Best Neck of Any Guitar You've Played?

**teleman3726** · 01-14-2013, 07:52 PM

Love the neck of a 50s 175 I've played.
The neck on my 46 Emperor is sweet - there's a story about how Epi necks were fashioned with a considerable amount of input from LES musicians in the City.
I like the baseball bat on my Nocaster.
Campellone carved a nice thick one piece neck on the 18" blondie non cut.
Guess this says it all

**Cooperro** · 01-15-2013, 12:03 PM

Hands down, my Taylor T5!

**helios** · 01-15-2013, 03:21 PM

Carvin has the best necks I've ever played--fretboard surface tolerance to +/- .001", huge fret pressing machine, action guaranteed to 1/16". They could design a better humbucker IMHO.

**Spook410** · 01-15-2013, 03:23 PM

Originally Posted by hot ford coupe

I like the thicker necks but at a nut width of 1 11/16. The worst necks I've ever played were a 61 Byrdland and a 2000 Rickenbacker 369. Both had necks like pencils and way too thin. I tried a Jeff Beck Strat and really liked that neck.

Seems to me I recall Beck specified that neck to the dimensions of a Super 400 he had at the time. Really felt good. One came up used recently ($1K)and maybe I should have bought it. Nice sea foam green.

Worst neck is a Gurian concert size acoustic. 1 5/8" width. Pencil thin. Ironically, the guitar sounds wonderful and the workmanship is superb. Had it for over 20 yrs but debating whether or not to have a neck reset done given that I don't really care for the dimensions.

The Yunzhi necks I've been getting are a bit on the chunky side. Really like them. They are not made for the size hand of an average Chinese guitar player and I've never given them dimensions. I wonder what they modeled their necks after?

**peterpanico** · 01-15-2013, 03:38 PM

Paul reed Smith,nearly all of them....absolutely the best necks ever made!

**woyvel** · 01-15-2013, 09:30 PM

My PRS SE and my Artcore. I keep trying others and the necks keep me coming back to them. Old Hagstroms from the 60's have really fast ones that are fun to play now and then.

**mad dog** · 01-16-2013, 02:43 PM

The neck on my '61 strat is hard to beat. Fast, comfortable, worn in. I'm also really enjoying the neck on the Collings 290. Beefier, but not fat. Different feel, but feels just as good.
MD

**Northernblue** · 01-16-2013, 11:50 PM

For me and just talking neck and ease of playing my Godin Kingpin does it. But I will say my Hofner verythin is a close second.

NB

**JimBobWay** · 01-17-2013, 12:01 AM

Originally Posted by D.G.

This is my attitude lately. It wasn't always like this, but I finally decided that if I couldn't adjust to different necks I'd really limit myself to what guitars I could play.

I agree with this, and my guitars have different neck profiles, scale, strings, frets...but my all-time favorite is the '59 ES 175.

**Carpal55** · 01-17-2013, 02:09 PM

In 50 years I've had my hand around a lot of necks :-) Oddly my favorite was my Guild D55 acoustic. When I went looking at archtops that's the feel I wanted. Tried eveythign and found a lot of variation even in similar models but the two that topped my list were the Tacoma archtop which I've played for the last decade or so, and an Erich Solomon Abraxas which I loved but was out of my range. I like the neck on my MIJ Ibanez AS100 a lot too if I'm playing rock or blues...

**ooglybong** · 01-17-2013, 03:24 PM

My Eastman Pisano 880. Practically plays itself.
My other Eastmans, my T145 and my Jeff Hale Custom El Rey, are not too far behind, but the Pisano is the best. (The Pisano and El Rey are in my avatar.)

**Mike Licks** · 01-17-2013, 03:50 PM

the best neck Ive ever had, and I had expensive guitars... gibson, parker, fender... is this one, I dont know the model, Vintage Vs or similar, very cheap guitar, cost me £80 used

Im pretty sure there r a lot of new cheap chinese and korean guitars with a great neck, the sound.... not too good, but not too bad, at least for me.

**BigDaddyLoveHandles** · 01-17-2013, 09:37 PM

The real question here is: what makes for a great neck, in your opinion?

**pierre richard** · 01-17-2013, 09:52 PM

My old 1962 Fender Stratocaster (christmas present on my 13th birthday)....sold it two years ago...

My main axe now...1977 Ibanez 2355 (ES-175)...bought used in 1978..from a rocker who did not like it...

Played hundreds of guitars in my life (so far) many more to come...

As you can see..not too many guitars have I owned....

If you can't be with the one you love...love the one you're with...

time on the instrument...

**Anandbhat** · 01-18-2013, 06:48 AM

My 1986 Fender Custom Shop 60 Stratocaster.
It's pretty much the only one I have that truly 'Plays like Buttah'.

**guitarchordgeneratorr** · 01-26-2013, 05:35 AM

I Use an Ibanez jem Guitar,that has a thin flat shaped neck with a nice thick truss rod.

**Just_Guild** · 01-26-2013, 10:38 AM

Well I'm no expert. But my 2011 American Standard Telecaster is about the smoothest and easiest neck for me to play. I never feel like I am fighting it. All maple neck, very smooth, excellent workmanship. It's become my go to guitar.

**Cobra** · 01-26-2013, 11:17 AM

With out a doubt, my favorite is my Lentz T...
It's really pretty big, but not gargantuan.
I don't have large hands, but larger necks reduce fatigue for me.

**itsall4you** · 01-26-2013, 08:51 PM

An early 80s squier strat that was sitting in the gear closet of my old high school for over 20 years...

**jazzbow** · 01-27-2013, 08:32 AM

Acoustic wise would have to be my 1982 Masano (Japanese Martin clone). Soft V mahogany laquered neck, mmmm!

Hollow jazz style, I have two Cort/Tanglewood Triggs models, all maple single P/U, one stock (blue), one modded (Gretch orange). The blue one has a better 'feel' as it has a different C shape than the other, more rolled at the edges and the rosewood fingerboard has turned almost black with use over the years, nice!

Solid body types. Maple, my old Chandler made vintage strat neck (currently on its third body). Bought that, oh dear, 30 years ago!!!! (where's the time gone?).
Rosewood would be my tricked out J Mascis Squier jazzmaster. Wow, what a neck! Nice C section 9.5 radius, I was blown away by the shape for such a lower price point guitar. I tried it out on a whim and ended up buying it.

Further to the cheap section guitar necks I have seen and tried, I just got in a 2005 mex strat for repair and I was shocked to see how poor the finishing of the wood is. The neck to head section is thick and clumsy as well as the neck to body section. The fret ends are sharp and nasty as well. But it has Fender on the head and it should be better, shame really. (I'll post up some pix laters)

**oldane** · 01-27-2013, 11:42 AM

I have been following this thread through the corner of my eye with - well, frankly - not so much interest. It shows what we already knew: Tastes for neck shape is all over the place, so there is no guiding for any individual player in that. "One wants the mother, another the daughter - and that way both get married."