A question about Neck Radius and Fret Size.

[Wound_Up]

It seems the most "Popular" Fender Neck Radius nowadays is 9.5" (notes won't choke out when you bend them as much as they will with a 7.25" Radius) , and the most "Popular" Fender Fret Size is the Medium Jumbo (they are said to provide a great balance between fast playability and ease of bending).

So how did all those great Fender players back in the 50's/60's/70's play so great with a 7.25" Neck Radius and Vintage Frets?

Popular ≠ only

That's how.

 

[Wound_Up]

.

Marketing fads. Check out these features that came and went:

Fretless guitars
Fanned frets
Baritones
7, 8, 9 string guitars
'great taste less filling'

Up until PRS and the Mayer Strat, every forum post was how to fix their 7.25 radius so they didn't choke out on note bends. After the Strat like thing with a tight fretboad radius marketing game convinced weak willed players they needed the same thing.

Try some skinny necks, a lot of those skinny necks, before you convince yourself you need one. Those other faddish guitars are hard to re sell, unless you can locate another curious buyer...

.

Multi scale guitars didn't come and go. They're just as popular as ever. Thousands of guitar players play on them daily. You see them in a lot metal bands these days.

If they were a fad that came & went, everybody would've all have moved back to 6 strings. Baritone guitars weren't a fad either. When was there ever a time when everybody switched to baritone and then back to reg length guitars?

7/8/9 strings go with multi scale guitars. Again, they're played by thousands upon thousands daily. Some of the biggest metal bands in the planet have been using 7+ multi scale strings for 15 years or more by now. Just, because you don't keep up with it doesn't make it a fad.

 

[mattier303]

I’ve found a 7.25” need to be setup very well.
I’ve struggled with some 7.25” early on in my playing that I just couldn’t gel with. I prefer 10-12” myself. med-jumbo Frets although I find fret material and quality trump size.

 

[Danny D]

M

Many of them had their guitars reradiused, new frets, etc. Others just played because they didn't know better or have the options we do now.

Let's not go down the rabbit hole of "Jimi and Dave played these, this must be great."

There's a plethora of reasons why and there's a reason we have so many options today. Things change, usually for the better.

We used to have drum brakes and carburetors, coal heating, etc. Now we don't. Things change.

My grandfather had to kick his mule before it would carry the water from the well.

 

[EAllen]

They practiced on what they had and didn't know they needed anything different.

 

[JDug]

To me, 9.5 to 7.25, I barely notice any difference at all.

My AV 59 was so easy to do bends on. 7.25” and vintage style frets, I don’t get it….

Vintage style frets are so nice, they’re barely even there, and they’re out of your way, so easy to play on versus jumbos, I gotta work harder with those.

 

[Thrup'ny Bit]

I prefer my Strats with 7¼" radius to my other guitars, but I'm a tart, I'll play anything with strings...

 

[Digiplay]

Have you ever tried 8.50 inch radius?

No I haven't.

BTW, the most "Popular" statistics I stated are by Fender, not me

 

[MGW-AB]

Deleted

 

[kelia]

I just got a 7.25” with vintage frets and I prefer it to a lot of others.

Having owned a 58 , 63 and 66 Strat , everything above 7.25 doesn't feel right for me.
I have a Strat with 9.5 but always pick up the 7.25 , it feels like home .

 

[Roger66]

Very good question, I’ve wondered the same thing. John Mayer plays a 7.25 radius and he has no issues at all.

John Mayer has no issues??!!

 

[Bane]

You have to play with what feels good to you

 

[Stratafied]

John Mayer has no issues??!!

Well .

 

[Ronkirn]

how did all those great Fender players back in the 50's/60's/70's play so great with a 7.25" Neck Radius and Vintage Frets?

they didn't .. what they did was warp into the future with H.G;'s time machine.. record their music, on analogue gear of course, warp back and have 'em pressed into vinyl... it was easy... I mean. like what's the quandary?

 

[Miotch]

My personal guitars are probably all 7.5s, 9.5s, or 10s. And I don't really notice when playing them.

But I guess if I ordered a new neck, I probably would go with medium jumbo and 10" radius. Not that it will make me play any better. But if I'm going to order something to play, why not get what I think "might" be the best fit for me ??

It's kind of moot, though. The chances of me ordering a custom neck is Slim to None, and Slim left town.

 

[Scott Baxendale]

It seems the most "Popular" Fender Neck Radius nowadays is 9.5" (notes won't choke out when you bend them as much as they will with a 7.25" Radius) , and the most "Popular" Fender Fret Size is the Medium Jumbo (they are said to provide a great balance between fast playability and ease of bending).

So how did all those great Fender players back in the 50's/60's/70's play so great with a 7.25" Neck Radius and Vintage Frets?

If you set up a neck with a 7.25” radius correctly it will not choke out. This great players used those guitars because they were great guitars too. The medium jumbo fret size is more common now, but it is no better or worse than the smaller vintage type wire we use on most of our refrets. It’s just different.

Also, I think a 12” radius is currently the most popular fret board radius. We use a 16” radius on our acoustic guitars. Jimmy herring uses a 19” radius.

 

[lbpesq]

For all I know, Albert Einstein preferred the colour yellow. Just because I like blue, it doesn't mean I'm wrong.

Yes it does. You are WRONG. Yellow IS better than blue! I read it on the internets, so it MUST be true!

hehehehe

Bill, tgo

 

[AngelDeVille]

Having owned a 58 , 63 and 66 Strat , everything above 7.25 doesn't feel right for me.
I have a Strat with 9.5 but always pick up the 7.25 , it feels like home .

my #1&2&3 geetars are 12” radius, with various fret types.

9.5” isn’t terribly noticeable of a difference, but 7.25” is somewhat refreshing.

I don’t notice any choking out on bends…

I’m wondering if the 7.25” geetar isn’t creeping into the #2 or #3 spot….

I do have a compound radius 10”-16” warmoth neck and it’s kinda weird…

 

[Digiplay]

my #1&2&3 geetars are 12” radius, with various fret types.

9.5” isn’t terribly noticeable of a difference, but 7.25” is somewhat refreshing.

I don’t notice any choking out on bends…

I’m wondering if the 7.25” geetar isn’t creeping into the #2 or #3 spot….

I do have a compound radius 10”-16” warmoth neck and it’s kinda weird…

Breaking News:

I hope all of you know that I didn't start this Thread to have a "fight" among ANY of us

It's obvious the answer to my original question is that guitar players like and can play 7.25"/9.5"/10"/12"/Radius Necks, so it boils down to what you like, and in the 50's/60's/70's, the 7.25"/Vintage Frets is what they usually had on Strats, so these guys just played what they had, and probably thought of other things when playing.


As an aside:

The Classic Player '60's Strat has a 12" Radius, and I'm curious how many of you like/dislike it compared to a smaller Radius?



And now, back to our Regular Scheduled Programing!

 

[Intune]

I was going back and worth last night between a 7.25 and 9.5. The 7.25 had vintage frets and the 9.5 has narrow/tall maybe 6105 frets.

Both are set up very similar with low action. The only difference for me, I felt like a could dig in a little more with the taller frets. Not that I couldn’t with the other one it just seemed to rattle a bit more. It’s like with the smaller frets, rounded radius, you have to be a bit more precise when fretting. Still takes a second to give a little lighter touch and not so aggressive and it’s awesome.

That for me is the only real difference. Just felt I could play a little more aggressively with the 9.5 and bigger frets without causing any rattling.