Humbucker Soup
Secrets Of a Super Fast Neck
When buying a new neck, and speed is an issue
Chances are, you are playing a Telecaster or Stratocaster or a guitar based on one of these two models. I say this because if you are using a Les Paul, SG, PRS or other set-neck kind of guitar, replacing the neck is a bit of a rare decision. Telecasters are great, in-fact most of my main guitars are teles. Strats are great too. 
But if your Strat or Tele has a “Vintage” style neck, chances are, the neck is not really optimal for fast playing. Think of a Vintage style Strat of Tele neck as a Volkswagen; lots of personality and style, but, if you wanna shred, really hit 100+ MPH, then yeah, you’re gonna want more of a ferrari.
It certainly is possible to play fast on a vintage style neck, but speed is your thing, there are some factors that can affect your ability to play at high speeds with efficiency.
1. Choice of wood - This can be very subjective, but few would argue that un-finished woods are faster. The reason is that the finish, especially urathane, tend to give you that “Sticky” feeling. Maple is a fantastic neck wood, but the finish can slow you down. Most dark woods require no finish. Rosewood is the most common and it is a great neck wood. It tends to have a much darker sound than maple. Some other more exotic dark woods are:
- A. Ebony – dark, unbelievably smooth and fast feel, but suprisingly bright, just like maple
- B. Brazillian Rosewood – Same properties as Indian Rosewood, but an incredibly stunning look.
- C. Pau Ferro – Considerd to be the “Poor Man’s Rosewood” which I think is stupid. My main neck that I have used for 10 years on close to 1000 gigs has a Pau Ferro fingerboard and it has never let me down.
2. Fret Size – This is a biggie. Small frets are great for rhythm playing and open-chord work. But if you are gonna do serious bends, hammer-ons and pull-offs, then bigger frets make these things much much easier. 6105 is a popular fret size because they are tall and thin, but not too much. 6100 is a real jumbo fret, and man, that is a big fret. I use 6100 frets exclusively, it just makes serious lead playing easier. If you really wanna get crazy, you can use 6000 frets. These are massive frets.
3. Radius – Most vintage necks have a small radius. The mose typical on a vintage tele or strat is 7.25″. I love a small radius because I think it gives you more of that bell-like chime. But, it ain’t what you want if you wanna play fast. A larger radius like a 10″ radius allows for serious bends without fretting out. Warmoth makes what is called a “Compund Radius” neck. The radius is something like 9″ down below the 7th fret, then after that it slides into a 10-12″ radius. The effect is that when you are playing open chords, etc.. you have the nice qualities of a smaller radius, but when you go up high and really shred, you have the flatter radius, which you really need. 
4. Profile – I don’t think one proile lends itself to faster playing than the other, and yes, most guys like a thin neck when playing fast. But, it is important to find a profile that feels right for you. For example, I can’t play fast on a thin neck, I just can’t. But when I use a seriously sharp “V” profile, I play better. You may not like my necks. But the key is, try something different. You might be surprised at what “Just feels right”
5. Keep your strings clean – This is a bit off-topic, but it’s related. I can’t tell you how many times guys have asked me why their guitar sounds so bad or does not stay in tune, etc… and many times I pick up their guitar and the first thing I say is “Man these strings are filthy!…” Pont being, this is often overlooked.
Here are some links that might be useful to you:
http://www.usacustomguitars.com/
