How about a semi-radius fretboard?

[Tom C]

Having both, a mandolin with flat fretboard and one with radius, I tend to like a flat fretboard better. I do not see the advantage of having to reach over the radius to play a string on the down-slope -espacially with pinky when playing those diminished licks. Why not a semi-radius fretboard where the G side is flat andf the E side radiused?
Or a more ergonomically design with a reverse radius on the G side? Fretting would be a nightmare I'm sure.

[Celtic Saguaro]

The secret of the radius is that it never is severe enough to make playing on the downhill side a problem. #Violin fingerboards are much more severely radiused than mandolin fretboards, but they don't have any problems, with that reach you are talking about. Since with normal muscle tone fingers are curved, it's not the outside strings where I notice the radius but in the middle. On a guitar with a big wide fretboard, not having to straighten your fingers completely for bar chords is a nice thing. I don't think the radius is wide enough to make a lot of difference from a flat board on a mandolin, but others disagree. #

The reverse radius on the G side you're suggesting would be anything but more ergonomic on a 2245 A-chord for example!

[Mr. Loar]

Great idea! I've seen guitars with compound radiused fingerboards, although I've never played one.

[bobby bill]

This question is rooted in ignorance as I have never seen a radiused fret board. All the discussion seems to center around the left hand. I am assuming that the bridge has to follow the radius of the fret board and therefore the strings are not in a plane. It seems with the reverse radius, when you chop or strum, you'd hit the g-string, then miss or barely hit the other strings. Even with a standard radius, it seems that a strum would dig deeper into the two middle high strings. Can someone enlighten me on how radius affects strumming?

[mandoboy07]

bobby bill - It seems with the reverse radius, when you chop or strum, you'd hit the g-string, then miss or barely hit the other strings. Even with a standard radius, it seems that a strum would dig deeper into the two middle high strings.


Are it could help you. If you needed a little more of a deep sound just a angle change and you are mostly choping on the G & D strings not so easy on a flat neck.

[Don Christy]

Often the radius is compound and flattens out as you move toward the bridge so that it is a very large radius (flat) at the bridge. I haven't noticed any problems picking or chopping with my radiused fingerboard mandos.

http://www.warmoth.com/guitar/images/necks/radius_profile2.gif

The OP talks about making it compound in a different sense - maybe you would call it in the transverse direction? In other words, the neck profile would not be a circle, but a more complex curve.

Interesting idea. I wonder if anyone has experimented with this? I imagine it would be a pain to make.
Don

[Chip Booth]

My Kay upright has a radius similar to the OP's second drawing, where the fretboard under the low E string has a fairly severe curve.

Chip

[Lee]

Or maybe, rotate the longitudinal axis of the fingerboard about 5-7 degrees in the direction towards the left hand. The bridge would stand higher on the G-string side.

[mandroid]

I have 2 14" scale 4 string electric Dola setups ,
the radiused one has a greater tendency to have me push the C string off the edge that the flat one doesn't.

a compound which is flat under the C and curved for the others would be a good thing,
in that case..

.. at the higher tension the G in regular mandolin pitches as the 4th string
on the radiused fretboard mandolin , in my case by J. Lebeda,
is no problem.