Hard V Neck

[Wizard of Wailing]

    My favorite Warmoth profile is the Clapton and I also have a Musikraft soft V neck that I love playing as well.  I'm thinking of getting a neck with a hard, very pronounced, V neck profile sometime in 2018.  I can't find a neck like this in any shop. I'm wondering if anyone here, who is a fan of the soft V profile, has tried a hard V and liked it even more or hated it.  It seems that since the V shape is my favorite profile I'd like an even stronger V, but I'm just not sure.

 

[Verne Bunsen]

Guitar Mill offers "Hard V" as a profile option. I haven't tried their wares, but they've been on my list for a while.

http://guitarmill.com/guitarmill/replacement-guitar-necks/

 

[Wizard of Wailing]

That's the one I've been looking at (been thinking about a relic neck).  The one big downside is Guitar Mill doesn't offer SS frets.  However they have my favorite fret size: .090 X .055.

 

[bagman67]

Maybe you could get an unfretted Guitar Mill neck and have Cagey fret if for you with SS wire.

 

[Fat Pete]

I ordered a custom neck and body in 1988 - just rang some UK builder who advertised in the back of one of the mags, quick chat and deal done. Seems like a very weird thing to have done looking back, I'd spend (much) longer deciding on the scratchplate colour these days.

Part of the conversation went something like - me: I like a narrow neck. him: I do a nice V profile. me: ok.

I guess I was expecting some sort of soft-ish V and was a little surprised when my more or less triangular section neck turned up. I'd never seen anything like it.

Anyway, that guitar - one piece sycamore (a European maple) superstrat body (yes, heavy), hard V neck, Kahler trem - was my main gigging/stunt guitar until my Warmoth obsession began.

Moral of story, if you like the Clapton, and like the idea of a harder V, go for it.

It's also fun to see other player's reactions when they pick it up.

 

[bagman67]

Fat Pete, if you still have that sycamore axe, I'd love to see what it looks like.

 

[Cagey]

I can do .090 X .055 in stainless or EVO (gold). Order it with slots, no frets, and drop ship it here.

 

[Fat Pete]

Fat Pete, if you still have that sycamore axe, I'd love to see what it looks like.

Unfortunately, Ian, it ended up modded so many times, it was almost more holes than sycamore. Besides that (as you will probably be unsurprised to hear), while it started out a weird transparent blue, it spent most of its life under some approximation of candy apple red.

I'll have a sift through the archives for an old pic, you never know what might be lurking...

 

[mayfly]

It's also fun to see other player's reactions when they pick it up.

I bet it's about the same as someone picking up one of my Tele's with a B-bender installed. 

... actually with the bender, it completely takes you by surprise  :headbang:

 

[RHytonen]

I have an old Washburn acoustic Parlor 50th anniversary reissue,
that has a HARD 'V,' 2" wide (!) and 0.88 in. thick at the nut,
and hard 'V' all the way to the 9th fret. The neck has no discernible radius.
The scale is a little shorter.

I have short fingers with fat tips, and this is the most comfortable neck I've ever played.
I keep going back to it, even after taking up the Tele.

I've been trying to find someone (preferably G&L) to make a Tele neck, or a GOOD Tele with this neck, rosewood FB quartersawn; and it seems no one will do it.
Even 1-7/8" W (bone nut) would work, and G&L claims they can't do a "deep V" AND wide width. The truly HARD, '57 V, is never an option. 
To me the "Clapton" isn't even a V at all, but a round BB with a slight point added.

Why do ALL builders seem afraid of the actual, straight-sided, HARD V?
It was a revelation to me, it improved my playing (and my CTS) instantly.
(and I HATE the 7.5"-9" radius of the original Tele.)
Though I've never studied or played classical, my playing is definitely finger style influenced.
I started on a D-18 and fingerpicks, with ragtime, folk & blues; in the 60's.

 

[Cagey]

What you have gotten used to is a pretty unusual configuration. I doubt anybody's afraid to make that neck; they just don't do it because they know that if they did, they'd sell maybe one, to you, and that would be the end of the line. A lot of costly R&D would go down the drain, much to the consternation of those who are in business to make a profit.

Even though some companies (like Warmoth) advertise "custom" guitar parts, they're only custom in the sense that you have a lot of options to choose from. By mixing/matching the various options, you can create hundreds of distinctly different necks. It doesn't mean they'll make anything you want, only that the variety of options they offer allows for a remarkably wide selection as opposed to the total lack of selection an OEM might offer. Thing is, each of those options is a standard that has been designed, tested and tooled up for. It's not an infinite variation of specifications.

It sounds like what you're looking for is an actual luthier who can take a chunk of wood and make anything you want if you can define it. They're nowhere near as common as one might imagine going by how often the term gets thrown around.

I would suggest if you must have a neck configured that way, that feeding "luthier" to Google would return some likely suspects.

 

[amigarobbo]

the bender, it completely takes you by surprise  :headbang:

:laughing7:  :evil4:

 

[monchavo]

I wonder how hard the V actually is, based on the Warmoth diagram?

 

[BigSteve22]

I wonder how hard the V actually is, based on the Warmoth diagram?

I got the Clapton profile on my JM. It's not particularly "hard", per se, but I found it significantly different than the "C" shaped standard thin. (I should also note that I spec'ed a 1-11/16" nut instead of my standard 1-5/8", AND 6150 frets instead of the 6230 size I'm used to.)

I have some tendonitis in the thumb of my left hand, and the prominence of the vee hits me right above the joint while playing barre chords. (where it can cause the most pain!) This forces me to change my hand position somewhat while playing. Also makes it hard for me to play for too long, so I end up switching to a guitar with a rounder profile.

Anyway, I do like the feel, especially while playing "cowboy" chords in the lower register. Sort of a "hand filling" experience. As Kevin has mentioned in previous threads, the hand is capable of sensing very small variation in size and shape, so your experience may vary....  :icon_biggrin:

 

[TBurst Std]

Having had a W Clapton profile, the V is pronounced.  It feels smaller than the true vintage Fender hard V as the overall depth is less (the vintage Fender depth was close to 1 inch) (As thin feeling necks are not my preference, it got sold off).  The W Boatneck profile is a softer V, but much deeper.

 

[Wolfie351]

That's the one I've been looking at (been thinking about a relic neck).  The one big downside is Guitar Mill doesn't offer SS frets.  However they have my favorite fret size: .090 X .055.

I can recommend them, completely off-the-menu neck took about 10 weeks to deliver.  Highly satisfied

 

[monchavo]

I have an SRV neck and a Wolfgang. I was wondering how hard the "HARD" V is.

 

[musicispeace]

I wonder how hard the V actually is, based on the Warmoth diagram?

I have the Clapton, boat neck, Standard Thin and a USACG neck with .87 soft V. My opinion is that the Clapton is not a hard V, its there but more a modest V. To me its sort of a Standard Thin with a protruding lip in the middle. I got one because I thought it would be close to my .87 soft V but it is more subtle than that. The .87 soft V is chunkier for sure. I would say The Clapton still serves a purpose of giving you more thumb support than the Thin as it sort of divides the back of the neck in half to my feel. The boat neck is a more pronounced V but still isn't like its super angular.

I seem to be able to play with any neck but prefer chunky ones. If I had it to do again I'd have skipped the Clapton and got another boatneck, which even then isn't a hard V. But you gotta try out what you think after making your best assessment and worst case you can sell it. Best case you are happy.