Hi
I was thinking about getting this done, does anyone know any reputable places in the UK that will do it?
Honestly can't believe I am considering this, I signed up here looking to improve my blues improv!
Ho-hum, on with the neo classical shredfest.
Thanks,
Frankie.
Hey mate, i have a scalloped fingerboard, and it's amazing. So many benifits of playing it. Does take a few hours/days to get use to it. but bending and vibrato are (in my opinion) eaiser but overall playing is a bit slower a first.
Go for it!
Have u looked at Warmoth? Ordering a custom neck, and just bolting it on to your strat? Saves risking your strat neck....
Oooh, interesting.
I checked out the Warmoth site and the cheapest I can seem to get a scalloped neck is about £240!
I must be doing something different. Ivan - can you tell me where on the site you found a neck at this price?
Thanks for all your help guys, if I can get a new neck for this money I think that is the best option.
I am not adverse to tinkering with my guitar, in fact I was thinking about writing a wiki article about the guitar setup kit I created - but my strat has a lovely neck and I don't fancy taking a file to it!
Thanks again.
If you get the chance try and find a music shop that stocks a guitar with a scalloped neck and try it out first. It might not be for everyone. Then if it were me, I'd probably look into the replacement neck option that Ivan and Jax were mentioning just in case you decide to go back to your original neck.
You definitely will be able to adapt and play just fine with a scalloped neck but I'm not sure if the vibrato and bending aspects couldn't be achieved on a normal neck anyway.. I can't answer that one Jax will be able to answer that one !
They do look amazingly good though, if nothing else !
If you search this site for "Marcus Lavendall" and "scalloped" you will find the great man himself commenting on the pro's and con's of using a scalloped fingerboard. Also the crazy Kristofer Dahl has a scalloped neck and comments on the same thread.
There is nothing you can't do on a normal neck compared to a scalloped neck. If anything it's a fantastic training tool for finger strength/bending/vibrato.
I love how you can get under the strings and bend them, like butter....
The last Video chat i was attending w/ Kristofer he commented on the neck and mentioned that legato was "smoother" i believe...but dont quote me on that.
If you go to the neck builder option on the warmoth site, and attempt to choose the cheapest options....or if they have a scalloped neck in stock, ready made, that will be the cheapest way to get one. Warmoth have fantastic quality parts also.
Here's an option on eBay for slightly less then 199 pounds:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/USA-Fender-Licensed-Warmoth-Scalloped-Stratocaster-Strat-Rosewood-NECK-Guitar-/200650421879?pt=Guitar_Accessories&hash=item2eb7b27677
On Warmoth site you can check out full scalloped necks in stocks here:
http://www.warmoth.com/Pages/ClassicShowcase.aspx?Body=1&Path=Neck&scallop=18&sort=price
Guys, stop it.. you're making me want one now ! Scalloped neck in maple for me
Looks like you have to level the frets and remove the finish from them yourself if you order a neck from warmoth.
Also, including the price of the frets, nut and finish it comes closer to £250.
Would probably get stung on the way through UK customs for an additional 20% ( £50 ) + however much it cost to ship.
That's a whopping £300 - the equivelant price of about 100 pints of beer in this country!
It seems a lot cheaper for me to get my current neck scalloped and then if I don't like it simply buy a new one.
I found a guy in Scotland who will do it for about £140 ( around 46 pints ) in Scotland including refinishing the fretboard.
I gotta give this some thought, in the meantime I am going to see if I can find a scalloped guitar to have a go on. Am definately going to try one before I get this done
JAX - I checked out the Marcus Lavendell posts and lessons, what an awesome player! Thanks for all your advice.
Hi there
I have a scalloped guitar.It took me only an hour or so to adapt to it.
Personally,I love it.Bending and vibrato are a lot easier but they can be achieved equally well on a normal neck.
You should note that while playing chords you have to be PRECISE. Any extra force applied with your fingers will
make the chord go out of tune.
If you're into Sitar-like sounds,you can do a lot of things with it
But the important thing is whether it feels comfortable to YOU
I bet in 10 pint of beer that the scalloping job will be successful
Good to know mate, good luck with it all..... Hopefully it only take you 6 pints to complete the job.....And by doing it yourself your saving yourself a few pints too.... Hehe all over it....
i'd say go for it, but just if you feel that there is nothing special with your neck
This is an awesome thread! I have been torturing myself for months now on whether to attack my Warmoth neck with a file or just order a new one scalloped or better yet just buy a new axe with a scalloped fretboard, I played one a few months back in a music store in Anchorage and I absolutely loved it, getting under the strings as someone else mentioned was a big reason , I have trouble from time to time loosing a string halfway thru a bend and .... well its frustrating. I dont think I would ever have that prob with the scalloped fretboard, also I thought it was extremely smooth and fast and it made me play lighter. I am definately going to get one. one way or another
JAX - can you get a blues tone on that? Do you have any examples? It does look amazing...
That scallop looks awesome Jax, very neatly done. Maple fretboard scallop looks very smooth
Cheers Ivan.....
The guitar (Scallopy) sounds very impressive. She has DiMarzio's in her..... Blues-Neck, Virtual 2 "Heavy Blues"-Middle and Virtual Solo-Bridge. Very Vesitile tone range too....
Here is a lesson i did a while back using this guitar, and a tone i made on POD farm, note that I didn't check the Intonation, so when i played this, some of the higher bends are a lil out....
aeolianleadintermediateFINALtake_2.m4a ( 1.71MB )
: 70
attachment is MP4...so iTunes / Quicktime
Good luck mate, let us know how it went!
Ok, first set of channels filed out, I have done the whole neck like this.
It is taking ages! Will post more pics when I finish, I think I have got the depth about right...
good luck man, it's looking good !!
woaaa, looking good man, let us know how it goes!
So, it's finished.
I am quite pleased with the result, I decided to use an old washburn g5v in the end that I had been keeping for spares.
I did have several pickups but since there were no pots or a switch I decided to just install a single pickup and wire it straight into the jack socket. Neck seemed like a clear choice
When I had finished sanding and filing I cleaned the fingerboard and then rubbed loads of lemon oil into it to darken it down.
Pictures
Sound
And here's a quick improvisation I just did so you can hear it in action (bear in mind I was making it up as I went along!):
scallop_blue.mp3 ( 748.98K )
: 96
Was it worth it?
Well I think so - even if it was just so I could get an idea what a scalloped guitar would feel like. I didn't do a perfect job by any means and the guitar I was working with was pretty beaten up but it has given me a reasonable impression of how they feel to play.
Would I do it to my main guitar?
Hahahaha no! I would certainly not brutalize the neck of my strat like that! Even though I suspect it is a bit easier to file maple than rosewood. I would however consider buying a new neck that had been scalloped professionally funds permitting.
Cost
In the end it cost me the equivalent of 6 and a half pints to do this and probably took around 6 hours.
Hope you guys found this as interesting as I did!
Frankie.
Hey Frankie, great job !! And yes it does sound nice... have you noticed any advantages with performing vibrato and bends ?
great work man, it does sound good too, i got inspired by your experience, and i will partially do it on my signature model, just from the fret 19 until the 22, i think it's going to be a nice feature, thanks!
Looks exotic, thank you for pictures and fair review !
hey Frankie! this is a great post. I think that you did a great job and it's really amazing to see the progress here. I had a guitar teacher (the one that helped me with the neoclassical stuff) that has some scalloped guitar and they feel really good for vibrato and bending. I have never had one but I use to play a lot on his guitars.
Thanks guys - yeah it didn't turn out too bad. I certainly didn't make that guitar any worse!
Good luck with your guitar Adrian, you have probably picked the best frets to scallop. Because you only have to file out small channels it should be much quicker for you. Let us know how it turns out
fure sure man, gladly i'm not going to make the holes
Hey mate, how it going? Well done on the job...A simple question turned into a informative thread and a review!
This will help others who are considering to do the same and try out a scalloped guitar.\
I hope it helps with your playing and advancing you as much as possible...bend and vibrato that bad boy till the sun comes up....
When i forst got mine, i put heavier guage string on her and utilised the rigid/solid feel of the strings to help my fingers build up strength....It smashed my fingertips and the actual fingers...After a while i got used to it and it did wonders for my strength.
And yours only came at the cost of a few Pints....Win!
I sent my Ibanez neck to a fellow on ebay and he did a fantastic job! I love it!
to what user man? i might be interested in refinishing a neck, why not a complete makeover ?
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