FLAT FINGERBOARD LOGIC

(Opinions I gleaned off the web)

Guitars don't even need a radius, and in fact classical guitars don't have a radius. My understanding is that contemporary guitar makers around 120 years or so ago basically added the radius to imitate "high class" instruments such as violin (which actually needs the radius) as a marketing gimmick.

You hardly ever see flat fretboards on guitars because of the myth that it is "worse". If you take a look at banjos and mandolins, even on $1000 instruments you will see some with flat fretboards because some people prefer them, but you never see them on guitars. Out of curiosity, I build myself a guitar with a flat fretboard and I LOVE it. To my hands, it is more comfortable to play (everything from barr chords to solos) and I notice my playing is a tad bit cleaner with the flat fretboard. If you are curious, I highly recommend trying one.

I find chords much easier on my strat but bending a bit harder. I find I always get the other strings riding over my finger. My chapman ml2 has a 16'' radius and its awesome for bends and single note playing. The flatter the radius also allows for much lower action without fretting out in the middle of the board.

i've been thinking a flat fretboard might be better recently...cause when bending my high e string i find that if i bend it too much the string will make contact with frets further down the fretboard, muting the string...so right now the action on my e string is actually a little higher than my b string

I don’t believe in radius guitar necks. i could go on a long winded rant on why (maybe a future post) but i cant seem to find a company that makes stock guitar a flat fingerboard. The only guitar i can think of is the shawn lane signature vigier guitar but i cant afford a guitar of that price. Does anyone know any brands or even neck makers should check out?

A lot of people start off playing shreddy guitars and transition to playing more vintage style guitars. I had the opposite experience. I started out playing metal on standard Fender strats (that I loaded with humbuckers) and Gibsons, then I bought an Ibanez RG471AH on tour as a backup and came away thinking: Why aren't all guitar necks like this? Thin, flat (16" or more radius) and 24 frets with perfect upper fret access.

But seriously, yes: wide and flat makes it much easier for me to bend, be accurate during note-skippy runs (not just metal mind you) as well as make the crazy chords.

Imo if you have proper “thumb pad in the middle of the neck” form, thin and flat is the way to go.

My favorite neck is in my Warmoth “PRS copy” with the 1-3/4” nut and 16” flat radius (the widest and flattest they offer).