Non Cutaway Question

[deacon Mark]

I have to ask. Where do you effectively stop playing above what frets on a non-cutaway archtop? Given I have them I am familiar with it but never thought about others. Personally, if I am playing pure rhythm I go to the up as high as the 14th fret. This would only be for 3-4 note chords on the treble side. For chords that use the 5th and 6th string I stop at 10 just because the sound not quite the same in the drive. I could go to of course 12-13 but see no need

Then there is single line stuff. Here I go up on occasion on the high E to above 17 but pretty rare and only at end of a wild phrase. For the bass side I will go to the 12-13 for single notes but rare. Frankly if they made a fingerboard that diagonally cut the last 4-5 frets out of the low E A D that might even be better. If the truth be known really anything above 14 is way out with exception of 2 high strings.

Maybe some real non cutaway players take advantage of the whole board?

[Bob_Ross]

For chords I probably stop 1 or 2 frets higher than the neck/body joint.
For single note lines I often resort to a similar approach as "thumb position" on the upright bass, where the entire fretting hand comes around from the back of the neck and sits on top of the fingerboard...I'll go for any note on the fingerboard at that point.

[AllanAllen]

If I’m practicing scales I’ll go all the way up to whatever fret Bb is.

On a gig, I don’t go anywhere near
that high.

[John A.]

I’ve only owned one non-cutaway archtop, a Godin 5th Ave. The fingerboard extension on that was considerably higher above the guitar top than most others, which made upper fret access almost as good as a cutaway. So on that guitar I could comfortably go up to the 15th or 16th fret. But I didn’t actually do that very much.

TBH I don’t often go above the 14th or 15th fret on my cutaway guitars either, even when playing blues or more rock oriented stuff.

[Ulite]

You're absolutely right about the effective "stop" point shifting depending on the strings.

Most rhythm players I know, myself included, treat the 12th to 14th fret area as the practical ceiling for anything involving the bass strings. Like you said, the tone up there on the wound strings can get thin and "plunky," losing that authoritative drive we need for rhythm. The 10th fret is a very sensible cutoff for full Claim your exclusive welcome package now at TropicalCasino website chords.

For single-note lines, especially on the high E and B, I'll venture into the 15th-17th fret territory, but it always feels like a special effect—a quick scream at the end of a phrase, exactly as you described. The idea of a diagonal fingerboard is brilliant and honestly highlights the truth: those upper frets on the bass side are largely theoretical for most traditional playing. The instrument’s design and the physics of the box tell us where the sweet spots are.