660/12 v. 330/12 v. 360/12 Neck profiles

admin · Post by **admin** » Sat Dec 13, 2003 6:10 pm

Riffmeister: Nice to hear your comments about the refretting of your 360V64. In addition to having more room to chord, do you notice a change in the bending of strings or in playing riffs with the newer fretwire? Is the improvement due to the wider and higher fretwire or to the whder spacing at the nut.

riffmeister · Post by **riffmeister** » Sat Dec 13, 2003 6:58 pm

Peter, the frets are just a little taller which makes fretting a bit nicer (just feels more secure since there's more "grip" on the string pairs before the tip of the finger comes up against the fretboard). I really don't do any string bending on this guitar, I save that for my 6-string electrics!

The frets are also just a little bit narrower, which I believe helps with intonation and note articulation. And the frets are longer, they go all the way out over the binding to the edge of the neck. This allows for a wider string spacing at the nut. Although it's only a fraction of an inch, it is very very noticeable and makes playing chords much easier, esp in the first position. Before the mods, it was literally impossible for me to not mute adjacent strings in the first position. Now all strings ring true and clear with first position chords.

And I'm also amazed at how much more clear, resonant, and sustaining the sound of the guitar is now (both acoustically and when I'm plugged in). Better nut material and slots, narrower frets, better bridge saddles and slots, and possibly some influence of the heavier brass truss rod bar in the headstock. Amazing! The guitar plays like silk and sounds gorgeous!

riffmeister · Post by **riffmeister** » Sat Dec 13, 2003 7:25 pm

sorry, some more gory details!

the width of the original nut, the distance between the two outermost strings, is 1 and 11/32 inches. the same distance on the new nut is 1 and 14.5/32 inches. so it's 3.5/32 (7/64) inches wider. doesn't sound like much. but consider that the string pairs are 2/32 inches apart (that distance is the same on both nuts). that means that if you line up the low E string pairs on the two nuts, the wider nut has the inner string of the high E string pair 1.5/32 of an inch beyond the outer string of the high E string on the original nut. it's actually quite a big difference. and it certainly feels that way!

admin · Post by **admin** » Sun Dec 14, 2003 2:19 am

Riffmeister: You will have to play the 12 string solo on "I Call Your Name" for some string bending to checkout these changes.

riffmeister · Post by **riffmeister** » Sun Dec 14, 2003 4:47 am

Peter, String bends on the 12-string, a la the Beatles song you mentioned?

I'm not that kind of man.