Gotoh floyd 14 inch radius, what is the correct radius for the neck?

[rocksoldier]

I've bought a Gotoh floyd for a parts guitar i am building, and from what i understand it has a 14 inch radius.

So, what would the correct radius for the neck be?

I had pretty much decided on a frankeenstrat neck, which has a 10" radius, which i think is the same as the nut? (I'm using an OFR nut) would this neck work,and if not, what should i get?

Somebody please help me, i find this confusing as hell.

[dg]

You can use any neck you want and use saddle shims to get the bridge to match the radius of the fretboard. Since you haven't got the neck yet, you could get a neck with a closer match which will require less (or no) shimming. I personally prefer a flatter radius than 10", especially in the upper fret area. I love the 12" - 16" compound radius on my J/C guitars especially. Warmoth & Musikraft both offer a good selection of fretboard radiuses, so you may want to check them out.

[rocksoldier]

How would a straight 12" work?
Isn't the floyd nut 10"? How does that work with a flatter fretboard?

[Dreamland_Rebel]

it works fine and feels really good

[rocksoldier]

So, just getting a 12 (or even 10?) inch neck, with an original floyd nut and the gotoh bridge should work without any problems?

[dg]

You should be fine. If you go with the 10" radius, you might find that you need to shim the middle saddles depending on how low you like your action. It's not difficult at all, and a very common thing.

[rocksoldier]

Thanks for all your help, i appreciate it!

[HiOctane]

The bigger issue, in my opinion, is picking which neck radius feels best to you and then you can match a trem to that- although either the Gotoh or OFR will work.

Here's my take on this problem- the OFR trem has a straight 10' radius at the bridge and nut. Now, must metal guitars don't have a straight 10' radius, but rather a straight 12 (Ibanez), 16 (some Jacksons) or a compund radius Warmoth (10-16), current Jacksons (12-16), Suhr (10-14).

So, the OFR is often shimmed to be more compatible with the neck and match the radius on a metal guitar- thus making it more playable (better action).

Try some of these guitars to see which radius feels best to you. Then you can better match the trem. to the radius. I know that some guys will balk at this, and yes, any trem will work, but any good tech will tell you the trem has to be tweaked for maximum playability.

Therefore, it just makes good sense to attempt to match the bridge and neck radius if at all possible.

In any case, unless you go with a straight 10, you are likely to pick a compound, for which the Gotoh is probably a better match.

Best of luck and hope this helps!