Is It Possible To Widen An Existing Fretboard / Replace Fretboard With A Wider One?

[Saxophone Tall]

Might want to have a look at Warmoth guitars if a solid or chambered body guitar is acceptable for the time being. I can vouch for their quality, really nice stuff better than most Fenders really, though you might need a luthier for final fret level, assembly, and wiring. I ordered a AAA flamed maple strat neck and it required no leveling, a lot of it is really good right off the bat. There is a longer wait time on fancier stuff. They offer a 1 7/8 superwide neck (if that would suffice) and you can get a chambered tele body. The options list for their stuff is enormous so you can really order it to your preferred specs. Strung with flatwounds you might have a lifetime keeper even if you wind up with that 10k archtop later.

My son is/was a tenor player so I know the mouthpiece routine a bit and the crazy cost of horns. They want seriously big money for some of those mouthpieces. I drilled him on scales and such until he surpassed me in theory knowledge. I taught him growling into his horn for blues and soul stuff. He can sight read at a very high level. He was able to place very high in state level competitions here in TX but ultimately is pursuing a different career path after seeing my own struggles with a music career. Not easy for any player of any instrument at any skill level anywhere in the world.

Yes, Warmoth offers super wide necks. I actually have them in mind for a Tele down the road.

It's almost impossible to support oneself just playing music these days, except for a few cats. I went to law school. The trick is a "this supports that" self-patron lifestyle, if one wants to play at the level they are capable of and still live decently money-wise. Your son is making a good decision. Hopefully he keeps playing music, though. One of my law school classmates was a great Jazz pianist when we were students. He quit --- for 30 years -- and is now back playing and totally regrets the long time period off. I told myself I'd quit law school if it interfered with my saxophone playing, but it didn't.

The alto sax in the photo I posted is my 1957 Selmer Mark VI, 5 digit, not mint but sort of close and worth a boatload of money. Somebody was selling the horn literally 2 digits away from mine (which was stored 1000 miles away from me at the time) and he f-ed up the serial number and put MY serial number in his ad!!! I thought it WAS my horn! I called him up and he realized his error and fixed the ad. He sold the horn immediately - for $15,000.

A good mouthpiece is $300 to $800, but the vintage ones go for $1,500.

I don't change mouthpieces often. Most of the tone is in the player's ability; the right mouthpiece "helps" you achieve your "sound," which is like your voice.

[RJVB]

FWIW, here's another set that should work on a classical (rather one shipped with high tension stock strings because the G string is just a bit hig in tension):
GHS TCB-UL Thin Core Phosphor Bronze Acoustic, Ultra Light 10-41

BTW, a wound G string may not intonate too well on a classical guitar as they usually have the kind of saddle you find on steel-strings intended for use with a plain wire G.

[Saxophone Tall]

FWIW, here's another set that should work on a classical (rather one shipped with high tension stock strings because the G string is just a bit hig in tension):
GHS TCB-UL Thin Core Phosphor Bronze Acoustic, Ultra Light 10-41

BTW, a wound G string may not intonate too well on a classical guitar as they usually have the kind of saddle you find on steel-strings intended for use with a plain wire G.

Thanks. I'll keep that set in mind.

BTW, I see you're in France... I traveled (from New York) to Europe for the first time and spent September and October there. I spent a week in Paris (I flew French Bee) and 5 days there at the end of my trip as well.

I played (alto saxophone) at 38 Riv, Le Duc Lombards @ Le Baiser Sale Jazz clubs, and also in the street. Also, Oh La La! Maybe no surprise that 9 out of 10 Parisian women are beautiful.... Can't wait to go back next year!

[RyanM]

The 7 string converted to 6 will be sufficient. Then find a good teacher.

[sgosnell]

It's a well-known fact that the girls all get prettier at closing time. Perhaps that also applies to Paris, at whatever time.

[SOLR]

how about something along these lines : Bass of the Week: Ibanez TCB1006 Thundercat Signature Bass – No Treble if you can get looong strings it would all be proportionate for you with longer everything...

S

[Saxophone Tall]

how about something along these lines : Bass of the Week: Ibanez TCB1006 Thundercat Signature Bass – No Treble if you can get looong strings it would all be proportionate for you with longer everything...

S

That's pretty cool! I did look into short scale basses to convert. 34" is probably too long for guitar chords.

[Peter C]

I saw this thread title again (haven't read all the posts) and was reminded of Greg Koch, who I know has been referred to as "sasquatch". You can likely find his actual height online. Anyway, here he is foolin' around with a twin-neck instrument whose size and weight can be rather imposing, to say the least. He has long, strong fingers and both necks I believe are Gibson standard width and scale length (24.75"). He doesn't look at all cramped, though I observe that he uses his pinky sparingly, maybe due to his blues-based style. I don't know, anyway he's a fun guy.

[Saxophone Tall]

I saw this thread title again (haven't read all the posts) and was reminded of Greg Koch, who I know has been referred to as "sasquatch". You can likely find his actual height online. Anyway, here he is foolin' around with a twin-neck instrument whose size and weight can be rather imposing, to say the least. He has long, strong fingers and both necks I believe are Gibson standard width and scale length (24.75"). He doesn't look at all cramped, though I observe that he uses his pinky sparingly, maybe due to his blues-based style. I don't know, anyway he's a fun guy.

I like that Wes Montgomery quote! If only I could abide by it... Anyway, "Sasq" here is using thumb over, which is more comfortable for me, but I get better alignment with my thumb behind the neck (although it's a little uncomfortable).

The spacing issue is more pronounced when playing tricky Jazz chords, at least for me.

He's using a pick. I want the RH play area to have wider string spacing for playing with fingers and thumb. I can get by with less string spacing with a pick.

Looks like a pretty big cat. He's playing in Ferndale, MI at the Magic Bag (my old stomping grounds). I'll see if I can connect with him on size specifics. Thanks for the introduction, cool player although a different bag than me.

Here's photos (from the record cover and publicity) of 6'7" sax great Dexter Gordon (one of my original saxophone heros). Notice how his fingers are on his soprano sax (these instrument are small; what Kenny G mainly plays and he's about 5'8"). Hardly ideal playing position. Dexter didn't play much soprano; mainly the much bigger tenor. My hands are exactly the same size and shape as his were. I know this because I spent 7 nights in a row watching him up close at Detroit's Baker's Keyboard Lounge met him, and did the "hand to hand" size test:

[RJVB]

I want the RH play area to have wider string spacing for playing with fingers and thumb. I can get by with less string spacing with a pick.

Something I noticed today doing my own finger exercises: I seem to run less risk of hitting the next higher string when using rest strokes instead of free strokes. Of course that also means I have a 100% chance of hitting the next higher string ... intentionally

AFAIK string spacing is narrower on guitars intended for strumming (with a pick), so it figures you can get by with less space when using one.

[Saxophone Tall]

Something I noticed today doing my own finger exercises: I seem to run less risk of hitting the next higher string when using rest strokes instead of free strokes. Of course that also means I have a 100% chance of hitting the next higher string ... intentionally

AFAIK string spacing is narrower on guitars intended for strumming (with a pick), so it figures you can get by with less space when using one.

I do wish to play the acoustic with fingers as well as pick. Probably more with fingers. I'm in an apartment currently. Must keep volume down. Plus, I lie the sound and ability to play patterns, etc.

I have been playing my "Big Lou" Gibson 335 clone, which does have the nice 2" nut but only also 2" at RH play area. And then I picked up the Seagull with the 1.9" nut, also just under 2" at RH play area. It's a lot easier for me to play the Big Lou, even though the difference isn't that much.

So, I have to decide whether to return the Seagull to Sam Ash (music store). It is supposedly the largest production acoustic (non-nylon / non-classic) out there.

And the one guitar tech I've dealt with here in LA (luthier to the stars, actually, including Steve Howe during the making of all those classic YES records...) says "don't modify a guitar, get one that fits in the first place."

I don't know how "highly" thought of Seagull guitars are, but I really like it. Will a Wu / Lora be as good? Seagull punches way above its weight, from what I hear. Better than Taylor or Gibson, some think....