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I found an old American Ash Telecaster (the "8502" model for those in the know) at Guitar Center that sounds wonderful and plays beautifully. No luthier work needed, 22 frets, and the previous owner swapped the bridge for a Callaham 3-saddle, the neck pickup for a SD La Brea, and the bridge pickup for a SD JB JR with both wired with a 4-way switch. The guitar feels super solid and has no issues and I adore the sound I get from the guitar. The setup is also good and I took the nut slots down and I have pretty low action.
The big BUT is that the guitar neck is a touch bigger than I'm used to. Most guitar necks I find seem to be around .80"ish around the 1st and generally .90"ish around the 12th. This neck is .87" at the 1st and .93" at the 12th. In the upper positions I have no issue but I find as I get into the lower positions my left hand thumb starts getting angry at me. It's not the typical pain I see described that's located on the big muscle at the base of the thumb (this usually occurs from gripping the neck too hard). It's a very localized/sharp discomfort on the top knuckle of my thumb and a little bit on the pad/tip of my thumb. Also, after a playing session I find the first joints of the finger of my left-hand are somewhat sore (this is a little unusual for me).
I have been playing guitar for a long time and have never had my hands feel like this on any guitar. I have tried putting my thumb on the back of the neck, wrapping it over, and any kind of in-between and it will help for a bit but eventually I'll play some chord where I become acutely aware of the discomfort. My hand is not constantly in pain, more like I'll hit a certain position and get a slight pain then stop, stretch, and start playing again.
The good news is, since I bought from GC, I can return it anytime within the next month. I'm wondering if maybe I just have to let my hand adjust?
P.S. I did try putting on a different neck and while that helped I found the tone I loved was gone. I'm convinced that this guitar body and neck are either mated or that the bigger neck simply imparts a better sound, given it has more mass.
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06-30-2026 09:04 PM
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You can make the neck smaller, 7/100” is not much. Your hand position is also worthy of examination as years of playing may have taken a toll.
but sharp pain is not good, so I would examine the hand position associated with this and see if a little position modification helps.
good luck, playing with pain is awful.
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Obviously only you can know if the neck is uncomfortable, and if it persists I would return it.
For me, thinner necks are more likely to give me that problem. I have a Les Paul R8 with a really think neck, and it is not the most comfortable, but it sounds great, so I put up with it. But it doesn't cause me pain.
I will say that I get more pain now as I get older, and I think t is probably arthritis. Not much I can do about that except pace myself.
But in my experience an uncomfortable neck doesn't get better. You can adapt somewhat, but not 100%.
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You may know this, but when you swap necks (or remove and put the same neck back on), there is a thing called the "neck pop" procedure to avoid subsequent "dead tone"..
The neck needs to press very securely into the body socket for solid body tone. If you just screw on the neck firmly and apply the strings, that is typically not enough. The butt end contact with the body may be too soft or even have a minuscule gap.
The procedure is to attach the neck, put on the strings and tune up to standard pitch. Then...
- gradually unscrew each neck screw about a quarter turn going screw to screw, repeat carefully. At some point the friction of the neck to the body will be overcome by the strings and the neck will move a tiny bit toward the body making a firm contact pressure due to the strings' tension. You will hear and maybe feel something ranging between a soft "snick" to a firm "pop".
- now that the neck is being pressed firmly to the body (around 100 lbs), tighten the neck screws to maintain that contact pressure.
- check intonation as the neck will have moved a little bit closer to the bridge.
Lots of people have dropped off a guitar with a tech or done their own work and found that the tone sounded dead. The neck pop has saved many guitars from being traded/resold.
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Yep, I too can get hand pain from necks that are too large. I had some numbness/tingling in my palm that ultimately went away after I switched to lighter strings (although I have been gradually working my way back up). But I find that if I play on a neck that's too large, it aggravates the pain. It's a combination of the depth and the nut width, not exclusively one or the other. I find I can get away with deeper depths when the nut is skinnier. That's why I generally prefer 1-5/8" or 1.65" nut widths.
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I've read that thin necks can be bad for arthritic players, but my experience is opposite.
Some necks feel good right away and some don't. My impression is that my opinion won't change much with time.
Apparently, this is subject to individual differences, e.g. which motions of which joints bother you.
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In my experience there are three things that might cause discomfort in my hand (apart from string gauge): neck thickness, neck shape, neck relief. Of these three, neck relief matters most (to me), by far. Comping chord between the 4th and 12th frets becomes painful unless the neck is almost ruler-straight. And it’s the wrist and the base of the thumb where it starts to hurt first.
Let me turn that around. I used to think that neck thickness and shape really really matter to me. I’ve learned the hard way that I can handle almost any neck shape comfortably, if the neck is almost ruler-straight and the action low. Of course I have preferences in thickness and shape and some might cause discomfort, but for me relief really is the dominant factor.
Long story short, it might be worthwhile to have the guitar set up by an expert before you return it.
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Bigger hands help.
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I had issues like that, in my case it's always a wide neck. Wide and thin is absolute disaster for my hand. Right now all guitars I have nut width 1.650'', 9.5 radius, Fender and Guild, medium C back profile, and that cause me no problems at all.
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Having developed arthritis in the joints of my fretting hand (basal joint and first joint), I asked this same question over on another forum. There was no consensus. Some said larger necks worked better for their arthritis, others said smaller. So it seems a very individual thing. I have necks from fat to tiny, and while I have preferences in terms of feel and playability (I can play faster and more fluid on some), I don't really see a difference in my pain with any of the necks.
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So... would that mean smaller necks also help? ("making the hands bigger" in relation to the neck)
Originally Posted by GuyBoden
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when you press the back of the neck, is it the pad of your thumb, or joint area? And does that change with this neck?
This could mean you are either hyper extending the joint more than usual, or pressing on an area where there is a tendon and nerve that you are not used to...respectively
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Nut width on this one is 1.67" and it ofc has a 9.5" radius. The neck is very straight and I have 10's on it at the moment. Action is fairly low without buzz. And yes, when swapping necks I always tune to pitch, loosen the neck screws 1/4 turn, smack the back of the neck plate a bit, re-tighten the screws, then tune back to pitch.
I agree with what some say here - it has typically been THIN necks that have caused cramping or the like for me as there is a lack of support with those profiles. This Telecaster seemed like a nice change of pace because of the thicker neck. Also, while thicker I have definitely seen WAY thicker Telecaster necks. It seems the more guitars I churn through the more I find the sweet spot for neck dimensions. However, there's always the odd guitar that falls out of what you think you like that is immediately comfortable. I never noticed anything weird with thicker necks only because they are honestly not nearly as available as guitars with thin necks.
I don't know how much of it is technique as I know I don't grip the neck too hard. One thing I like to do is play something technical (i.e. head to Donna Lee or a Bach piece) and do the whole thing without my thumb touching the back of the guitar neck, which is no problem for me.
I am wondering a little bit if this is my body adjusting to playing a solid body after playing hollow bodies for so long? The Telecaster sits lower in my lap and closer to my body which may be putting my hands in a weird spot. This is also the first guitar in a while I've played with a 25.5" scale length, so maybe I have to adjust.
Or maybe I'm developing arthritis already in my early 30's
Anyways, just thinking out loud, thanks for humoring me.
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I don't think it's arthritis (see above)
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I did have issues, could only play for 5 or 10 minutes before I had to stop, and it turned out arthritis was the actual culprit! Thankfully it was a quick surgical fix and I haven't looked back Originally Posted by chris32895
Or maybe I'm developing arthritis already in my early 30's
Anyways, just thinking out loud, thanks for humoring me.
But I would say, if this is a new thing (the pain from playing on fatter/thicker necks) I would say see a doctor. I would also say, just my opinion here, that a fatter neck does improve the sound of the guitar, and a fat neck on a Tele can be a beautiful thing. I would say see a doctor just to be on the safe side and good luck with that Tele!
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I have been feeling left hand thumb discomfort lately. I have several guitars with various thickness necks and can't say I can draw a relationship to one guitar neck. I have been debating about string gauge, but not certain. I have been trying some round wound sets in lieu of the usual TI Swing JS111 set I commonly use. I think this problem tends to happen more when I am focusing on learning a new chord melody arrangement where I spending a lot of time with the same chord voicings. But then again every once in a while I can be playing a familiar tune and I will get a sudden sharp pain.
I find it important to watch out for other activities than can stress the thumb. I am very careful now to make sure I am not putting pressure on the thumb when I put a seat belt on, carrying things, opening jars.
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Im right there with you DanielleOM.
Im pretty sure when leaning new things we tend to be a bit stressed....not in a bad way but there is more tension and its really easy to put a death grip on the neck and hurt fingers and thumbs.
Im in my 60's and Ive spent years working with my hands making sax mouthpieces. I also spend too much time on the PC and gaming haha. It wears on your hands.
I cant get my brain to like flats. I was playing 13 Bebops but changed to 12's (and bought single wound G). That helps a lot.
The other thing that helps is playing in classical postion. Its hard to get used to but (at least for me) its a more natural position for the left hand and there isnt as much stress on the first finger and thumb. Also my Right ear has neurological damage so I get more acoustic volume when playing my archtop in classical position....so there are 2 good reasons for me.
Ive found little tone loss dropping down one gauge of strings.
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Yes. My first seven string was an Eastman with a fairly thick neck. Nice guitar, but after a while, it was causing me left hand problems. Now have a Palen and Benedetto with thin necks like my six string Gretsch guitars. Pain went away immediately.
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A lot of the time this is actually caused by the combo of a thick neck and small frets. The small frets force you to press harder and the back of the neck gets used for leverage to do that. The result is pain on the fingertips and pad of the thumb. I’ve felt this in the past and changing the frets helps. The counter point here is that my 1936 dangelico excel has a massive neck but it also has pretty big frets (Norio Imai) and it plays like butter.
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If the action is set for easy playing you shouldn't have to press very hard even with small frets. My ES has a fairly thick neck and fairly small frets and plays using very little pressure. I think it's combined factors of action height, the pressure one is used to applying, hand shape/size, neck shape, string thickness, fret size, etc that can cause problems. The "death grip" is a common mistake a lot of guys make, especially in the blues realm.
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The first thing I wondered about was the position of the guitar versus your body. If you’re playing the Tele with it sitting on your lap, it’s going to be in a very different position than most archtops provide.
Try using a strap to increase the angle of the guitar neck towards the vertical and see if that helps. Put a cushion on top of your leg under the guitar to raise the plant. I find either/both of those helpful with my solidbodies when playing seated.
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My thumb disagrees greatly with V-shaped neck profiles. I had an Ovation with a very soft-V which caused so much pain, I had to sell it and now every time I encounter any sort of midline ridge, I set the guitar down politely.
Obviously I play thumb lined up to the midline of the neck(classical position), or it would not pose any problem.
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I don’t have any pain playing so I am sorry for your discomfort.
We all have different hands and my two most comfortable guitar necks are on a 2005 L5 1934 Reissue and 2013 LP Traditional. They are both 1.11/16” nuts and very deep necks close to 1inch.
A great guitar that I never bonded with was a near mint 1960 Gibson 330 with a shallow flat neck typical of Gibsons of that era. It sounded magnificent but I never wanted to pick it up because of the shallow neck.
My only hand problem is that I cannot play thumb over chords sounding the low E string which makes some Gypsy Jazz chords out of the question.
We all have different hands. Just avoid the neck shapes which don’t work for you.
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