Is it finally time for a scalloped board?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Matt300ZXT
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Problem with scalloped boards is once you get used to them you kinda can't play anything else.
I tried and didn't like them.
I friend of mine has bought 3 scalloped necks from Jina and he likes them but he has a habit of changing his mind.
Each neck took like 1.5 months shipping.
I switch between scallop and normal all the time, even between songs... been playing scalloped for over 20 years so you get use to different feels and it becomes second nature switching
 
They're really great for training you to have a lighter touch on fast stuff, which you HAVE to have a light touch to play fast - so that definitely helps.

Conversely, if you want really good rhythm tones it's the opposite, so keep that in mind

I think they're rad though, and a really good training tool for people who gorilla grip on leads
Sound like you have experience with both scallop and non-scallop. What are the advantages of a scalloped neck?
Seems like scalloped can be advantageous for lead guitar. I'm 95% a rhythm player so I'm not sure if there would be any benefits for that.
 
Sound like you have experience with both scallop and non-scallop. What are the advantages of a scalloped neck?
Seems like scalloped can be advantageous for lead guitar. I'm 95% a rhythm player so I'm not sure if there would be any benefits for that.

I do - the advantages are almost exclusively for lead, and even then they aren't a huge advantage unless you're trying to develop your lead playing, or you are trying to play lead stuff that is very, very demanding.

The entire point of a scalloped board is to train you not to press the frets so hard, because you literally physically cannot shred past stepdad speed when you're monkey gripping each note you fret.

This is most helpful/the biggest issue with the upper register; hence why many guitars only have the top 5-10 frets scalloped. But scalloping the entire board is a good solution if you want to force yourself to constantly be practicing and utilizing "best practice" as far as the amount of pressure you use to fret each note.

That's why I've said it's a great training tool. I owned and used an yngwie strat at a really important developmental period of my guitar playing where I couldn't figure out why I couldnt get my left hand any faster, and it was really, really helpful.

If you don't want to play leads or don't care about them, there really isn't any huge point in it. Indeed, as yngwie says, most of the reason he did it originally is because all the major companies used pretty low slung frets to begin with - there are diminishing returns if you have huge, modern, jumbo frets.
 
Yngwie uses 8s on his scalloped board. You HAVE to have a light touch to keep 8s from going sharp when fretting on a scalloped board.
 
Just refret with the tallest frets and be done with this stupid post.
 
I do - the advantages are almost exclusively for lead, and even then they aren't a huge advantage unless you're trying to develop your lead playing, or you are trying to play lead stuff that is very, very demanding.

The entire point of a scalloped board is to train you not to press the frets so hard, because you literally physically cannot shred past stepdad speed when you're monkey gripping each note you fret.

This is most helpful/the biggest issue with the upper register; hence why many guitars only have the top 5-10 frets scalloped. But scalloping the entire board is a good solution if you want to force yourself to constantly be practicing and utilizing "best practice" as far as the amount of pressure you use to fret each note.

That's why I've said it's a great training tool. I owned and used an yngwie strat at a really important developmental period of my guitar playing where I couldn't figure out why I couldnt get my left hand any faster, and it was really, really helpful.

If you don't want to play leads or don't care about them, there really isn't any huge point in it. Indeed, as yngwie says, most of the reason he did it originally is because all the major companies used pretty low slung frets to begin with - there are diminishing returns if you have huge, modern, jumbo frets.
another "advantage" is it takes a bit of "strain" off your fingers so as you age. The fact it isn't possible to push hard for me helps as my fingers are starting to hurt a bit (from work not guitar playing) ... I have found that if I am playing a normal fretboard I start getting pain so I switch to a scallop and it really does help me keep playing as the pain reduces
 
Just refret with the tallest frets and be done with this stupid post.
not sure if it is a mental thing with me but I have never liked tall frets .... I have put tall ones in but it just isn't the same as a scalloped board
 
IME, the best way to scallop a neck is to do it gradually, keeping it light or even untouched in the lower registers, and making the scalloping more pronounced around the E, B, and G strings, especially from the 12th fret upward. Like Blackmore did it. YJM's approach is too extreme for my taste, playing chords was a pain in the...neck. Had to sell that guitar.
 
Get it refretted with stainless steel frets first, then scallop. I won't touch a scalloped board that needs a refret or fret level. A lot of my tech/luthier friends won't either. Especially if you've got a deep/aggressive scallop. It's not worth the risk of breaking off wood. If you've got stainless frets, you'll never have to level or refret it in your lifetime.
 
I do - the advantages are almost exclusively for lead, and even then they aren't a huge advantage unless you're trying to develop your lead playing, or you are trying to play lead stuff that is very, very demanding.

The entire point of a scalloped board is to train you not to press the frets so hard, because you literally physically cannot shred past stepdad speed when you're monkey gripping each note you fret.

This is most helpful/the biggest issue with the upper register; hence why many guitars only have the top 5-10 frets scalloped. But scalloping the entire board is a good solution if you want to force yourself to constantly be practicing and utilizing "best practice" as far as the amount of pressure you use to fret each note.

That's why I've said it's a great training tool. I owned and used an yngwie strat at a really important developmental period of my guitar playing where I couldn't figure out why I couldnt get my left hand any faster, and it was really, really helpful.

If you don't want to play leads or don't care about them, there really isn't any huge point in it. Indeed, as yngwie says, most of the reason he did it originally is because all the major companies used pretty low slung frets to begin with - there are diminishing returns if you have huge, modern, jumbo frets.

This is exactly right. Some people get confused and think scalloped boards make you play faster. They don't. They do use negative reinforcement to teach you to play faster by making you sound like shit if you over-grip the strings. Less grip on a note means less energy spent on releasing and moving to the next note.

The other straight up advantage to a scalloped board is that there is nothing like them for allowing you to really get a rock solid physical grip on a note so you can bend it to the heavens and back without worrying about it slipping off your fingers. The extra room lets you really get under the string.
 
This is exactly right. Some people get confused and think scalloped boards make you play faster. They don't. They do use negative reinforcement to teach you to play faster by making you sound like shit if you over-grip the strings. Less grip on a note means less energy spent on releasing moving to the next note.

The other straight up advantage to a scalloped board is that there is nothing like them for allowing you to really get a rock solid physical grip on a note so you can bend it to the heavens and back without worrying about it slipping off your fingers. The extra room lets you really get under the string.

Absolutely. It forces you to stop monkey gripping, which then allows you to play faster.

The downside, for many people, is that it was never the left hand that was the problem for speed, it is the whole mechanical package of picking in various styles

If your problem is over-gripping though, a yngwie strat or scalloped board is a great teaching tool
 
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