G&L guitar neck

[mbarnesphoto]

I don't understand the ratings assigned to guitar neck sizes (I understand radius as in 12" radius, et. al.) .But what is 12" radius , 1a or 1c. mean? How can I determine the size (thickness) of the neck when ordering a guitar from a dealer?

[suave eddie]

Have you looked at this page from the G&L website?
http://www.glguitars.com/instruments/US ... guitar.asp

It at least gives you the shape of the neck carve, the nut width, and the depth of the neck at 1st and 12th frets.

Of course there is no substitute for having one in your hands.

I think every authorized G&L dealer should be given a complete assortment of neck profiles so customers can get a feel for them prior to ordering.

[darwinohm]

If you happen to live in Minneapolis, AGB has all necks for guitars and basses in a bucket sitting on the floor. They are unfinished and labeled as to what they are. You can look, feel or whatever, just don't use them for a baseball bat! I suspect that not many dealers would have them available but it is a great idea. G&L has great neck choices and I am lucky to be near a dealer like AGB.-- Darwin

[mbarnesphoto]

Yes I did go to that page but it doesn't tell me anything about the diameter of the neck body itself. I was in a shop in Kansas and the main guy there handed me an ASAT, the neck was like a baseball bat, not anything like the neck on either my ASAT or Legacy. As I no longer own my ASAT I am looking for another one and now this conundrum. So yeah, I agree with you, would be nice if the dealer had neck profiles to acquaint with, but in the absence of that I'd like to know the diameters. There are a lot of used ASATs on the web, knowing more about neck diameters would help quite a bit.

[darwinohm]

How old were you Asat and Legacy? Approximate build year would really help. -- Darwin

[Fumble fingers]

maybe you can call AGB and talk to someone on the necks , maybe they can measure and describe over the phone good enough to help your decision ....... if your one felt like a baseball bat I wonder if it had the Modern U neck ??

[mbarnesphoto]

ASAT was 1987, Legacy is 93, maybe 94 or 5.

[Salmon]

Being that you are ordering a new guitar the first thing to do is acquaint yourself with the standard #1 C shape. That will be the easiest to locate. If you have to travel a distance to find any new USA made G&L chances are it will have a #1 C shaped neck.

If you can try a few of those you will be better off. There is some subtle differences between each one. You will gain experience of the subtle variance.

From there you might immediately recognize whether or not something works or doesn't work for you. For instance I could play the #1 C and have three. But when I placed a special order I went with the #4 because I had enough of a sense for the feel that I was will to gamble on the #4 not having been able to try a #4 in advance. As it turned out I am very happy with the feel of a #4 now that I have that guitar.

You don't necessarily have to get your hands on every style but I can see that it would be a great benefit if you are considering the U or V shapes.

I have tried the slims and understand how they manifest in a G&L but it would not be possible to use my experiences of the C and slim C to understand a G&L V or U shapes.

If you have any experience of these in other brands it seems to me that G&L's tend to be on the girthier/bulkier end of the spectrum.

You may have already known and considered everything here.

This is only based on my limited experience and other people may disagree .

[mbarnesphoto]

Salmon,

thanks for your input. My G&Ls the most sensuous necks my fingers ever touched

[darwinohm]

I thought you may have older G&Ls when you described the necks. You can still get the vintage and thin as a special order but Salmon has a great suggestion about trying the #1 as a reference.-- Darwin

[mbarnesphoto]

yeah they're a little older, mid 80s and early 90s, three bolt jobs, very slim necks. Still a quandry when looking online for a used ASAT and I don't get to feel the neck and fret board. So the more I get acquainted with the specs the better I can make choices.