Trying to get an idea of how good/bad the 24 fret access is on Soloist

[patchman]

I was wondering if some people who have the 24 fret extension on a soloist body could rate how easy it is to play on the upper frets. Perhaps rate it on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being effortless and 1 being horribly bad.

Does the contoured heel help at all?

Thanks in advance,

Patch

 

[GMGM]

I would like to know this answer as well.

Or, can anyone clarify whether the neck shown on the W website is of a 22 fret neck? or a 24 fret neck? Looks like 24 to me, but without inlays I don't want to assume anything.

 

[Velcro]

7-8  arty07:

 

[drewfx]

The bottom (lowest point) of a strat's lower cutaway is between the 21st and 22nd frets, so that picture shows a 24 fretter.

 

[JaySwear]

i can pretty easily hit the 22nd fret on my strat, and a soloist's bottom horn has an even larger cutaway so it should be even easier. i guess it also depends on how people fret that high. i don't use my thumb on the neck once i'm up to about the 19th or 20th frets so the heel really doesn't slow me down too badly.

 

[Wana_make_a_guitar]

I'd give the 20-24th fret range access about a 6-7, i've got a contoured heel and even then i'd still like a little less material in that area.  Maybe a future project for me :dontknow:

 

[jimh]

Important factor !

How big are you hands?  How long are you fingers?

:dontknow:

 

[rockskate4x]

7-8   arty07:

If I understand correctly, Velcro is suggesting a 7/8ths strat. I've never owned one but the high fret access looks better to me than any of the 24 fret extentions on the normal necks if you don't mind the shorter scale. If you want really good upper fret access there are also ways to modify the body. I modded my strat to have the fender deluxe style heel contour, using the rounded off neck plate that I got on ebay (just google image "deluxe stratocaster heel" and you'll get what I mean). If you go this way be sure you are not using a warmoth pro neck because the side adjustment mechanism will be on a collision course with one of the neck screws. If you get an esp style neck plate (slanted side, not rounded corner) you can use a warmoth pro neck but the high fret access may not be as good. I've seen those on ebay quite a bit as well. You can probably combine one of these different neck plate type mods with warmoth's contoured heel, or with the heel mod that you can see on dangerous doug's billy bo guitar. If you do any of the neck plate type mods, you will need to dowel up and drill a few holes so be sure that you have access to a drill press or a good jig to keep your hand drill steady. Be prepared to do some sanding (I used a random orbital sander and followed with sanding blocks).

 

[-CB-]

V's are best, SG's and 335s 2nd best

 

[rockskate4x]

V's are best, SG's and 335s 2nd best

If you are buying from warmoth the high fret access on an SG WILL NOT BE GOOD. Even the strat body will be better. In order for the SG shape to accomodate a bolt on neck, warmoth had to shift the neck deeper into the body than a gibson style sg. I will second that V's are the best.