Thick vs. Thin necks

[Kevin Briggs]

I think this is the right forum for this topic. I apologize if not.

My Maple Bitteroot has a nice thick neck. I have average (not long, not stubby) finger length. I practice a lot, and typically get a cramp in that padded area of the hand next to the thumb joint. I also have some difficulty getting around the neck with as much ease as I want.

Is a smaller neck "faster?"

[Bob DeVellis]

I think it's hard to generalize. Some shapes just fit a particular hand better than others but it's not as simple as thin vs thick. There's the profile to consider, as well. Also, people tend to adapt to a degree and find what's most familiar to be comfortable.

[jim simpson]

My first good F-model had a larger v-neck that I seem to adapt to. I eventually tried a smaller profiled neck and found it to be more comfortable. Smaller now seems to be better (and faster?).

[Dale Ludewig]

Personally, I don't like chunky necks at all. But that's personal. I like rounded and the mando I play the most is quite small- not narrow, but not deep. Radiused fingerboard. And it is fast. At least to me. And to a lot of other people. But it's all a matter of preference I think. I even have long fingers. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[gtrump]

I had a wonderful Flatiron Festival F. It sounded great, but the skinny neck cramped my hand horribly on "busy" tunes. I got an Eastman with a thicker "V" neck and the problem disappeared. I have average, square-shaped hands.

I don't buy an instrument any more unless I've played it hard (or one like it) for at least 30 minutes non-stop. If I cramp, it gets put back on the hook.

The best advice I can give is to play different mandos for a long time and see how your hand reacts. If it's comfortable, that's the one for you!

[Paul Hostetter]

What *is* a fast neck anyway? What's "fast" about it?

[Klaus Wutscher]

I think it all boils down to personal preferences. Also, the size of your hand and your fingers, the way you "hold " the neck matters. The neck of my Kible is fat and round like a baseball bat and it is by far the most comfortable neck of any mandolins I own(ed). No hard and fast rules there. Fatter necks seem to help with the sound, though.

[John Flynn]

My Rigel has a fat neck and for me, it plays faster that anything else I have tried. Two of my other mandos, an Old Wave and a Parsons are great mandos, but the thinner necks are slightly less playable to me. I remember reading an interview with Tim O'Brien where he said the neck on his Nugget is "as big as a baseball bat" and he likes that. On the other hand, the Loar and Loar-copy fans obviously like thinner necks. It's all personal preference.

I will add that I think thin versus wide is just one dimension to consider, both literally and figuratively. Things like fretboard radius, string spacing and the overall shape and proportion of the neck profile play a part. For instance, personally, I would not want to have a fat neck without a radius. I would also not want a really fat neck with a V shape. I like V's but only if they are thinnner. Its like each neck design needs to have its own "balance."