Electric Guitar Trends

The fret board on your electric guitar might appear to be flat, but it isn’t.

Like a violin, your guitar’s fret board has a side-to-side curve to it.  If you could extend that curve into a complete circle, you could measure the radius of that circle.

In general, playing chords near the nut of the guitar is easier if the guitar fret board has a curvature to it.  Playing solos and bending high notes is easier if the fret board is relatively flat.

In the 1950’s and 1960’s, Fender electric guitars had a 7 1/2 inch radius.  Starting around 1970, Fender shifted to a 9 1/2 inch radius, which is the radius most commonly used by Fender today.  Some Fender electric guitars have a 12 inch radius, such as the Stevie Ray Vaughn and Eric Johnson Stratocasters.

Gibson electric guitars usually had a 9 1/2 inch radius in the 1950’s and 1960’s.  Today, most Gibson electrics have a 12 inch radius, including the Les Paul Standard.

Rickenbacker and PRS electric guitars typically have a 10 inch radius, with some models sporting a 12 inch fret board radius.

Electric guitars manufactured off shore, including ESP, Ibanez, Jackson, and Yamaha tend to have flatter fret boards, in the 14 - 16 inch range.

About 20 years ago, Warmoth introduced the compound radius, which flattens out towards the 12th fret.  This is probably the best compromise between chording and soloing. The Gibson Tony Iommi SG had this feature and the radius varied from 10 inches to 16 inches.

The compound radius is nice, but clearly requires more time and effort from the manufacturer to produce.  That means extra cost.  But some savvy guitar players look for this feature, and will pay the extra money to get it.

So the trend is toward flatter fret boards, with a few companies offering the highly desireable compound radius.  What’s your take?