Official Luthiers Forum!

Is there a relationship between fretboard radius and playability?
I have a possible steel string client wondering about this. I have only built with a 16" radius.
Would a 60 year old with large hands and trouble holding down barre chords be better off with more curvature or a flat fretboard?

_________________
"An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is an adventure wrongly considered." G. K. Chesterton.

BUMP

Good question Steve, one for the accomplished Player/Builder to answer.

Cheers

Kim

The theory is that a smaller radius should make it easier to hold down
barre chords.  Vintage Telecasters (for example) have a 7-1/4"
radius, and I've heard a few repair guys swear they've seen a few with
a 6" radius; that's the smallest I've heard of.



IMO...being 60 I'll venture that your guy is battling arthritis with
the barre chords.  Jumbo frets might help there, also downtuning
to Eb.

I think it also depends on the music you play.  I play fingerstyle guitar, and I do not like small radius fretboards.if you bend strings at all, a flatter FB will be easier.

Glenn

My personal preference is a 12" radius board. Barr chords are a little easier to fret and it just "feels" better to me. Not as comfortable to bend as a flatter radius board, though.

Can someone please chime in here on the playability advantages of a compound radius?  I've heard they are better and don't know why

_________________
Rick Hubka
Chemainus BC Canada

I've built with both constant Radii and compound radii on acoustic guitars. I don't think it matters on an acoustic instrument. I currently build with a 16" radius.
The purpose of the compound radii is to prevent "fretting out" when bend strings. You can get a lot more bend on an electric guitar than an acoustic (well me anyway)and I've never fretted out or known anyone whose fretted out on an acoustic guitar, so I just build a constant radius now.
Hope that helps.

_________________
Jim Watts
http://jameswattsguitars.com

I use a compound radius (although I'm contemplating switching) in theory it
makes barre chords easier closer to the nut and yet does not fret out when
bending up the neck. In practice I don't see much of a difference.

_________________
John Mayes
http://www.mayesluthier.com

For what it may be worth, I really think it depends on the player as much as the instrument. I've got a J-45 with a 12" radius fingerboard that is amazing. I've also got a D-28 spec'd with a 16" radius that actually measures out closer to 20", even though the board hasn't been touched or refretted since it left the factory in 1985. I can tell a difference, but can't really say one is better than the other. If I'm not mistaken, doesn't Gretsch build with a 12" radius as well? All that said, I think dead flat belongs only on classical guitars, and even that is debatable to me. I would think either 16" or 12" for steel string and both would be equally valid. In the long run, I don't know that using one radius over the other would make much of a difference, at least to me... to someone else, it might though.

The real purpose of a compound radius is to maintain relatively uniform
action on a tapered fretboard. A fret board that is the same width from nut
all the way up should have a constant radius. Think of it as the side of a
cylinder. However, most fretboards are taperd. The nut width is smaller than
width at 12 fret. A compound radius is used in this case. Think of it as the
side of a cone. If you use a constant radius on a tapered fretboard, the
strings will get higher of the frets the farther you move up the fretboard.

Thanks for the compound radius info guys.  It makes sense now.

I can see how some might compensate and adjust the string height at the saddle and others will use a compound radius.  Although doing both would seem like the ideal solution.

I can also see how fret leveling or re-fretting would be much more difficult with a compound radius.

The perfectionist in me says "go compound".  The sensible part of me says use one radius and "KISS" on the fretboard.  In case there's one out there that doesn't know what "KISS" means...  It's "Keep It Simple Stupid".

Thanks again

_________________
Rick Hubka
Chemainus BC Canada

I prefer a 12" radius.Much easier to play than a flatter 16".         &n bsp; James       &nb sp;   

_________________
James W Bolan
Nashville Tennessee

My understanding of a compound radius is that, given the fact that the neck and strings taper, they form a curve closer to a conical section than a cylindrical section.  Therefore, a compound radius (conical section) allows the fb to be more parallel to the strings all the way up the neck allowing better action.

In practice, it is more complex than that but in my experience, changing from a simple to a compound radius allowed me to get better action.  That said, some people achieve similar results by leveling the board and/or frets in a path parallel to the strings, as opposed to parallel to the center line of the neck. Same basic idea.

_________________
http://www.chassonguitars.com

I am almost understanding this. I have one question though, if someone would be kind enough to answer:

What is the difference in string height at the 12th fret between a standard 16" radiused fingerboard and a fingerboard that is compound radiused? 

 

_________________
Reguards,

Ken H

J, sorry, I must have missed your post and pretty much repeated what you said.

Rick, as for fretting a compound board, it's not any more difficult.  If you hammer frets, it is exactly the same.  For pressing frets, I use a caul that matches the tighter radius and go back and lightly hammer the whole board to make sure all frets are well seated.

_________________
http://www.chassonguitars.com