Trapezoidal Neck Profile

EDITOR'S NOTE: Content relocated to www.trapezoidneckprofile.com

Comments

[Joe Gaskill]

Hello! I like reading Building the Ergonomic Guitar, which is where I found your site. I must compliment you on your fantastic work. Yet I was wondering, since I am building a guitar, if I could incorporate the trapezoidal neck profile onto my guitar neck? All credit is due to you, and I want something radical and comfortable for this guitar. Thanks for showing your work and future works,
Joe
-North Carolina, USA

[Rick Toone]

Joe — thanks for your kind words.

Drop me an email directly, and let's talk. Implementation of the TNP is a bit more complicated than it appears as published.

Cheers,
Rick

[cameron llewellyn]

I'm transfixed... Scrutinizing the pictures and pouring over you descriptions.
I am in the design phase for a headless, balanced guitar w a floating bridge.....
Your postings have launched me back to the proverbial drawing board.
I have anything but hard feelings about that!
Love the trap neck, you responded to someone about it being complicated...
Please consider some correspondence with me.
It would be awesome to hear your thoughts.......

[Doug Nolen]

I would like to know how to build a TNP neck. Do you have detailed instructions that a person might purchase? I think the idea may just solve my tendonitis pain in my "fretting hand" wrist.

[Steffan Llwyd (Steve)]

Mmmm... my 'girder/ parallel-frame guitar' (described on Ola's site) was inspired by the wish to have a (non-stressed) glass neck with an asymetrical profile which would accomodate the thumb in a way that exactly matches the shape of the thumb.

How to imagine this? Stick your thumb into 'hitch-hiker' position (thumbing a lift)and see how it has some nice 'return' curves in it... like an 'S' but the wrong way round. That shape could be accommodated by the underside of the neck. This lengthwise' 'thumb groove' would help players to locate their thumb for the 'classical' playing stance.

An offset groove along the length of your trapezoidal neck... along the face that you would see while playing... would give you the received 'rock' playing position. Maybe!

Neck profiles are best thought about while imagining squishing wet clay and 'seeing' what imaginary shapes you get!

I think there is a case for having depressions in this groove to help locate different barre chord positions. For example 'Fifth Position' would have its own natural location depression. Given the incredible density of nerve endings in fingers and thumbs a depression of maybe just 3mm would be enough to 'tell the thumb' that it had arrived where it needed to be, to (say) play the Hendrix chord...
A sweet spot on an electric guitar neck if ever there was one!

Folk players would want their dimples in other places as they mostly pick in first position and favour playing in G maj a lot of the time....

Imaginary innovation is so easy.... but making these things for real takes soooo long...
: )

Steffan/ Steve

[David Bunker]

Wow this is really amazing. I think you are on to something here. Have you ever considered incorporating something like this into the Tension Free neck system? this neck was used on the only American made Ibanez line ever produced. I think they might really work together well. Check it out at http://www.bunker-guitars.com/articles/tension-free.html. Let me know what you think.

[Rick Toone]

David — thanks for your comment. Sounds interesting! The link does not work, however...could you repost?

[Reinhold]

Can you shoot me an email regarding the construction of the trap neck, I would like to implement this into my guitar so I can save my hands while they are still young. I'll give credit to you wherever I post it of course, more people definitely need to see your wicked designs.

[Rick Toone]

Reinhold — I'm working on a detailed article for how I build the TNP, including what most players have found to be really comfortable. Time is tight for me at the moment, but I hope to publish within the next few weeks. Thanks for your patience.

[bil andersen]

Wonderful stuff Rick.
I got very old hands 2 x 67 yrs! ... so I'm going to try this on my next build.
Weirdly I have been playing around with a similar neck concept that is more the shape of the "V" formed by the thumb / forefinger with a thumb rest at the rear (bass) edge.

Ain't design wonderful! I certainly love your work!

regards bilA