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NGD! my first scalloped neck!


77BlazerK5

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NGD ,actually got this right before Halloween ,my bandmate said he had a nice guitar that he thought would be right up my alley,so he brought this to practice and i immediately fell in love with it! i had never played a scalloped neck and loved it right off the bat! it's a late 70's schecter swamp ash body nice and heavy,with a newer scalloped fender tele neck,2 custom wound Dimarzio PuPs,plays beautifully and feels fantastic,bought it on the spot!!

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I've never been temped to scallop a neck myself. I see it as a low tech method of getting higher frets. I find it allot simpler, safe and less destructive to just use super tall frets to get the same effect. I do most of my refrets with super tall jumbo frets and they last me decades. Bigger frets means more sustain and you can always go back to using normal frets. You cant unscallop a neck once the damage is done, you can only replace it.

 

There are many other reasons I'd never opt to scallop.

 

 

Tuning stability is better with tall frets and an intact fret board. Neck stiffness isn't compromised with taller frets.

 

A scalloped neck means less fret board so you're relying on the truss rod more to keep it straight. If the truss is weak you're screwed. You'll never keep it in tune and just tilting it back to play can make the string go out of tune. Temp changes will have a more dramatic effect too.

 

The fret boards on most guitars isn't very thick and the truss is just below it. one good shot and the truss can break through the fret board. With wood removed a neck can twist more easily and with a weaker fret board you have more issues with string buzz. If the neck does warp, you wont be able to re-level the fret board to compensate.

 

Other then that it is a cool thing to play not having to deal with the fret board friction. I just find it much easier and safer to replace frets with super tall ones then take all that wood away.

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To anybody whose ever spent significant time with a scalloped neck, you'll know the style of play is completely different.

 

I did one neck quite a few years abo now, using the Blackmore "method, where the material is removed from behind the fret, with most of the material removed from the treble side of the board, and then from the 12th fret symmetrical scalloped.

 

31ab4441-1953-45ab-a37b-4521970e49e6_zps15650321.jpg

 

This pic only shows the second octave, and I used stainless frets, had no trouble at all with getting the truss rod to manouevre the neck, the same guitar has been gigging constantly since I did it.

 

Playing one requires a very light touch, low action, and when one goes back to a normal fretboard it takes time to adjust to the style of playing again.

 

Here is a rather extreme example, although very neatly excuted

 

lag_forte_2.jpg

 

and this one gives a decent overview of what Blackmore's board looks like, the philosphy being that he doesn't require as much relief below the 12th fret, as that's where he's playing chords, while at the same time having relief all the way up the board on G,B,E, and then biased scallop from the 12th fret up becomes symmetrical. He originally did his with sandpaper wrapped around a pencil..

 

blackmore_scallop_72_zps11f107be.jpg

 

 

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