Neck depth - please measure and post

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Barry, good idea! Also, fret width at 5th & 12th may give some indication of neck profile (see below).

Must be careful about small errors in measurement though, or else that will seriously screw up the results :-? . Also need to be consistent in how each of us does this ? easy & accurate way is just to wrap a piece of paper around the neck & mark the limits with a pen, then use a good ruler to measure between the two marks. But three things to watch ? (1) paper must be held tight & flat against the neck, (2) be sure paper is not skewed at an angle to the frets (must be dead square), (3) measure right up to bound edge of fretboard.

OK, here?s what I got:-

Fret 5: 73mm
Fret 12: 79mm
Guitar: 1982 LS60.

Width at Fret 5: 50mm
Width at Fret 12 : 54 mm

Ratio of fret width (A) to neck circumference (B) may give some indication of neck profile. E.g., at a guess, probably find ratio A/B is small for sharpest V-neck (eg 0.625), and find A/B tends to 1.0 for softest D-neck :-? .


Ian.

Fret 5 - 77mm
Fret 12 - 84mm

Guitar - 2001 LS200

These may be slightly out but it they're definately thicker than a 59. Could it be that this model is actually a 58 replica?

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Barry;- yeah, I double-checked that 79mm, ie after seeing yours at 82 & 83 . But that?s what prompted me to put in the caveats - unless we?re careful, 3 or 4mm may be a typical margin for error. I?m measuring flush against 12th Fret itself (not midway between 12th & 13th), and right up to the top edge of fretboard :-? . Just to complete those ratios, mine are 5th=0.685, and 12th=0.684, ie both effectively 0.685 (within error margin).

Ian.

note the 2001 Tokai LS-60vf. big hands that year!

Les Pauls

Fret 5: 73(47,5)mm
Fret 12: 81(52,5)mm
Guitar: 1974 RI Gibson LP Special ts

Fret 5: 73(47,5)mm
Fret 12: 81(52,5)mm
Guitar: 1977 Gibson LP Deluxe wr

Fret 5: 73(48)mm
Fret 12: 81(53)mm
Guitar: 1978 Tokai LS-60bs

Fret 5: 74(48)mm
Fret 12: 82(53)mm
Guitar: 1979 Tokai LS-50cs

Fret 5: 72(48,5)mm
Fret 12: 81(53)mm
Guitar: 1981 Tokai LS-50bb

Fret 5: 74(48)mm
Fret 12: 80(53)mm
Guitar: 1981 Tokai LS-50bs

Fret 5: 75(48)mm
Fret 12: 83(53)mm
Guitar: 1981 Tokai LS-50os

Fret 5: 73(48)mm
Fret 12: 79(52)mm
Guitar: 1982 Tokai LS-50os

Fret 5: 73(48)mm
Fret 12: 81(53)mm
Guitar: 1990 Tokai LS-60bb

Fret 5: 74(48)mm
Fret 12: 80(53)mm
Guitar: 1999 Tokai LS-320vf

Fret 5: 77 (48)mm
Fret 12: 83 (53)mm
Guitar: 2001 Tokai LS-60vf

Fret 5: 73(48)mm
Fret 12: 79(52,5)mm
Guitar: Early ’80 Burny RLG 90cs

Fret 5: 74(48)mm
Fret 12: 80(53)mm
Guitar: Late ’80 Burny RLG ?vf

Fret 5: 74(48)mm
Fret 12: 81(53)mm
Guitar: 1981 or 1988 Epiphone ‘57gt MIJ orig. style headstock

Strats :

Fret 5: 73(46,5)mm
Fret 12: 80(51,5)mm
Guitar: 1955 Fender Stratocaster sb

Fret 5: 73(46,5)mm
Fret 12: 79(51)mm
Guitar: 1960 Fender Stratocaster sb

Fret 5: 71(47)mm
Fret 12: 79(52)mm
Guitar: 1965 Fender Stratocaster sb

Fret 5: 69(47)mm
Fret 12: 76(52)mm
Guitar: 1982 JV Fender Squier ‘57sb

Fret 5: 71(47,5)mm
Fret 12: 78(52)mm
Guitar: 1983 JV Fender Squier ‘62fred

Fret 5: 73(47)mm
Fret 12: 80(52)mm
Guitar: Mid ’80 Fernandes Revival ’62 ST-50sb

Fret 5: 73(47)mm
Fret 12: 79(52)mm
Guitar: 1994 Fender MIJ Stratocaster '57w

loverockerUK said:

Hey Pal - could be. There were definitely '57 and '58 models mentioned in the catalogues. The '58 ES-225 is a real handful, and that's almost the same as yours at the 5th fret.

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I like the handful. :lol: It's great for barre chords and I could never use my thum to fret effectively on thin necks anyway. It somehow feels more natural for more of my hand to be in contact with the neck.

I still remember the first time I put my fingers around that neck; it just felt so right! And I don't even have very big hands.

Hi Barry,
here's my results with tongue in the "out" position (for greater accuracy) :wink:

Fret 5: 74mm
Fret 12: 80mm
Guitar ES120 2002

Fret 5: 71mm
Fret 12: 75mm
Guitar ST40 '84

Fret 5: 72mm
Fret 12: 78mm
Guitar MIJ Fender Strat '62 reissue

Fret 5: 68mm
Fret 12: 77mm
Guitar CIJ Fender '68 reissue

Maybe the width of the fretboard should be taken into consideration,on paper there doesn't look like there is much between the '68 and '62 at the 12th fret but the '68 has a lot thinner neck but wider fretboard!

Excellent point, without all of the dimensions it's difficult to know what the width/depth means.
God only knows how to do this effectively. How about I saw through the neck, dip the cut end in ink and take a print and then scan it and then post a jpeg.
Do we need to take in to account the fretboard radius?
If we use some sort of jenny-leg calipers we could measure the depth and the width, and with a guess of the profile ( v or c or whatever) we may get something close.
It's a good idea, cos although cosmetically my '83 JV series Squire looks a lot like my '83 Springy Sound the JV's neck is like half of a baseball bat in comparison.

Supernout - Bloody hell...

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Here are some measurements from my guitars.

5th - 69.0
12th-76.0
Guitar - '80 - '82ish Tokai Breezy Sound with Rosewood fingerboard.

5th - 68.5
12th -74.0
Guitar - '83 Tokai ST50 - Maple fingerboard

5th - 70.0
12th -75.0
Guitar - '83 Squier Strat - Maple fingerboard (neck like a bat)

5th - 71.5
12th -79.0
Guitar - '75 Gibson Les Paul Deluxe Goldtop

5th - 74.0
12th -80.0
Guitar - Recent '58 Epiphone Korina Explorer (50 neck, big but lovely)

5th - 66.0
12th -74.0
Guitar -'88ish Ibanez S540 with Wizard neck (very slim and fab n fun)

5th - 69.0
12th -76.5
Guitar - '90ish Ibanez S540 without Wizard neck.

loverockerUK said:

By the way, I jumped on the single easy-to-measure bit that related best to the chunkiness issue (i.e. how much of your hand is needed to wrap around the back of the neck). Neck width would also help on that, but we need to be careful about measuring, some necks have rolled edges, and for chunkiness the issue is maximum width, not width at the top of the fingerboard.

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Is it really measurable what we take in our hands every day? Haven't we gone wrong even about measuring far more shorter "instruments"? :wink:

Solution : Any 3D scanner or nuclear spin tomography machine from eBay? :roll:

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Loverocker, the Ibanez S540 Sabre with the Wizard neck is a sort of Super Strat, the neck is amazingly slim but it's quite broad and there is loads of room on the fretboard. It looks very cool and not like an '80s shredder. It does have the Floyd Rose trem, which is very, very good. This one has two single coils and a humbucker at the bridge, as per super strat.
I first played one when I worked in a guitar shop in about '88 and lusted after it, they were about ?1000 then and I couldn't afford it, now you can pick them up for ?300 and they are fab.

Barry, if you say the fretboard is not always the widest point on some guitar necks, then that?s good enough for me, :lol: LoL! Must admit I?ve never seen a guitar like that though; the neck must be sort of Horseshoe shaped?? Doesn?t sound very playable, ! OK, here?s my non-Tokai stuff:-

Fret 5 : 70mm (44mm)
Fret 12 : 76mm (49mm)
Guitar: Antoria LP Custom 1973/74

Fret 5 : 71mm (46mm)
Fret 12 : 77mm (52mm)
Guitar : MIJ Fender Strat (57ri) 1984-87

Fret 5 : 71mm (46mm)
Fret 12 : 76mm (52mm)
Guitar : MIM Tele Std. 2003

Personally I?ve never found any problem switching from fat necks to thin, but seems I?m unusual in that. However, with the exception of horseshoe necks or other odd shapes, and assuming manufactures proceed from a shallow D-profile by taking it a little deeper to give a C-profile (and a bit deeper & sharper still to give a V), then it?s obvious that for a given width of fretboard the ratio of width to circumference WILL reflect the neck profile.

If you actually want to SEE the profile, then instead of sawing the neck in half ( ), just use something like a ?Flexi-curve? (ie a strip of flexible lead alloy encased in rubber, ie a commercial product used to draw graphs), or use anything that will hold shape, even a few layers of folded cooking foil should do it :-? .

Main thing is :- you all have a safe & happy Christmas.

Ian.

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loverockerUK said:

The guys at the LPF say that the Beauty of the Burst book has neck depth - too bad we'd all need calipers to measure that

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D'oh - I just had all the strings off mine and could have measured the depth if I'd read this half an hour ago. Ah well, maybe next time. :roll:

Hey Barry, no need to get the Tele out again - I know you?re not making it up mate, I do believe you, never doubted it, :lol: LoL! When?s that 320 due :-? ?

All the best,

Ian.