Charvel Neck thicknesses

[anden]

Ok, 2006 model SL3:

1st fret: 4 7/16"
12 fret: 5 1/8"

I'd love to hear from some late '80s Charvel M4/5/6 owners to compare as these figures are all looking very close, I am assuming the neck width is constant as otherwise the circumference measurements are a bit useless?

For reference, at 1st fret, width is 1 11/16" and at 12th fret it's 2 1/16".

i have an '88 Model 88 that matches this. a buddy of mine had a model 6 from either '88 or '89 and it felt a little thicker. i'm sure the painted neck made a difference.

[memphiskat]

thinnest necks AFAIK are the fusions, My KV1 was very thin also. why the hell don't they give neck thickness on guitar spec sheets?

I have a 90? Fusion Deluxe that has a very thin neck. I also have a 93 Jackson Fusion XL that's also super thin. Hands down the thinest neck is on my Jackson KVX10.

[charvelguy]

The Jackson Outcaster, Dinky Std, USA JRS..Charvel Fusion deluxe, 3DR, I own are all about the same in being like wizard thin. The USA JRS is flat out the winner in comfort tho...don't ask me why either, the MIJ JRS2 neck is similar but not the same. The US model flat out is a better player.

[Sunbane]

Circumference measurements from my two Charvels:

1987 Model 6:

1st - 12.4 cm ~ 4.88"
12th - 14.3 cm ~ 5.63"

1989 750XL:

1st - 12.6 cm ~ 4.96"
12th - 14.3 cm ~ 5.63"

Btw, sorry I haven't figured out a quick and non-tedious way to calculate 1/4s, 1/8s, 1/16s and 1/32s. My measuring tape is metric.

[Jem]

Interesting Sunbane, if you don't mind me converting (hopefully correctly! ) ...

Model 6:
1st 4 7/8"
12th 5 5/8"

750XL:
1st 4 15/16"
12th 5 5/8"

This means that your M6 and 750XL are both chunky all the way up the neck... in fact much chunkier than any of the other instruments measured.

I don't get that - did you measure just behind the fret or on the top of (i.e. including) the fret itself? Mine were taken just behind the fret so as not to include the metal itself.

I'm only questioning it as the previous largest 12th fret was 5 1/4" and yours is nearly 1/2" larger

[Sunbane]

Now that you mentioned it, I though it was really weird. Turns out I read the tape wrong!

Subtract 1 cm from each measurment, and then they are correct (I measured again to be safe). This gives us:

M6:
1st: 11.4 cm ~ 4.49"
12th: 13.3 cm ~ 5.24"

750XL:
1st: 11.6 cm ~ 4.57"
12th: 13.3 cm ~ 5.24"

I think you will find that these numbers conform better to the other guitars.
Btw, these measurments were taken just behind the frets, and do not account for frets thickness or strings. I tried to measure as near the frets as I could though.

[Sunbane]

Continued (because time limit for editing expired):

Looks like my 1987 M6 matches your 550XL rather closely, and that the 750XL is just a tiny little bit chunkier over the lower frets. I always thought they felt awfully similar in my hands, so the results aren't all that surprising.

What did surprise me was this:

2005 Jackson DK2 (bolt-on):
1st: 11.3 cm ~ 4.45"
12th: 13.2 cm ~ 5.20"

I was surprised that the difference between the DK-2 and the neck-throughs was so small. The DK-2 neck definitely feels thinner than the other ones - but looking at the numbers, I'm thinking that the difference may just come from the clearcoat. Looks like the recent bolt-ons are trying to emulate the soloist neck profile.

[Jem]

So contrary to initial impressions, it looks like my current SL3 neck is actually thinner than the old Model 6 was up at the 12th fret and ever so slightly (1/16") thicker down at the nut.

Maybe my hands have shrunk... can everyone now measure from fingertip to.... ahhhhhh maybe not