Hi,

If it’s comfortable for long periods, that’s a good sign. I think the key here is the thick neck. Most factory electric guitars & basses are designed with thin necks—marketed as being “fast”, though I don’t see the connection between neck thickness and playing speed myself. Nothing slows down your playing like a good dose of pain!

Our hands are designed to grab larger sized objects most efficiently. They are too large to exert the same force on something much smaller. Think of holding a baseball bat as opposed to a pencil. The best size for us depends on the size and proportions of our hands and the position they are in when we play.

Playability issues are probably the least addressed, but the most important aspects of a musical instrument. Especially stringed instruments where there is so much body contact.

Thanks for responding.

Scott Gordon / ScoGo Guitars

Hi All, I spent 27 years as a manufacturing engineer and I now make my living building custom guitars, basses etc. so I think I am qualified to set you all straight on metal necks.

First of all Aluminum is MUCH heavier than mahogany or maple.
For example: Maple weighs 33-44 lbs./Ft.3 (cubic ft. = 12″ cube)
Mahogany = 33 lbs./Ft.3
Aluminum = 168.5 lbs./Ft.3

Even worse is the thermal expansion of metal Vs. Wood. The following shows how much wood & metal will grow & shrink in a linear direction per each 1 degree farenheit of temperature change. The volume, (thickness), will change approx. 3X the linear amount.

For example: Wood = .0000028″ per linear inch.
Aluminum = .00001244″ per linear inch. (4.443 X wood)

So all you get is increased weight & more movement due to temperature changes than wood. The only advantage was that metal is stiffer. The solution to this is to reinforce a wooden neck with graphite which is 3X stiffer than steel by weight & about 80% as stiff by size. Graphite is more or less imune to changes in temperature & humidity. I use 2 bars, each 3/16″ x 1/4″, inlayed & epoxied into the neck, underneath the fingerboard on either side of the truss rod slot. 3 bars with a wider neck. I also have these run about 2″ up into the headstock to strengthen this area. Graphite necks are another solution to the problem. Forget metal. If you want a bulletproof & super stable neck, use graphite, either in the wood or instead of it.

Keep playing! SG