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Old 02-28-2015, 10:15 PM
Paultergeist Paultergeist is offline
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Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Lemon Grove, California
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I would consider a different route for the OP:

Some time ago, I became aware of the fact that one of my higher-end classical guitars had an ever-so-slight reverse radius to the fingerboard. My suspicion is that the fingerboard wood was not adequately dried before being laminated to the neck. When the wood finally equilibrated, the center axis shrank a bit more, resulting in the reverse radius (so I suspect). The degree of reverse radius was very slight. Regardless, I found that particular guitar a little bit harder to barre at the higher registers, and I attributed part of the issue to this tiny bit of reverse radius.

At the same time, I owned. La Patrie (Godin off-shoot) classical, which has -- as has been mentioned -- a 24" fretboard radius. THAT neck seemed slightly easier to play, but the radius was so subtle that one would not necessarily notice it unless looking really closely.

Putting two and two together, I ended up having the higher-end classical repaired by re-planing the fingerboard, and -- what the heck, while they're at it -- don't just plane if flat, but add a touch of positive (24") radius. This, of course, all entailed a re-fret, but I was going to have to do that regardless.

All points considered, the OP might be able to locate a guitar he really likes, and then just commit to a re-fret with a slight re-shaping of the fingerboard radius. It is a bit more money, but probably a lot less than ordering a custom-built instrument.

Just an idea.
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