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  #16  
Old 08-19-2018, 11:11 PM
Brucebubs Brucebubs is offline
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  #17  
Old 08-19-2018, 11:16 PM
ripdotcom ripdotcom is offline
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I have similar difficulties with different neck profiles. Small neck profiles make me mute strings in chord changes often especially on the D and G . I need the wider spacing or I ultimately mess up no matter how well i think I have it . This is why I no longer own a vintage 0-15,0-18 or the 00,000 and D16M I used to have all scalloped braced, all 1-11/16 , all mess me up after a bit and I am done fighting.
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  #18  
Old 08-20-2018, 02:19 AM
1neeto 1neeto is offline
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I feel your pain. I have a lawsuit era OM sized guitar that has a beautiful tone, but I can’t get along with it’s hard V neck profile.
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  #19  
Old 08-20-2018, 02:40 AM
gitarro gitarro is offline
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Clarity of tone would make every mistake more evident but.it would make every well played note also more clear.

In that respect the most unforgiving guitar i have played is a traugott but by the same token, alao one of the very best I have ever played.
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  #20  
Old 08-20-2018, 02:54 AM
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colins colins is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Wade Hampton View Post
When I owned an archtop guitar it became very clear to me (and to anyone listening) that I hadn’t learned how to play on an archtop. I mean, it sounded passable, I suppose, but there’s a sort of directness to the way archtops process sound vibrations that I wasn’t used to.

Had I kept it and worked more on it I’m sure I would have become more accustomed to its overall attack characteristics, but I traded it in on a baritone guitar, which I use far more than I ever did the archtop.

So live and learn.


Wade Hampton Miller
I had a similar issue with a guitar (not an archtop), that was a really fine instrument but had a very fast response. Threw my timing out and made me feel uncomfortable playing anything other than chords. Like Wade and other posters have said - you need to get to know the guitar, but I found it hard to swap between this one and my other guitars.
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  #21  
Old 08-20-2018, 03:57 AM
Silly Moustache Silly Moustache is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ripdotcom View Post
I have similar difficulties with different neck profiles. Small neck profiles make me mute strings in chord changes often especially on the D and G . I need the wider spacing or I ultimately mess up no matter how well i think I have it . This is why I no longer own a vintage 0-15,0-18 or the 00,000 and D16M I used to have all scalloped braced, all 1-11/16 , all mess me up after a bit and I am done fighting.

Interesting thread!

It took me years to find my ideal neck geometry,nad i 5thinm that Ripdotcom rasises a good point.

It took me ages to realise that it wans't my fingers that were doing things wrong on the fretboard, but that the rfetboard wasn't designed to do such things.

I had a progression of 1& 11/16" nut width guitars which gave me a problem that I thought was about my fingers, because, as ripdotcom says - I was fluffing hammer-ons, and pull-offs and some notes in some chords.

It wasn't until someone (Isaac Guillory) lent me his D35-S with a 1 & 7/8" nut width , that I realised that I was trying to do intricate stuff on necks designed simply as rhythm strumming guitars!

I believe that the thin neck thing came out with the archtop guitars of Epiphone and the Martin OM built for banjo player Perry Bechtel, in the late 20s.

Most don't seem to be concerned by thin necks, hence the popularity of the post '34 dreadnoughts, OMs and jumbos.

But fr those of us with flat finger-tips the necks more like those on the classical guitars are far more comfortable.
I have noeguitar - a Waterloo which has a smidge nder 1 & 3/4" nut, and it can be problematic, so I don't try to play it in public, but I have recently bought an Eastman archtop with a 1 & 3/4" nut which doesn't seem to be so diffucult but has a shallow neck profile.

All my other guitars are 1 & 13/16" or 1 & 7/8" and preferably with a 2 & 3/8" string spacing.

....and that is why I like 12 fretters :

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  #22  
Old 08-20-2018, 06:07 AM
musicman1951 musicman1951 is offline
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I can't respond to this thread as it seems to require that I admit to poor technique.

Not gonna do it. Wouldn't be prudent.
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  #23  
Old 08-20-2018, 06:35 AM
pandaroo pandaroo is offline
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My Collings although incredibly clear and responsive is very unforgiving, I am always having second thoughts of selling it off.
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  #24  
Old 08-20-2018, 06:38 AM
rmgjsps rmgjsps is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rokdog49 View Post
All my guitars highlight my poor technique.
Amen, Brother. Same here.
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  #25  
Old 08-20-2018, 06:38 AM
jansch jansch is offline
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I cashed in an insurance policy and bought the 2 guitars I'd dreamed about - a Martin 000 28EC and NRP polychrome tricone. Both were wonderful, resonant guitars, but I never felt comfortable with either. I'm much happier with my 2 Sigma Martin copies, costing 1/10 th of the Martin 000 28EC!
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  #26  
Old 08-20-2018, 07:35 AM
PorkPieGuy PorkPieGuy is offline
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I would NEVER buy a guitar that was harder to play. I only buy instruments that sound great AND they are easy to play.
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  #27  
Old 08-20-2018, 08:08 AM
Polishguitar623 Polishguitar623 is offline
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The guitar will tell you how it wants to be played. My new Avalon did not feel like mine until I listened to it when it was saying "no picks - thank you . . . I'm a fingerstyle guitar." Since I listened to the guitar, we have achieved lift off time and time again.
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  #28  
Old 08-20-2018, 08:33 AM
jaymarsch jaymarsch is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by simpl man View Post
The really good ones can be quite "unforgiving".

They will force you to employ better technique. It's not necessarily a bad thing.
Agreed and I can relate to Jamie's post in that all of my guitars pretty much remind me of how much more I need to practice on a daily basis. But, I do own one guitar that has a very balanced and pure tone to it - absolutely gorgeous but the neck specs are not the best for me so it takes more work to bring out the best in that guitar.

Best,
Jayne
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  #29  
Old 08-20-2018, 08:59 AM
zmf zmf is offline
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I have a Bourgeois that is my friend, and covers for me.

The other two are more demanding associates.
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  #30  
Old 08-20-2018, 09:31 AM
merlin666 merlin666 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by simpl man View Post
The really good ones can be quite "unforgiving".

They will force you to employ better technique. It's not necessarily a bad thing.
I completely agree. I am a fairly sloppy player, and as I play mainly for fun I didn't really notice and care much. So when I ended up buying my first higher end guitar (Guild Orpheum Jumbo) I quickly realized just how sloppy and bad I was because the guitar is just so super responsive. I took this as a challenge to improve my playing, and though the guitar is still way,way beyond my skill level I feel no longer intimidated but appreciate it as a tool for improvement.
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