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Permalink Reply by Doc Oakroot on April 24, 2009 at 4:13am

I always make flat fingerboards - which is really classic since it's how a classical guitar fingerboard is made :o) Why? Because I grew up playing classical guitar and it's what I'm used to.

It also makes it easier to play slide, but lots of great slide players play on radiused guitar necks, so it's not essential.

I've been considering making a hurdy-gurdy, which has to be radiused - at least at the bridge. My thought on that is to cut the bridge, fingerboard, and rosin wheel from the same stalk of bamboo (I have some 4"-6" diameter bamboo lying around).

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Permalink Reply by Dan Sleep on April 24, 2009 at 4:18am

Cool...then for simplicity sake, I will make the next one flat, and maybe venture into radius on a future build. I may experiment with tilting the head back using a scarf joint...or I may not...lol...I got so many ideas floating around in my head!

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Permalink Reply by Mark Werner on April 24, 2009 at 4:20am

I agree the effect is probably not noticeable on 3-4 string instruments. I see some of the commercial guitars are now being made with "compound radius" necks, which feature a slightly-more-abrupt curve under the bass strings. This allows for the strings to be more level to the fingering hand.

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