Educate me on Wizard III Necks (and guitar necks in general)

[Eagle]

1 5/8” is equal to 1.625, which is what I said. Same thing.

Sorry my bad I usually do mm but guitars are all over the place with imperial and metric. Some USA manufacturers use metric fractions but it’s not something you see here often.

 

[Steinmetzify]

Sorry my bad I usually do mm but guitars are all over the place with imperial and metric. Some USA manufacturers use metric fractions but it’s not something you see here often.

No problem sir!

 

[TSJMajesty]

I wonder about something- For the guys who say that thin necks cramp their hands:

When you play on a neck that's comfortable for you, do you primarily keep your palm sort of "cupping" the neck, as opposed to planting your thumb on the back of the neck, and using it as your support?

Reason I'm asking, I primarily use my thumb, and as I age (I'm 61) it takes me a little time to get warmed up, and until I do, I get a little cramping in my palm area. I guess I'm wondering if it's a case of just not using that type of grip very often, and kinda like, if you don't use a certain muscle group, and suddenly start working it, you get some initial pain.

 

[Warmart]

I didn't use my hands.

I did "that" too, rofl, bleeb dat!

 

[Iron1]

Bumping this thread. Played the RG7621 today and thought “this is a killer axe, why don’t I play it more often?!”

Oh yeah, because of left hand cramping. Only played for an hour and now feeling pain around my wrist and the back of my hand. Sigh, sucks getting older.

(

Super easy fix for this. Guaranteed to stop the old man hand cramping on a wizard neck problem immediately. Carefully pack the RG into a quality shipping box and send it to me. Then my hand will endure the issues and yours will remain RG7621 induced pain free forever.

Thank me later.

 

[Eagle]

I wonder about something- For the guys who say that thin necks cramp their hands:

When you play on a neck that's comfortable for you, do you primarily keep your palm sort of "cupping" the neck, as opposed to planting your thumb on the back of the neck, and using it as your support?

Reason I'm asking, I primarily use my thumb, and as I age (I'm 61) it takes me a little time to get warmed up, and until I do, I get a little cramping in my palm area. I guess I'm wondering if it's a case of just not using that type of grip very often, and kinda like, if you don't use a certain muscle group, and suddenly start working it, you get some initial pain.

So you’re basically saying hand cramping is poor technique?

 

[Devin]

Bumping this thread. Played the RG7621 today and thought “this is a killer axe, why don’t I play it more often?!”

Oh yeah, because of left hand cramping. Only played for an hour and now feeling pain around my wrist and the back of my hand. Sigh, sucks getting older.

(BTW, I don’t see that with a Gibson 60s or larger neck)

(Rant over)

Wizard necks do the same for me if I'm playing something with a bunch of barre chords. I love them for single note/lead type stuff though

 

[TSJMajesty]

So you’re basically saying hand cramping is poor technique?

Haha

I wouldn't necessarily make a blanket statement like that, because for example, if you need to grab the low string with your thumb, you pretty much have to cup your palm around the neck.

But that being said, it's probably not best to use that grip all the time, especially if you want to play challenging passages.

Every respected teacher I've watched on the internet..., guys like Ben Eller for example, they espouse putting that thumb on the back of the neck.

 

[Los-D]

Some people have problems relaxing their grip according to the neck and find wizard necks uncomfortable . By any ergonomic measure they are one of the best neck designs but we all know what feels comfortable for us. If you try one and struggle concentrate on keeping your fretting hand as relaxed as possible and you will probably grow to love it. Flat fingerboards also work far better and are worth the time converting too. A mid 80s Soloist is my favourite neck but I have everything from wizard to almost 1” all the way and as long as the radius is flat and the frets tall I am comfortable.

Thanks for the feedback. In my case maybe I am not used to that skinny of a neck anymore. Will try stretching for sure like @DrewJD82 recommended.

I wonder about something- For the guys who say that thin necks cramp their hands:

When you play on a neck that's comfortable for you, do you primarily keep your palm sort of "cupping" the neck, as opposed to planting your thumb on the back of the neck, and using it as your support?

Reason I'm asking, I primarily use my thumb, and as I age (I'm 61) it takes me a little time to get warmed up, and until I do, I get a little cramping in my palm area. I guess I'm wondering if it's a case of just not using that type of grip very often, and kinda like, if you don't use a certain muscle group, and suddenly start working it, you get some initial pain.

I am a shredder (there I said it), and play in the classical position (thumb behind) since I started playing in the 90s. Petrucci’s Rock Discipline was my bible.

But lately anything thinner than my Gibson Slim Taper neck is leading to cramping. Of course, the hopeful in me hopes it’s a combination of work (I’m on the computer all day) and lack of stretching as we age. And I did play a 50s LP neck with low action recently and it was amazing, so maybe my preferences are changing?

But damn did the 7621 play like butter yesterday!

 

[DrewJD82]

I am a shredder (there I said it), and play in the classical position (thumb behind) since I started playing in the 90s. Petrucci’s Rock Discipline was my bible.
But damn did the 7621 play like butter yesterday!

 

[PLX]

Ed was not a big guy and his hands were normal size.

Wrong.

 

[DrewJD82]

When I first got a 7 I wasn’t sure I was going to dig it due to the neck width, it was another RG7620 (Vampire Kiss that I stripped and use Knockdown Plaster to turn it into a JEM90th finish, but silver instead….terrible idea ) but after playing it consistently for a little while it felt much more comfortable.

Even now, when I take a few months off from playing the current 7620, it takes me a couple days before I’m actually fretting/picking the notes correctly. The width won’t mess with me as much as the overall string-spacing does, which seems to be a regular thing now that I’ve got a few guitars with varying spacing, Going from the Strats/Les Pauls to an Ibanez is fucky.

 

[TSJMajesty]

Wrong.

My hand lays exactly the same as Ed's, and I know I don't have large hands. I'd say they're average.

 

[Eagle]

Wrong.

My hand is the same size if I hold it the same.

I’m not big either and my hands are normal size.

 

[PLX]

My hand lays exactly the same as Ed's, and I know I don't have large hands. I'd say they're average.

 

[Eagle]

The post of someone who has a size complex
It makes me laugh that people try to associate abilities with some kind of freak luck instead of hard work. It lets them off for being mediocre.

 

[PLX]

The post of someone who has a size complex
It makes me laugh that people try to associate abilities with some kind of freak luck instead of hard work. It lets them off for being mediocre.