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Strat neck w compound radius starting at 7.25'?

Also bear in mind:
A straight fretboard radius actually leads to the upper frets being "rounder" than the lower frets, because; if something is round or not depends more on the angle, than the radius.

Imagine we would like a very very round fretboard, a nice half circle, 180° at the highest fret. The neck pocket width is 2 3/16" so for 180° the fretboard radius would be 1 3/32", right?

But at a nut width of 1 5/8“, with a radius of 1 3/32" we wouldn't have a half circle there at the nut, it would be closer to a quarter circle, around 96°.

So, straight radius does not mean straight roundness.

However, on paper the 12" - 16" compound radius should provide the most even angle (or roundness) from the nut to the end of the fretboard! :unsure:

I didn't know that myself until I wrote this post, btw. 😅
 
Maybe he means "Convexity", such as the distance that the centre of the fretboard is proud from the edges. I am not sure that it has a particular meaning or consequence for guitar necks.
 
Yes, maybe convexity is a better word.

And yes, maybe something is lost in Translation. 😅

But it's also more complicated than I thought it would be, to explain what I mean. Especially without any graphics and I don't have access to AutoCAD right now.

What I wanted to say is:

A 10" radius will appear flatter at the nut, than at the heal, because the heal is wider, than the nut.

Does that make any sense?
 
A 10" radius will appear flatter at the nut, than at the heal, because the heal is wider, than the nut.

Understood now, visually any given radius will not be as obvious when the arc of the visible circle is smaller. Somewhat, like the curvature of the earth is less obvious in your garden than it is from space.

However, in both cases nothing has actually changed, only your perspective.
 
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If you look at this from the string’s point of view, the 10” radius has the same shape at all frets along the neck.
Why would I care about the string's point of view? I bend them to my will! MUAHAHAHAAAA...

But seriously.
in both cases nothing has actually changed, only your perspective.
Isn't the perspective - or rather perception - of the person playing the guitar what counts?

Also:
Maybe he means "Convexity", such as the distance that the centre of the fretboard is proud from the edges. I am not sure that it has a particular meaning or consequence for guitar necks.
I think it has more meaning than the radius itself, at least it has to me. I even think it's why compound radius feels so much more... logical to me than a straight radius fretboard.

I'm ok if ppl don't share my perspective, or feel different about this. I just wanted to share this with you, because I'm a bit of a geometry nerd and I've stood in front of classes, explaining how to calculate arcs and circles etc. for CNC work.

But I usually don't do this in english and usually I can help myself by visualizing those things in AutoCAD. 😅

I guess I was a little overconfident. I hope I am forgiven.
 
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