Famous players using flat fretboards

[BillyEllison]

I tend to agree Mandoplumb I think it is a fad too. I am not buying it. Right now you can get a Kentucky KM-900 for $1,000 and the KM-950 that is the same exact instrument except it has a radius on it goes for $1600-1700. That is just crazy and not worth the extra money.

[David L]

My 1906 Gibson F2 has a slightly radiused fretboard. It seems to be original.

[Steve Ostrander]

What does it matter who plays what? What matters is which one YOU prefer. I have one of each. I prefer radius, but it doesn't stop me from playing the heck out of my F9.

[rcc56]

I tend to agree Mandoplumb I think it is a fad too. I am not buying it. Right now you can get a Kentucky KM-900 for $1,000 and the KM-950 that is the same exact instrument except it has a radius on it goes for $1600-1700. That is just crazy and not worth the extra money.

It may or may not be a fad. Right now, a lot of people want a radius. Five years from now, who knows??

Saga has discontinued the KM-900 and increased the price on the KM-950 by 50%. Considering that Eastman's top A models cost less [and the Eastman 905 and 805v have varnish finishes], I'm not sure that was a smart decision.

[JeffD]

I myself like the flat fretboards but Thile and Marshall are on a level that I aspire to be on. So if they are using radius then I find myself wondering if I need to make that switch in order to someday be half as good as they are. .

Whether the fretboard is flat or radius has had an extremely tiny impact on the development of these musicians.

What has had impact is that they use what they are comfortable with.

Use what your comfortable with.

[billhay4]

I don't really like radiused boards either. I think they actually make it harder to reach the higher strings as it moves them further from the hand (by a very small amount). I keep meaning to experiment with a fingerboard that is tilted toward the thumb, but haven't gotten around to it yet.
However, my current instrument has a radiused board and you do adjust to them.
Bill

[dan in va]

Bill you mentioned a fretboard tilted toward the thumb. This is something i don't hear folks talking about and i wanted a Stanley A5 with a radiused board that is raised a bit on the treble side to make the G and E strings the same height off the soundboard and give my right hand a little more room above the top. Chris did a nice job on that for me. i don't know that it's any part of anything, but i like it fine. David Houchens (Bryce Instruments) did the same for a rescued Martin A and Martin O18T/strung OM, and am thinking of asking Ken Ratcliff to do it on am oval A this winter.

[hank]

Interesting question of the merits of a radius over a flat fingerboard. I love flat for fast melody but would be interested in hearing what full four course chord speed compers like. Maybe it makes fast four finger chord play easier.

[William Smith]

I believe Ricky Skaggs has a flat board on the "Pee-Wee Lambert" Loar F-5. Not sure since its been redone twice I think?

[Hendrik Ahrend]

I believe Ricky Skaggs has a flat board on the "Pee-Wee Lambert" Loar F-5. Not sure since its been redone twice I think?

I believe you're right, the last restoration should be the one performed by Gilchrist in 2007. The finger board sure is flat.

[pheffernan]

Interesting question of the merits of a radius over a flat fingerboard. I love flat for fast melody but would be interested in hearing what full four course chord speed compers like. Maybe it makes fast four finger chord play easier.

The theory that I've always heard is that a radius actually makes four finger chop chords if anything more difficult as the stretch is greater due to increased interstring spacing.

[William Smith]

Personally I own vintage Gibson's with flat boards and redone F-7's with the radius and I can play both equally well. For me with any instrument it takes a bit to get used to the board/spacing but I adapt eventually. I have a complex and have to have a pickguard, I'm not a finger planter but I can't play a mandolin real well without a guard! Now I know I'm not alone with this issue? With everything I think its what your used to be it different boards, picks, strings, guards etc..? I just got to play a little on Dawgs historical 25 F-5 fern before he played at a fest in NY and that was a flat board.

[Mark Gunter]

I don't think a radius on a narrow mandolin fretboard makes a tremendous difference, especially a slight radius. I think the neck profile makes a lot more difference than the radius on fingerboard. Granted, that's just my belief, because there are plenty of folk who like and want a radius for whatever their personal reason.

I regularly play a flat board (Washburn M106SWK) as well as a radiused board (Collings MT) and both are very comfortable for me. I had an Eastman 315 with a radius board and I grew to hate the feel of it. When I first bought it, I had trouble getting clean notes on some stretches, and I thought the radius was causing my problems, but I've come to believe it was the neck profile that I didn't like. I eventually sold it. Since the Collings is easy for me, and has a radius, I'm pretty sure that the big difference is in the neck profile rather than a radius. If you think you need a radius, if you like or prefer a radius, more power to you. Find one with a neck that feels right to you and play the dickens out of it. I love my (flat) Washburn and my (radiused) Collings. They both feel right in my hands. The Collings, with it's lighter build, feels best, but I don't think the radius has anything to do with that.

[yankees1]

How about infamous ??

[hank]

Maybe another good question would be, How many of us started with the now popular configuration of radius board and larger fret wire but now as more seasoned players prefer the original configuration of flat board and tiny fret wire?

The way our left hand is positioned differently than guitar positioning make the need for a contour seem mute on our narrow short finger boards. We don’t nessesarily benifit from having the D & A courses higher as a person bowing requires for single and double stop play. It makes more sense to me to have the G & D courses higher than the A & E courses as many flat boards are setup to prevent the larger wound strings from buzzing.

On the other hand Mark pointing to contour(neck shape and thickness and width)as the leading particular fits with the reality of our differing hand and finger size. Think of it like getting fitted for a pair of gloves. The way your thumb and fingers fit into the glove and the spaces between them are a bit like how the neck fits your hand. There are empty spaces above your fingers in a too large glove because the grip length is too large for your hand. In this same way your smaller grip length on a too large neck wil be a stretch. If the neck contour is too small for your hand the lack of hand support at the rear of the neck prevents the smooth sliding motion that comes natural with a better fit. It may be that the slight added thickness of radiused boards combined with the necks contour that gives a sum total of the right fit.

[Tom Haywood]

Maybe another good question would be, How many of us started with the now popular configuration of radius board and larger fret wire but now as more seasoned players prefer the original configuration of flat board and tiny fret wire?

I started with a flat fret board. Pretty soon I moved on to radiused boards and larger fret wire on my main players due to the Cafe discussions and years playing guitar. It made sense. My daily beater mandolin has always been a flat board with smaller wire, but not the tiny Gibson wire. For a long time I noticed a difference in how my playing technique worked on each one, with comfort being a variable definition. Lately, I have come to really prefer a flat board with medium wire, but it doesn't seem to matter all that much. I think that eventually you just find a comfortable way to play whatever is in your hand. I am finding that the flat board and corresponding flat bridge help me with speed in both hands.

[MikeEdgerton]

How about infamous ??

It's acceptable to list them.

https://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/s...=1#post1677715

[CES]

I started with a flat board and got my first radiused FB with my Silverangel. While I now prefer a radius, I still play my 1N and Mandobird (flat boards) regularly without issue. My playing has gotten better because of practice and experience, not because of the radius. Also, I agree that neck width, string spacing, and fret size play bigger roles in what I find comfortable than the presence/absence of a radius.

(Despite the above claim, I’m certainly not famous, and I still think I stink, so take it FWIW )