General feel of a 10"-16" Compound Radius?

[TBurst Std]

even if the tuners would go out of tune with just one touch of the tremolo bar. That's the "temperament" of the guitar.

 

[TBurst Std]

That’s just a bad set up. A I cac make any 6 point trem with non locking thunders stay reasonably in tune. It’s a 1 beer job. You can do it yourself. Get Dan Erlwines book

Heavy handed. You need to lose that like a skirt. I used to be. Got over it by having an instrument that would not tolerate it.

Nothing anywhere says the strings touch the fretboard on a fretted instrument. In fact you’re not suppose to, that’s why there are frets. If you’re playing a cello, that’s different.

 

[TBurst Std]

To help with heavy hands, try playing without your palm or thumb touching the neck. Don’t worry about speed, vibrato or anything else.
What you will learn is the amount of finger pressure required to sound the note correctly.

Once you get that feel, now bring in the thumb and palm which allows you use even less finger pressure.

It offers you a gauge to establish what’s needed. And it’s less than you think.

 

[ARCnet78]

I am trying to undo my decades of heavy hands, these tips are GOLD!....

For many years my only guitar was a Lado Solo 1, an obscure Canadian brand from the 1970/80. Which I loved but it was heavy and largely unused so I sold it on

Not having any experience (knowledge) with different neck profiles, over time I have bought 4 Warmoth necks,

#1 was a Standard Thin​

#2 was a Wizard​

#3 was Boatneck​

#4 was Wolfgang (GAS exotic wood neck run purchase, yet to find a body)​

By far my favorite is the boatneck. The extra meat feels good in my hand whereas the wizard and standard thin are wanting in heft. I am optimistic that I will feel similarly about the Wolfgang.

As many have said before, YMMV.

 

[Waraxe]

I use the 10-16 compound unless a certain bridge, like the gotoh wraptail, needs something specific like 14".

There isbliterally no drawback to the compound, so why not use it?

 

[Ribspare]

I use the 10-16 compound unless a certain bridge, like the gotoh wraptail, needs something specific like 14".

There isbliterally no drawback to the compound, so why not use it?

In theory there is a possible “drawback” If there is a possibility of a future re fret. There may be errors of it not actually being an actual 10-16 compound radius again since it’s more difficult to re fret accurately. But it may not really be really noticeable and your fretboard will probably still be ok especially if you get used to it the new subtle changes…..If may bother some people if they want precision

 

[jjwu]

In theory there is a possible “drawback” If there is a possibility of a future re fret. There may be errors of it not actually being an actual 10-16 compound radius again since it’s more difficult to re fret accurately. But it may not really be really noticeable and your fretboard will probably still be ok especially if you get used to it the new subtle changes…..If may bother some people if they want precision

Any reputable tech should have no issue with compound radius. It would be obvious too. Ends sticking up, or middles sticking up. And I would guess stability would be all over the place. Got my Jackson refretted by Aperio. Never played better!

 

[Waraxe]

In theory there is a possible “drawback” If there is a possibility of a future re fret. There may be errors of it not actually being an actual 10-16 compound radius again since it’s more difficult to re fret accurately. But it may not really be really noticeable and your fretboard will probably still be ok especially if you get used to it the new subtle changes…..If may bother some people if they want precision

Well, logic says that if you seat the frets all the way tight to the board, you will have no problems in that regard.

Since they're all the same height initially, it's kinda hard to mess up the fret leveling in relation to a straight radius.

 

[ThisIsHuhWow404]

Isn’t a 10-16 radius with a Standard Thin essentially what Charvel does on most of their guitars?

 

[Xyz]

To help with heavy hands, try playing without your palm or thumb touching the neck. Don’t worry about speed, vibrato or anything else.
What you will learn is the amount of finger pressure required to sound the note correctly.

Once you get that feel, now bring in the thumb and palm which allows you use even less finger pressure.

It offers you a gauge to establish what’s needed. And it’s less than you think.

Hey thanks, that's a really good technique. I'll try it today.

I have a few techniques to loosen up while playing. Or to get heavy handed, to grip those strings hard and have them be in pitch while I bend. It's mainly mental. It's awareness mostly.

Thing is I do 3 string bends a couple of steps so I need a heavy hand, a hard grip. And a strong hand and wrist, worked over decades. Overall the whole arm has to be strong and warmed up. If not I'd injure myself.

When I was a kid getting ready for this I played for six months or so on a acoustic with 13 string gauges. I learned from there. But my electric still had 10's. Always played 10's. I was on 11's for a while but missed the twang on my guitars.

 

[Xyz]

That’s just a bad set up. A I cac make any 6 point trem with non locking thunders stay reasonably in tune. It’s a 1 beer job. You can do it yourself. Get book

Heavy handed. You need to lose that like a skirt. I used to be. Got over it by having an instrument that would not tolerate it.

Nothing anywhere says the strings touch the fretboard on a fretted instrument. In fact you’re not suppose to, that’s why there are frets. If you’re playing a cello, that’s different.

No well, I mean, when you hit that whammy bar hard is going to go out of tune, even if you know how to work that tremolo system.

With lighter tremolo action after a while in the same song I think it will always will go out tune. That's where the temperament of the guitar kicks in.

Yeah I'm getting two of Dan Erlwines book this month. A friend has one of them and they're golden. Next month in getting the do your own nut book from him. This "building partscasters" bug bit me really hard lol .

I really never had one Luthier that could set up my guitars to my liking or my style. Nor friends with similar playing styles. Had a friend that would go quite there, but not in the sweet spot. I would bring it back up to 5 times to the guitar shop for a free re set up then give up. And one of those Luthiers dudes was offered a job at Fender, so he knew his stuff but does not know how to set up guitars for other people. The art of communication, what the guitar player thus his customer wants and most importantly needs. It's not a one size fits all or do it text book height for the specific model and brand. So close minded.

I'd go back to my house and redo the whole thing myself without knowing a thing. Then friends teached me this and that. But nothing to the level of using specific tools for the trade and what's on those books, making my own nuts etc. All of these is really exciting.

 

[BroccoliRob]

when you hit that whammy bar hard is going to go out of tune, even if you know how to work that tremolo system.

my friend, you want a floyd. I can dive bomb that sucker into satan's wine cellar without issue

 

[Hodgo]

No well, I mean, when you hit that whammy bar hard is going to go out of tune, even if you know how to work that tremolo system.

It’s not the trem itself usually causing tuning bugs, it’s the nut, saddles, break angles at those locations, and tuner gear lash. If these are out of wack, a Floyd can cure it in the same way that sawing off your arm can remove a splinter.

Look at what Frudua can do with a 6-screw, or what Mike Puisheen does with a Jazzmaster. The only unit I think is unfixable is the Gibson side pull… that’s just an art deco piece designed to cure neck dive in SGs.

 

[BroccoliRob]

Floyd can cure it in the same way that sawing off your arm can remove a splinter.

naw, it's more like replacing a really weak arm (like a baby's arm or perhaps a small cat's) with a burly muscle arm (like from a character in a Chuck Tingle book).

 

[Xyz]

It’s not the trem itself usually causing tuning bugs, it’s the nut, saddles, break angles at those locations, and tuner gear lash. If these are out of wack, a Floyd can cure it in the same way that sawing off your arm can remove a splinter.

Look at what Frudua can do with a 6-screw, or what Mike Puisheen does with a Jazzmaster. The only unit I think is unfixable is the Gibson side pull… that’s just an art deco piece designed to cure neck dive in SGs.

Yeah, this is true. At least in my experience. And maybe it's the science of it. The trem only dives, what causes trouble it's the other components. In my case atm I think it's mostly the nut. I can hear it lately. Time for more lubricant or replace it. One step at a time.

I had a guitar with a Floyd once. When I was a kid. I was a menace to everything including my eyeballs.

These last decades I pivoted towards 6 screws tremolos and jazzmaster type of tremolos.

I don't know those player's, will look them up, but you can have the golden guitar, and if you go to town with a tremolo system, any tremolo system with the guitar properly set up and all the other components properly set up, it will go out of tune. C'mon guys. Even Floyd's go out of tune.

 

[Xyz]

my friend, you want a floyd. I can dive bomb that sucker into satan's wine cellar without issue

Nah a dive bomb it's fine. Shake it like a Polaroid picture.

 

[Hodgo]

C'mon guys. Even Floyd's go out of tune.

Yes, but with all the other components dialed in you’re really only fighting strings that aren’t stretched / fatiguing

 

[db82]

Isn’t a 10-16 radius with a Standard Thin essentially what Charvel does on most of their guitars?

Close but not quite. 12-16" is common among Charvel, Charvel by Jackson, Jackson, Grover Jackson and every other variant of the two I can't think of. Own a few modern builds - all 12-16 - and been looking at a lot of 80s/90s Charvel/Jackson recently in my indecision of "should I build a 7/8 Warmoth or just buy a fusion/super dinky?" EDIT : Or keep praying that one of the times I email a reverb seller about a Carvin DC they actually have a 24.75.

 

[db82]

But the experiences of others on their preferences is not really going to help you. I would suggest you play many guitars to get a feel and zone in on the specs that work for you

^This x10 (or more)

 

[Hodgo]

Or keep praying that one of the times I email a reverb seller about a Carvin DC they actually have a 24.75.

That would be awesome. Carvins have such poor resale for such well crafted instruments… good value if you can find one that fits the bill.