what was the best neck you've ever played?

[naggareo]

tell me about these brands/models you tried and have found the neck to play as "butter"!

[Bob from Brooklyn]

I have a Guild X-50 from 1959 that I hold on to just for the neck.

[archerscreek]

I will take a Modified V shape over anything. I played a Collings D1 1 3/4 nut with a nice Mod V. I have two different Mod V shaped necks on my two Martin guitars, one noticeably more pointy than the other and I like them both.

[Racerbob]

The double ellipse on my Sexauer. Top and bottom have different curvatures which match the different parts of the palm. I liked it so much I had it duplicated on a recent build.

[cliff_the_stiff]

Originally Posted by archerscreek

I will take a Modified V shape over anything. I played a Collings D1 1 3/4 nut with a nice Mod V. I have two different Mod V shaped necks on my two Martin guitars, one noticeably more pointy than the other and I like them both.

this is my favorite. Honorary mention to the C shape of my collings C-10

[jrb715]

Collings Mod-V without question for me. Have it on both of my OMs. Easiest playing necks I've tried--and I've tried a bunch. But, as with most things about guitars, that is simply my experience and certainly won't catch everyone's.

[UncleJesse]

The necks on my Merrill C-18 and Martin D-18A are fairly similar and I like them a lot. I also really like Collings Traditional necks. I'm fairly easy, I can deal with most as long as it has some depth to it.

[MHC]

My all time favorite was my Huss & Dalton T-OM.

It was essentially a medium C (ever so slight, barely there V), and for my hand, a perfect fit.

I currently have a Bourgeois 00 (14 fret) that's also quite comfy.

[BrunoBlack]

I get along with most necks. But if I had to pick an absolute favorite (other than my custom carved necks) I’d chose Collings Mod V necks.

[Goat Mick]

Both of my '59 Gibsons have identical necks and they feel amazingly comfortable. The '21 LG2 I just bought feels very much the same just a tad thinner and it makes my hand happy too. I guess I just like big chunky necks which surprises me because I have stubby little hands.

[raysachs]

Originally Posted by archerscreek

I will take a Modified V shape over anything. I played a Collings D1 1 3/4 nut with a nice Mod V. I have two different Mod V shaped necks on my two Martin guitars, one noticeably more pointy than the other and I like them both.

That's me, minus the Collings. I was always into V necks on the strats I played in my youth and up to now. I loved the neck on the 1968 D-28 that was my only acoustic for 25 years - I assumed it was a V, but have been assured it wasn't really, but I played it so long I remember how it felt and I still think it had something of a V shape, particularly down toward the nut. And since I got back into playing again about five years ago, I'd been playing flatter C shaped necks on a couple of Martins and Emeralds and could play them but never particularly liked them. Then I bought a CEO-7 with it's Mod-V, getting towards a couple of years ago now and it was love at first touch. I literally took the guitar out of the case, started tuning up, and after about two chords I was madly in love with the neck. It just felt so right that within weeks I'd sold a couple other guitars I'd liked quite a bit but I realized I was almost never gonna pick them up when the CEO-7, with that sublime neck, was right next to them.

Then several months ago I wanted to add a rosewood guitar, loved the sound of the 000-28 reimagined, but spent an extra $600-700 for the Eric Clapton sig model, which is virtually identical to the reimagined model, except that it has a Mod-V and 2 1/4" spacing at the saddle. I figured it was likely to be a lifetime guitar and that money would pale over time compared to the pleasure of playing a neck that felt perfect every time I picked it up. Turns out the Mod-V on the EC is notably beefier than the one on the CEO-7 and at first I was a bit disappointed, but over a couple of weeks I adapted to it, and now I like it more, if anything. Although I freakin' love both of them.

To be clear, i don't recommend this as a neck for everyone. I know too many stories of people who loved the sound of the CEO-7 or the EC (back before they'd reimagined the regular 000-28) but the Mod-V necks were deal breakers for them. Some people really can't stand them. But it seems like if you like them, you REALLY like them. I REALLY like them.

Right now I have four guitars, two Martins with Mod-V necks, a strat with a really beefy soft-V, and an SG with P90s that has a really flat D-neck that I play, but don't like. I love the sound of the P90s and there are other comfort / playability factors that make me keep it despite the neck. But I play acoustic about 85-90% of the time lately and when I play electric, I play the strat about 90-95% of the time. I just pick up the SG when I GOTTA have that P-90 sound for something. So when I'm playing guitar, I almost ALWAYS have some sort of V neck in my hand.

-Ray

[619TF]

Best necks across an entire line? That award goes to Taylor.

[Tnfiddler]

Originally Posted by 619TF

Best necks across an entire line? That award goes to Taylor.

I second this!

[Br1ck]

Originally Posted by 619TF

Best necks across an entire line? That award goes to Taylor.

Unless you've never liked any Taylor neck you've ever played.

It's been about thirty years since I played a sublime Olson, but maybe not today as my tastes have changed. My 70 Guild D 35 is just about perfect for me.

[LakewoodM32Fan]

SCGC v-necks for me, both 1 11/16" and 1 3/4" nut widths with 2 3/16" string spacing. Something about that neck just makes me faster on the fretboard, and is much less fatiguing over long sessions.