scalloped fretboards, your opinions?

[guitar08man]

im working on a project guitar and im thinking of scalloping the frets from the 10th fret up, or possibly the whole fretboard. I know that scalloped frets offer faster playing, but what do they FEEL like.

ALso, I use guitars with 10 gauge strings and i read somwhere that scalloped guitars are preferably set up with 9's? is this true.

any thoughts would be appreciated.

[jgcable]

Re: scalloped fretboards, your opinions?

Lighter gauge is better. Yngwie uses a custom 8 gauge set. I would suggest scalloping the entire neck. Scalloped necks require a super light fret hand.

[thetroy]

Re: scalloped fretboards, your opinions?

Do the whole neck, but the thing about gauge I don't believe. Yngwie's "custom 8 gauge set" is a normal 10-46 except he uses a .008 high E, so for the most part he's using 10's.

It does feel different and requires a light fret hand but IMO once you get used to it you won't want to play anything else.

[guitar08man]

Re: scalloped fretboards, your opinions?

why the whole fretboard and not just from the 10th fret up? I imagine that rythym playing on a full scallop is a tricky thing to do.

[LexLuthier]

Re: scalloped fretboards, your opinions?

If you're used to tall frets like 6100 or 6000, playing a scalloped board is a pretty easy transition. I've used 10's with scalloped boards with no problems.

[mudkicker]

Re: scalloped fretboards, your opinions?

I would not scallop the whole neck. A couple of months ago I bought SD Charvel with a scalloped neck. I can play it but it is not comfortable on the lower end of the fret board. You feel as though your fingers are walking on highwires. Once you get to the tenth fret on up it feels very similar to a jumbo fretted neck (to me anyways).

I'm using 009s on mine and it plays just fine. I do think however if you went with a larger gauge string you could play with a little heavier hand than you could with a lighter gauge string.

[Ace]

Re: scalloped fretboards, your opinions?

I would certainly PLAY a scalloped neck before I went off and did it to my own guitar. I've played quite a few, and personally, I don't like them much. They just don't feel right. Yes, you can do silly little 32nd note runs a bit faster, but to me it feels like you can't really dig in to a heavy rythym without it feeling all wrong. Some people really like them, but there's a reason that they haven't replaced non-scalloped necks as the norm...

[PallarAndersVisa]

Re: scalloped fretboards, your opinions?

i would love to have one. my friend has a warmoth guitar, scalloped 12th fret and up, and it kicks ass. very easy to play on it.

[discordant]

Re: scalloped fretboards, your opinions?

i own 2 scalloped guitars but i cant see how a scalloped neck could actually make your playing any faster/better. my fingers dont actually touch the fretboard when im playing the higher register anyway, only the strings. when it comes to metal rhythm work it can be a real pain trying to not dig in to much and make the notes a little #, especially if your playing live.
do your self a favour and play a scalloped neck before you do it to one of your guitars, you could hate it.

[pebber]

Re: scalloped fretboards, your opinions?

well, if u wanna do it yourself, the key is to have a good fret dress or -better- refret it with jumbo fretwire prior, and take care that the neck doesn't twist or warp, since scalloping weakens a neck.
on the matter of playability, your playing style will have to adapt and u get new possibilities like a pitch bend (by pushing straight down into the scallop I mean) of a complete chord.
and to finish, if John McLaughlin an Blackmore used it already when Yngwie was still a kid, this seems reason enough for everyone to try it if they can!

[electrico777]

Re: scalloped fretboards, your opinions?

yeha, I would play on a scalloped neck first, I wan't to check it out some time too.

[guitar08man]

Re: scalloped fretboards, your opinions?

im gonna scallop a really crappy neck that i have, and i think im gonna do it from the 10th fret up.

[Ace]

Re: scalloped fretboards, your opinions?

Why the 10th fret?

[fred dons]

Re: scalloped fretboards, your opinions?

I have about 10 scalloped strats of which several warmoth
which have quite extreme scalloping, however I prefer the Fender Malmsteen I also have which has much lighter scalloping (same as the All Parts scalloped necks I just got) http://www.pixum.nl/members/freddons/?ac...ca727292d5ae05c

[AfterForever]

Re: scalloped fretboards, your opinions?

[ QUOTE ]
I have about 10 scalloped strats of which several warmoth
which have quite extreme scalloping, however I prefer the Fender Malmsteen I also have which has much lighter scalloping (same as the All Parts scalloped necks I just got) http://www.pixum.nl/members/freddons/?ac...ca727292d5ae05c

[/ QUOTE ]

cool, I saw that one in progress but never the complete thing. looks great with the gold hardware

on topic: never played a scalloped neck.. would love to try it..