Is it the neck, the frets, the radius? What makes one guitar ‘feel’ better than another?

Crazyblue1779

Case in point. I’ve never really paid attention to ‘neck specs’. I usually preferred a thicker neck, but that’s really it. 

I currently have two singlecut guitars: a Vintage V100 and an LTD EC256. 

The Vintage is a Les Paul with a fairly thick ( not as thick as a PRS SE 245 I had previous, but still chunky) neck and medium ( I think ) frets. 

The LTD is their take on a singlecut with a thinner neck, way bigger frets and I think it’s a flatter radius. 

I’m terms of build/tone the Vintage is nicer. It’s the better set up of the two ( ie someone else did it!) better electronics, pickups etc. 

The LTD is a bit of a practice guitar for me trying to work out set ups etc, and is dropped a full step, with the same gauge strings (10-52). Tonally it’s not as nice ( to be fair it’s for the brootz anyway) with an Iron Gear Metal Machine in the bridge being the only ‘upgrade’. 

But in terms of feel and playability I find myself much preferring the LTD and I’m wondering what combination of factors it is? It just seems that my fingers find where to go more easily when playing it (ooeer missus...)

Interested to known everyone’s thoughts!

guitars4you

What makes one guitar ‘feel’ better than another?

IMO not an answer that can be adequately portrayed  using words alone - What feels great to one player doesn't mean the next player will agree - More about preference rather than better - But I know what you are trying to ask - My hands and ears can tell what makes a great feeling/sounding guitar - But no words from my keyboard vocabulary can help you at all - But it is amazing how you can feel such a small difference in girth between two different neck shapes - Your hands are sensitive enough to notice such differences and as such you probably prefer one to another 

Yet as an overview I can generally find that a PRS wide/fat profile suits me the most - So I know it is  a spec I favour - But I can equally play a Strat I like and/or dislike - So it is possible to enjoy playing 2 different profiles, as many FB will agree, who have many different guitars 

AlexO

My two favourite neck shapes are the Fender Oval 60s C and the Gibson 59 Neck. I find vintage style frets a bit harder to play but it does not take anything away from the feel or comfort
I have a constant frustration on the necks Gretsch use but then others love them.

I can't stand flat necks. I guess it also links to how we individually hold the guitar and playing style.

merciful-evans

The nicest feeling necks are seldom the better playing ones in my experience. Fortunately I can manage most of them ok anyway. I prefer wide flat necks without rolled edges. 

Skinny frets feel nicer because at the top of the fretboard with jumbos, the strings feel like rails. its easy to lose where you are if you cant feel the frets. 

GavRichList

Rolled fretboard edges. Skinny frets. Not too shallow a neck. That’ll do me. Oh, and ideally a worn through or satin finish on the back of the neck. 

xchrisv

As people have suggested, it's a very personal thing, but for me I want the neck to get out of the way in the right places and provide support in others. My ideal carve is a deep profile with soft shoulders and heavily rolled edges, combined with domed fret ends and fretwire that isn't too tall, with heavily worn old lacquer or a satin simulation thereof around the back. 

LastMantra

I've played a bunch of different guitars and never gave the neck shape any thought until I saw people talking about it here.
Maybe I've not played anything very extreme. 

Philly_Q

Ideal neck for me is fat but not too wide, 9.5" or 10" radius, big frets, rolled edges. 

Hard to describe a perfect neck shape - one manufacturer's V, C or U is different from another manufacturer's V, C or U.  I definitely don't like what I think of as a D shape - big square shoulders and flattish on the back.  I generally like the bigger Fender necks - '54 U, 10/56 V, Nocaster - more than Gibson necks.  PRS neck shapes are nice but I wish they were a little fatter and a little less wide.

One little test I do for neck comfort is to see if I can play barre chords with my thumb holding down the low E string - it's dead easy on some guitars and inexplicably difficult on others.

Another factor, away from the neck itself, is the angle of the neck to the body.  I like the bridge to sit low and the strings to be almost parallel with the body - like most Fenders, or LP Juniors, or PRS guitars.  I don't like the feel of Gibsons with a steep neck angle and the neck and tailpiece sitting high above the body.

meltedbuzzbox

I will play pretty much anything from vintage fender to super shredder.

TTBZ

All just personal preference I think. I don't like flat or thin, wide neck profiles, or anything with too hard a shoulder. Unfortunately that puts most of Epiphones lineup off the menu for me as they use that weird slim taper D shape.

Gibson rounded and PRS pattern regular are my favourite profiles and I prefer medium to jumbo size frets. Skinny frets can feel horrible to me, it feels like I can't get any purchase on the string. I like 12" radius up to about 16" - much easier to achieve low action and bends are easier. I don't like guitars that feel stiff to play, I want it to be as comfy and easy as possible without using skinny strings as I dont really like the feel of them.

Pete.R

IMO it's just like buying shoes....

when you walk with them, you'll know which ones fit best, regardless what type of shoes they are

March

There are so many variables it is hard to define. For me, the features and consistency of the Tyler Studio Elite 59 neck profile works best for me. The combination of the almost scalloped fingerboard edges, big yet perfectly prepped frets10" to 12" compound radius and that neck profile fits me like a glove. 

Mind you, the Professional Series Strat is second. Nowhere near a Tyler, but every time I pick one up it feels home enough for me. 

Wazmeister

Sanded neck, for me.

The rest I can adapt too.

Sassafras

I've thought long and hard about this and in my opinion it's a combination of all three factors.

BlueStrat

it's probably a combination of all of the factors you've listed acting together?

The shape back of neck, radius of the fretboard, fret height and width plus string height and gauge.

I used to prefer RGs pretty flat radius but now my favourite is PRS pattern thin with jumbos followed by the Fender neck on the Elites with the compound radius which I think is 9 1/2 to 14 and the shape is C at the nut to D.

Feel is a funny thing and personal to each player

thegummy

Rolled fretboard edges is huge for me. As is the neck not being too fat.

Are we only talking neck here? One of the biggest things that makes a guitar feel good or bad for me is the body shape. For me, the single worst thing about a Les Paul is that the body shape makes it weighted so that when it's sitting on my knee it always wants to slide off so I'm always having to fight against that whereas a Strat just sits there.

Blueingreen

Personal preference I think.

Oddly, while I am very fussy about fret size, action, relief, string gauge and scale length I seem to be happy with a broad range of neck shapes. 

One of the things about neck shape that does discombobulate me is when guys go on about the perfect neck shape of such-and-such an  expensive guitar, the implication being you get what you pay for and only a premium quality guitar would have such an exquisitely shaped neck. Neck shape would be pretty easy to copy across the price scale and if there was general agreement that a particular shape was better it should be commonly available on guitars across the price range.  Of course if you have particular and unusual preferences you may be able to get them met by paying extra, but that's a different thing.  And QC and consistency should be better up the price scale. But as a general principle there seems no real reason why the neck shape of an inexpensive guitar should be inferior to an expensive one.

Slash'N'burn

It’s shrouded in mystery. Maybe.

My 1990 Les Paul neck feels very similar to my 2006 Tele, (except for the lack of rolled edges) but when I put them side by side I was surprised how different they were.

Les Paul fingerboard is 5mm narrower than the Tele at the 10th fret, even though it has thick binding..?

And the Tele has a thicker neck, didn’t measure it but really obvious by eye.

Both are C shape. So the Tele should feel bigger and more difficult to play than the LP for my hands but it doesn’t, so the extra meat must be offset by the rolled edges, smaller fingerboard radius, lower frets, profile of the neck etc. 

digitalscream

I remember trying out all of the guitars Jaden had in stock, back when he'd started producing the Series 2 range. As I recall, they were all made to within a tolerance of significantly less than 0.5mm, and I could feel the difference between all of the necks. They were all excellent, but it really opened my eyes as to exactly how sensitive we are to miniscule differences.

imalrightjack

I rolled possibly tens of guitars when looking to commission a custom build. I decided ultimately that the PRS wide fat profile with similar fret size (medium?) was perfect. Always gauge 10s. I also realised that I much preferred an oiled neck, rather than lacquered. I also, based on PRS, 10” radius, opted to go with a compound 10-14 radius. No regrets. “This is it...” I thought. Perfect. 

Well, yeah, it kind of is but, since then, I’ve had many more guitars through the door. Some remain, some have moved on. I’ve had tons of fun with a very slim neck with huge frets, an Eric Johnson Strat (lacquered with 9s), a high end Gretsch (also lacquered) with a totally different neck profile, some with flat wound strings, etc.

I’ve gone from developing a very distinct idea of what is just right back to being totally open minded and letting a guitar speak for itself. It either vibes or doesn’t. Neck, frets, radius, strings, scale length (a huge factor in some ways), they all come into it but sometimes a guitar just feels right, even if it’s absolutely different to your favourite. 

Dan_Halen

I've never been one for the 'I need this neck profile, these fret types, this number of frets, this weight, these pickups...' etc etc etc. Not really sure of the point of having a bunch of guitars that are the same is. I'd think that if you obsess too much over this stuff you're closing the door on so much great gear.

I've got a bunch of electrics and they're all different combinations of neck profile, frets, radius, pickups, scale length, strings etc. and, with them all set up well, I wouldn't say any one feels better than any other. Some certainly lend themselves to different playing styles more than other but where something maybe a bit easier on one, the other probably has it's own advantages as well.

I've also had guitars that just played like pigs despite no apparent issues and a thorough setup. Just felt like they always fought back too hard and just couldn't get on with them. Quite possible that whoever they're with now finds they're perfect for them.

I guess my point is simply that you won't know about a guitar until you pick it up and buying from the spec sheet, whilst can be a useful guide, absolutely isn't the be all and end all.