Anyone tried a scalloped guitar neck

[Rabs]

So I was watching this vid by the Andertons guys... Kinda interesting, they both have £600 to spend on a cheap guitar and some cool mods to make them rock...

 

And one of the things Rob does is get his neck scalloped... Looks REAL weird to me.. anyone tried one like that?

 

If you want to skip to the neck bit (and the results of their mods) go to 15:50

[the dog]

So I was watching this vid by the Andertons guys... Kinda interesting, they both have £600 to spend on a cheap guitar and some cool mods to make them rock...

 

And one of the things Rob does is get his neck scalloped... Looks REAL weird to me.. anyone tried one like that?

 

If you want to skip to the neck bit (and the results of their mods) go to 15:50

 

 

I tried once on a strat. It was an Yngwie Malmsteen model. I didn't really care for it.

But then again I'm not up to the skill level as Malmsteen or Blackmore who uses scalloped fret boards.

I think the one I tried was just maybe 12th fret up scalloped.

[Ryan H]

Scalloping only really works if you've got a fairly light touch. Bending is effortless, but chording can be a challenge until you get a feel for the right amount of pressure to apply.

 

I've played an Yngwie Strat before, was a cool experience. I have a Charvel SoCal with nice big Jumbo frets and they're pretty close in feel to a scalloped neck.

 

-Ryan

[Pin]

I never have and probably never will. I am not keen on high frets.

[rct]

We were at Fender Factory in February of 2013. We went around a corner, came upon a neck station, guy was not there(nobody was anywhere for the most part), and on the bench were probably 8, 10 scalloped necks with strat headstocks. I asked our escort if they were actually Yngwies and he said yes they were. "That's more Yngwie necks than you guys can sell in the next 5 years!" I said. He laughed, said something about we don't invent the production, we just do it. It was weird, all the guitars people could possibly want that aren't in stores, and they was makin Yngwie necks. I suppose Yngwie called and need a bunch.

 

I have fooled around on a few of them. It's fun. For a minute.

 

rct

[stein]

We were at Fender Factory in February of 2013.

rct

So how was Mexico?

 

I have been wanting to go for quite some time now, just can't seem to get the right combination of money and free time....

[stein]

I tried a few in the past. They aren't what I would have expected.

 

I found that they are actually harder to play due to having to pay close attention to the pressure, harder to finger because the strings tend to want to go away from me, and not a bit easier to bend, like I would have expected.

 

It can show that bending usually involves more of either lifting (or pushing)the other strings out of the way, or keeping the others well muted as you let the ones you want to ring do so. The friction thing doesn't really play in as much. It can show a guy that most friction comes from the strings on the frets, rather than the fingers on the fingerbaord.

 

Still, I can see where one might prefer them if they played a certain way.

[rct]

So how was Mexico?

 

I have been wanting to go for quite some time now, just can't seem to get the right combination of money and free time....

 

That trip was awesome. Yellowstone in Winter, Death Valley, DisneyLand, Fender Factory Tour, stopped and got our picture taken while Standing On A Corner In Winslow Arizona, Meteor Crater, Petrified Forest. I know I even forgot a stop or three.

 

Oh, yeah, Mexico. Never been there, probably will leave this mortal coil without ever being there, and I'm good with that.

 

rct

[NHTom]

I've got a BC Rich scalloped from the 12th up.

 

Its unique.......makes bends, etc very smooth. I have played the full scalloped and didn't really like it. I found it difficult to do smooth chord changes but that's just me.

 

I don't think I'd ever own another.....just not my thing.

 

NHTom

[surfpup]

Yeah, I have a friend who is addicted to them. He put Ywingie necks on his Strats and he can't play a regular guitar at all now. It works for him. Feels weird to me. I can play it - but I don't see the benefit (for my own playing).

[David Collins]

Not a fan of them personally, but I have recommended and installed a few for reasons perhaps not the most common.

 

Over the years I've had a number of clients with severe hand and wrist problems - arthritis, carpal tunnels, tendinitis, etc. When these folks want to keep playing (or return to playing after surgery) it's critical that they learn to retrain their left hand to exert much less pressure than they've learned and been conditioned to use over the years - quite a tall order if you've gripped too heavy for too long.

 

Best solution I've found yet - fit one of their bolt-on necks with an aftermarket scalloped version. Relatively low cost and fully reversible, but it's a very effective therapeutic tool to force players to retrain their fretting hand to use no more pressure than necessary. May sound like a weird reason to choose a scalloped neck, but it works.

[Jimi Mac]

Funny that was the exact viddie I thought of when I saw the thread title...

 

I really like Chappers and The Captain...

 

I've seen of them (scalloped necks) before but have never had the chance to try one...

 

I am curious as hell...

 

But from all I've seen and knowing my own heavy-handed style I'm morally certain I'd play every note sharp....

 

From some of the things they were saying in that vid, I think I get what The Captain means... I like the feel of the wood under my fingers. It would feel like stepping off the abyss to me...

 

I prefer light(ish) strings; 9's, and a low action so I feel the fretboard under my fingers...

 

I'm not a very light touch player, although I get the idea and sometimes suddenly find a clarity and ease in a very light-touch approach, my thing is a very emotional approach and I'll strangle the guitar neck from time to time and I'm very over-bearing like a bull in a china-shop...

 

I don't think I'd get along with a scalloped neck well, but I'd like to try one...

[quapman]

I can't even stand the jumbo frets on everything nowadays.

I would hate these scalloped things.

 

I had the frets on my LPCC crowned down to .035 to get it where I liked it.

No desire to ever try one not one iota.

 

The only scallop I want to see will be swimming in garlic butter.