Compound Radius help

[Curtis1]

Hey all,

Looking at my first compound radius guitar. Its a jackson 12"-16" compound neck.

I understand the principle of how it works but im struggling to visualise the string path in relation to action.

If guitar was lets say set up with a perfectly straight neck. Would the action be consistent from nut to bridge? Or would we have a higher action at the lower frets or higher? Also does it mean that you get more clearance over the following fret when playing down on the first few frets? Im rather confused!!!

 

[HighPotency]

When the frets are leveled, it should make the height of each fret consistent down the neck.

 

[Curtis1]

So i could run a ruler from fret 1 to 24 and contact all the frets technically speaking?

 

[Amanita]

So i could run a ruler from fret 1 to 24 and contact all the frets technically speaking?

yes. compound radius means that fretboard is a section of a cone.


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[Curtis1]

So potentially lower action without buzz?

 

[tedtan]

No.

A compound radius fretboard is more curved near the nut and flatter towards the bridge. But, the nut is more curved , too, and the bridge is flatter, as well, so the action will be like on a regular guitar. The benefit would be easier chords near the nut for people who prefer a more curved fretboard while retaining a nice, flat upper fingerboard for soloing.

In practice, these guitars play great and a lot of people probably wouldn't even notice the compound radius unless it was pointed out to them. Of course, some of us anal types will notice, but the guitar still plays great.

 

[vansinn]

No.

A compound radius fretboard is more curved near the nut and flatter towards the bridge. But, the nut is more curved , too, and the bridge is flatter, as well, so the action will be like on a regular guitar. The benefit would be easier chords near the nut for people who prefer a more curved fretboard while retaining a nice, flat upper fingerboard for soloing.

I partially disagree on the "No" part.. (though it's possible we're actually talking about the same)

A CR fretboard having a flatter radius towards the body may - depending on how flat or not the radius is - allow a lower action, because strings will (may) have less tendency to create fret buzz during deep bends (AKA fret-out).

 

[tedtan]

A compound radius fretboard does not allow for a lower action, which is what the OP asked, though you're right in that it can allow for wider bends without fretting out than say a vintage Strat or Tele with a 7.25" radius fretboard would. I find that with a 10" or 12" radius (or larger), fretting out is a non-issue - I can actually bend the string far enough to break it or bend it off the edge of the fretboard before it frets out.