Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I was pondering whether to put this in Forum 51 or here, but Brian, Peter or Gil will know where it belongs.

Everyone has a preference to how he likes his guitar/bass neck. For guitar, some of us like 'em big, beefy and chunky, like a '50s Gibson, '57 Strat or a '51 Nocaster. Some of us like 'em slim, tapered and fast, like a 60's Ric, a '60s Strat or a '60s Gibson ES-175. Or, there are some that can go either way. For bass, there are some of us who like that slim, narrow 4001/Jazz bass style neck, and others of us who like that Precision bass/Ovation bass style wide neck.

I can go either way for guitar, so I really have no preference. It's my motto again, "If it feels good in my hands, I'll play it." But for bass, I can't get around the Precision-wide neck, so I go slim.

I don't really have a preference, but somewhere in the middle.

For guitar and bass (I play both) I like my necks slender and short scale, but I'll settle for slender. My 320 and 325 have my favorite necks of any I own - they sort of melt in my hand. I always like a short scale bass too, but either way, slender is where it's at.

Doesn't matter!

I like 'em slim - like a 67 SG Standard. I think I'm one of the few who actually love the necks on 360-12's. I play little bass,but my preference has always been the Fender Jazz bass.

MO THINNER, MO BETTER!

I can't get around the Fender P neck either Jake, I do like the Jazz neck.

Anything but a baseball bat is a-okay with me on either guitar or bass. I appreciate a variety of different neck shapes.

The necks on each of my Rickenbacker guitars is different from the other, but they're all quitre comfortable to play.

I've played slim neck 4001s 4003s, and some of the "chunkier" necked 4003s-all felt pretty comfortable to me. I also like the neck on my Geddy Lee J-bass.

I appreciate the soft "V" shaped neck on my `57 VRI Strat (though tthe 7 1/4" fretboard radius will "fret out" too soon/quickly when I do more extreme bends), as well as the "C" shape of my `62 RI Strat.

I don't even know what sorts of necks my Gretsches have, other than they're "C" shaped, and the neck on my `55 era Nashville Western 6120 is super slim and thin compared to the others, but I think they all play great.

The only necks I recall not liking very much very much were on an early "Nocaster", my solid body Vox teardrop bass, and a Fender P-J bass; they all had ridiculously thick "baseball bat" style necks that were just plain uncomfortable to play for me.

I like mine on Rickenbackers...

On basses, I like thinner ones, but I've gotten used to the thicker ones. The Jan 2009 4003 I got a while back was just too much of a baseball bat for me then. Since I got my 4004Cii, I've grown to accept more differences than I used to like, so perhaps I'd like it better now.

As for guitars, well, I've never actually touched a Rick guitar. I've got a strat that has a pretty nice neck, but since I can't really play a guitar (what the heck do you do with all those tiny strings anyway?), I can't really comment there...

sloop_john_b wrote:Doesn't matter!

I'm the same - from baseball bat P-basses and '50s spec Teles to wafer-thin Mosrites and narrow-as-a-piece-of-string '70s J basses - I love 'em all! Rick necks seem to cover the middle ground rather nicely. Even my "thick neck" V63 is slim and fast compared to a '50s P-bass.

antipodean wrote:

sloop_john_b wrote:Doesn't matter!

I'm the same - from baseball bat P-basses and '50s spec Teles to wafer-thin Mosrites and narrow-as-a-piece-of-string '70s J basses - I love 'em all! Rick necks seem to cover the middle ground rather nicely. Even my "thick neck" V63 is slim and fast compared to a '50s P-bass.

Yep, me too----depends on the guitar, and depends what I intend on using it for.


I tend to have an "ideal" neck shape for each particular brand----Fender, Gibson, Ric, Mosrite, Gretsch etc.... which helps in buying etc.

Then again, I would never turn down or get rid of a guitar because it's neck didn't feel right! If it's a cool guitar, then it's cool, period.

Tone is most important IMO. If it sounds great I can get along with any neck.

The neck on my '74 4001 - thin profile..... but agreed - tone is most important!

For me it depends on the guitar - for Rickenbackers I've had the nice slim necks and recently a very large-necked 330 which I really disliked. On Fenders I prefer a thinner neck like on the MIJ Telecasters. I really like the Gibson 60's profile, and I get along quite nicely with the PRS Wide Fat neck profile.

I play so many different instruments, that it really doesn't matter. I can adapt.
JimK

sloop_john_b wrote:Tone is most important IMO. If it sounds great I can get along with any neck.

My feeling exactly John.