Guitars with flatter necks?

[Ross82]

Another shout for the Jacksons, I had a MIJ Kelly with a compound neck that was really nice and thin but didn't feel "absent". If it had a satin neck finish it would have been the best neck I ever played but my current favourite is my Caparison which is very similar but not as thin as the Jackson but has a wonderful satin/natural finish.

 

[HungryGuitarStudent]

Honestly, apart the body wood, if I remind correctly the 11 and 12 are the same guitars.

Yeah, on paper they're practically the same, but the 12 I tried had a slightly thicker neck and just didn't have the lead tone the 11 had. Might have been just something specific with that build of the 12.

Digging more into this, I found this page with a JP spec comparison table. Unfortunately, it doesn't include neck thickess at 1-12 fret.

https://bluedesk.blogspot.com/2014/09/music-man-jp-comparison-chart.html

 

[BabUShka]

Another shout for the Jacksons, I had a MIJ Kelly with a compound neck that was really nice and thin but didn't feel "absent". If it had a satin neck finish it would have been the best neck I ever played but my current favourite is my Caparison which is very similar but not as thin as the Jackson but has a wonderful satin/natural finish.

I can confirm. I sold my MIJ Kelly, but it really had a nice neck. Feels like a hybrid of Gibson Slim Tapered 60s and Ibanez Wizard. If you like medium/thin flat neck, then that is a perfect combo.

 

[Neon_Knight_]

Kiesel Holdsworth?

Not sure what they did with the Ibanez RG565 reissue but that feels so thin and wide. Like abnormally so. Only guitar that’s ever given me wrist fatigue lol.

The reissue has a Super Wizard neck.
The original RG565 has an original Wizard neck.

The modern necks (Wizard + Super Wizard) are 2mm wider than the original Wizard.
The Wizard is 1mm thicker at 1st fret / same at 12th fret.
The Super Wizard is same thickness as original at 1st fret and 1mm thinner at 12th fret).

 

[Hoss632]

6 string wise the Jackson Dinky and Soloist I've tried have the "flattest" necks. Not necessarily the thinnest but the closest to a D shape. The Dinky I played felt really nice in the hand without being extremely thin like an Ibanez or the Schecter ultra thin C. Gibson slim taper and some of the Epiphone asym necks feel flat on the back as well.
I can definitely relate though on how 7 or 8 string necks feel better due to the flatness on the back. I played a sterling Jason Richardson 3 or 4 months ago and even for my small hands that guitar was VERY comfortable to play.

 

[ixlramp]

I feel like I almost enjoy 8 string necks on some guitars over a 6 string necks just because they are so much flatter.

I like having some more “shoulder” to the neck so I have a bigger landing to rest my thumb.

Me too. The most comfortable back of neck i have played is the high frets of my Ibanez BTB 6 string bass, wide and quite flat.

A flat back of neck increases the contact area between thumb and neck, decreasing pressure.
The fingers exert quite a lot of pressure when fretting chords, which has to be balanced by the thumb pressure, so the thumb has to cope with a lot of pressure. A rounded back of neck concentrates the pressure into a smaller area, which i find noticeably uncomfortable, and is less healthy for the thumb.

A rounded back of neck also tends to limit the thumb to the centre of the neck more, because it needs to exert a force opposite in direction to the fretting force, perpendicular to the neck. The centre of a rounded neck back is the only position where a perpendicular force can be exerted.
A wide flat area on the back of the neck would allow the thumb to have more freedom of lateral position, as required depending on what the fretting fingers are doing, this would make technique more effective and more healthy.

There may be other reasons, but i suspect the main reason for most guitars having such rounded neck backs is because many players use a 'thumb-over' grip (a technique i dislike, sorry), so the neck is rounded to sit in the palm of the hand or crotch of the thumb.

 

[gclef]

The reissue has a Super Wizard neck.
The original RG565 has an original Wizard neck.

The modern necks (Wizard + Super Wizard) are 2mm wider than the original Wizard.
The Wizard is 1mm thicker at 1st fret / same at 12th fret.
The Super Wizard is same thickness as original at 1st fret and 1mm thinner at 12th fret).

I have a super wizard from 99 and is 17/20mm

The new wizard prestiges are 17/19.

 

[Neon_Knight_]

I have a super wizard from 99 and is 17/20mm

The new wizard prestiges are 17/19.

The late 90s Super Wizard was a very brief return to the original Wizard profile, after the "Wizard" had increased to 18/20mm. Super Wizard soon changed to 17/19 (i.e became thinner).

The current Wizard is 18/20. The current Super Wizard is 17/19. This has been consistent for circa 20 years now.
Having "Prestige" added to the name is a reference to the fret edge treatment (a Premium Wizard is also 18/20, but has less time spent on the fret edges).