they have flat fretboard

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

For playing strictly slide, does the fretboard radius even matter?  I mean, you can set the nut and bridge up to be flat regardless of what the fretboard is doing.

And FYI, and FWIW, flatter radiuses tend to be for lead work and rounder for chording.

 

[Steve_Karl]

For playing strictly slide, does the fretboard radius even matter? 

Good catch there!

 

[hannaugh]

It's hard to explain why without visual aids, but a flat fretboard is much easier to play slide on.  It's because the slide is straight/flat, and if you're pushing down on a round surface with a straight line, it doesn't make contact evenly and it's a lot easier to have it accidentally touch frets when you don't want it to.  I realize that doesn't really make sense, but for some reason it is true.  It's like you have to have a much more sensitive or lighter touch to get it right or something.  

I have a crappy old acoustic with a flat fretboard that I keep around because it's easy to play slide on.  My Les Paul is more difficult.  The guy who first showed me how to play with a slide noticed I was having problems with it, and he recommended I use my crappy guitar, and sure enough, it was easier.  Weird.

 

[dNA]

It's hard to explain why without visual aids, but a flat fretboard is much easier to play slide on.  It's because the slide is straight/flat, and if you're pushing down on a round surface with a straight line, it doesn't make contact evenly and it's a lot easier to have it accidentally touch frets when you don't want it to.  I realize that doesn't really make sense, but for some reason it is true.  It's like you have to have a much more sensitive or lighter touch to get it right or something.  

I have a crappy old acoustic with a flat fretboard that I keep around because it's easy to play slide on.  My Les Paul is more difficult.  The guy who first showed me how to play with a slide noticed I was having problems with it, and he recommended I use my crappy guitar, and sure enough, it was easier.  Weird.

you mean to play slide, but not on a guitar that's set up STRICTLY for slide, right? Because if it was just for slide and not fretting at all, you might as well just set the strings higher off the board - you shouldn't be making any contact with the fretboard at all

 

[hannaugh]

Yeah, we're talking about guitars that are setup for general play.  Still, if I was going to build a guitar for slide, I would go with a flatter radius because there is no need for a round radius.   

 

[lidesnowi]

the difference between that and 25" will be not visible to the naked eye.

Doesn't mean you can't feel it.

Exactly the FEEL its all about the feel!


   

 

[lidesnowi]

You can already get a 16: straight radius, and the difference between that and 25" will be not visible to the naked eye.

Visual perception are the most deceiving  don't always believe what you see :redflag:   :laughing7:
To me  the difference in feel between a 16 and a  25" is huge!
I already got two Warmoth 16" necks and they are excellent for playing blues" i love em",but when playing for example stacked fifths chord voicing or clustered chord voicing as well as playing legato lines it feels more natural with a really flat fretboard IMO.
   

 

[tfarny]

Hannaugh, you might like a radiused slide - once I tried one I could never go back to a straight one. Check out "Preachin pipe" I think by Dunlop. Great slide.

 

[hannaugh]

That sounds cool.  It sounds like it's probably more comfy than a straight one.

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

Yeah, we're talking about guitars that are setup for general play.  Still, if I was going to build a guitar for slide, I would go with a flatter radius because there is no need for a round radius.   

The strings do what the bridge and nut do.  Fretboard radius and even frets become irrelevant.  If a flatter fretboard radius were used and a standard radiused T-O-M still used, it wouldn't matter.  If the acoustic was easier than the LP, string spacing and radius of the bridge effected it more than the radius of the fretboard.

 

[line6man]

Yeah, we're talking about guitars that are setup for general play.  Still, if I was going to build a guitar for slide, I would go with a flatter radius because there is no need for a round radius.   

The strings do what the bridge and nut do.  Fretboard radius and even frets become irrelevant.  If a flatter fretboard radius were used and a standard radiused T-O-M still used, it wouldn't matter.  If the acoustic was easier than the LP, string spacing and radius of the bridge effected it more than the radius of the fretboard.

Nonsense!

Nobody sets their strings up for a flat radius on a curvy fretboard. That would be ridiculous to play regular non-slide stuff on.

The strings should be set to follow whatever the fretboard radius is.

 

[hannaugh]

My main point- a dude who has been playing slide guitar for over 20 years who has a huge guitar collection told me that he noticed that the guitars with flatter fretboards were easier to play with a slide, and I have only been playing with a slide for a short time and also noticed that this seems to be the case.  I don't know exactly what the reason is cause I'm not examining it with a magnifying glass while I'm playing, but there is something going on on a rounder radius that makes slide guitar a little more difficult. 

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

Nobody sets their strings up for a flat radius on a curvy fretboard. That would be ridiculous to play regular non-slide stuff on.

The strings should be set to follow whatever the fretboard radius is.

The strings should follow what the fretboard is doing if fretting is the object.  If slide, and only slide, is the object, it gets set up for that.  You've seen the slide accoustic guitars?  They have flat radiuses, the frets are really only there for markers, and some even have no contour on the neck.  If we're talking a dual purpose guitar that does both, it's usually set up for neither.  The action is higher than preferable for fretting and lower than preferable for slide.  It does both but neither real well.  This is where the radiused slide that Tfarny mentioned would be handy.