[Drew]

I swung by the new Mouradian Guitar location, out in Winchester, this afternoon to have my Strat rewired with the Heavy Blues 2 set. Dropped in, shot the shit with the guy there for a bit (I've been a semi-regular since I first moved to Porter Square, where they used to be situated, so they remember me), and then before I left demo'd a couple guitars from their (brand new) showroom.

One of 'em was a Yngwie strat, and it was the first time I'd ever really gotten to play a scalloped neck. I have to say, I kind of dug it. It's a very different feeling from a "normal" fretboard since you never actually feel the fretboard under your fingertips. Bending was effortless, and it was kind of cool to be able to do a vibrato by just varying your finger pressure. Notes felt "clearer" somehow, too - one of the things I like about maple is some of the overtones it brings to the sound, but it was interesting to pick up a maple-necked guitar and hear none of that. I'd like to A/B it through a distorted amp, but jamming around unplugged it was kind of a cool experience. Also, it really forcved you to keep a pretty light touch on the guitar.

I'd never scallop the board on my Strat, but this has me kind of wanting to pick up something with a scalloped neck, and if I get on with it possibly have a light scallop done to the UV. It was a cool feeling.

 

[343]

I've wanted a scalloped neck for a while - Im probably going to order a scalloped maple board warmoth neck at some point.

for this...
http://espguitars.com/images/guitars/st-203.jpg

I dont have that one yet - probablly pick it up soon

 

[The Dark Wolf]

It's different, isn't it? I haven't actually played one in years, but damn, I love those Yngwie Strats,

I actually think an increasing scallop from the 12th on is a cool idear.

 

[noodles]

If you seriously want to get an existing neck scalloped, get my drummer to do it. Seriously. The guy scallops all his own guitar necks, and has an amazing feel for. He also starts extremely shallow (i.e. barely scalloped at all) at the first fret, and progressively works his way deeper as he moves up the neck. I'll have to see if I can dig up some pictures of his work, but it is just as good as any of the pro jobs I have seen.

EDIT: http://www.metalguitarist.org/forum...on-v-warmoth-strat-peavey-predator-strat.html

 

[Soopahmahn]

I still have yet to experience this myself. Is it something that really isn't well-suited for powerful rhythm playing, or with a light touch would it work just fine?

 

[jaxadam]

They really have a cool feel, don't they?

Bending definitely does seem effortless, and I feel (with my very light touch approach) that I don't necessarily have to dig into the fretboard to grab the fret of the note I'm playing.

I really like them, and I'm actually surprised I don't own one.

 

[caughtinamosh]

I really want to try a scalloped neck. I think that I'd really like the feel (or lack thereof).

I imagine that it's possible to send a neck to a tech for scalloping sans the body.

 

[Daemon Barbeque]

I scalloped my 1527 and I will never go back to normal boards. The control over the strings and vibrato is perfect, and after mastering the fingering pressure, The chords happen to be as easy as single notes.
The Malmsteen strat is the only strat I have GAS for. I love the fel of that neck!

 

[Professor Squidbeard]

i used to own a yngwie strat but hated the stock saddles it came with. playing chords on it took some time to get used to as well.

 

[Drew]

Dave, I definitely will if I make the switch.

 

[Max]

Dave, I definitely will if I make the switch.

id pick up another guitar to have scalloped. i wouldnt do it to your main players. You cant ever really go back (i dont consider a new fretboard "going back").

 

[Oogadee Boogadee]

Since necks are treasured, let me share what i've learned / gone through.

that peavey was my first scallop job ever. it was/is just an inexpensive, low-risk guitar to try my hand at it. I was a bit too aggressive with the depth - thought it looks close to the Yngwie depths..... regardless, anything beyond 'not being able to touch the board' is overkill as far as depth is concerned. the point is to make the board untouchable, not looks*.

before tackling my main guitar, at the time a jackson KV3, I first scored a simple Jackson Performer neck off ebay for 50 bucks. I wanted to make sure i could execute the progressive depth approach (light on the low b, first fret, to medium heavy at the high E, 22nd fret... kind of a diagonal progression). Kind of combining the 12th-fret and beyond scallop, with the Blackmore scallop (things not having to be symmetrical), and common sense*. it came out awesome. sold the neck for 90 bucks or so. My KV3 was my third job. Came out awesome. Then i did an LTD 7string, then my Gibson V.

Peavey - depth favoring the fretted note... i think people refer to it as the Blackmore scallop.

the LTD. My least favorite of the job. Didn't think too much of the guitar, so I kinda left the job incomplete... rushed it in a sense. Didn't dress up the binding like I should have (which, is easy), which happens to be important, because that hard white plastic is easily reveals profile imperfections of the scallop's contour.

the KV3. One badass feeling neck, after all was said and done. did it with intensions of being light to medium light on the Low E till about the 9th or 10th fret.... almost non-existence down in the rhythm sections. The last pic really shows the difference in depths between low e and high e.

The gibson v features the more seamless low 1st fret to high e 22nd fret transition (ie, going a little deeper than light on those low E strings, despite them being not super necessary, because, well, it looks cool.)

what I would do, is get a second neck for a job, to make sure you like the feature on *your* guitar, before messing with your main neck.

here's my main point pro for recommending scallops. Imagine a worse case scenario - sweaty hands, heavy gauge strings, and inaccurate fretting during a solo - aim being off a bit. Getting all that sweaty sloppy flesh to envelope a string b/c of a recessed board will still allow you to grab it and bend and wiggle the poop out of it.

 

[stealthtastic]

 

[Reverend 7 Strings of Hate]

iv just about always had my 15th fret on up scalloped. i love it, but i wouldnt go full scallop unless it was an experimental guitar. it wouldnt work well for my style (the full scallop) doing ion dissonance/tony danza type stuff.

 

[Elysian]

iv just about always had my 15th fret on up scalloped. i love it, but i wouldnt go full scallop unless it was an experimental guitar. it wouldnt work well for my style (the full scallop) doing ion dissonance/tony danza type stuff.

My V had 12-24 scalloped, love it. Need to finish rebuilding that thing, it's neck is to die for.

 

[budda]

I too would like to try a scalloped neck.

 

[Harry]

Scalloping was probably really necessary back in the day before there was huge frets, but honestly I doubt you're going to notice much difference between having 6000 size fretwire and a scalloped board.
When I played a Malmsteen strat, it seriously didn't feel different enough from guitars with really big frets and no scalloping to warrant doing that to a guitar.
Your best bet would probably be to get your guitars refretted with 6100 size stainless steel fretwire (which is almost the same height as normal 6000 fretwire), since that will pretty much offer the smooth bending and vibrato you would want anyway.
I suppose, yes, it still wont offer the feel of a scalloped fretboard and if you ABSOLUTELY MUST have that feel, get the scalloped board, but I would think it's a wiser choice in the long run to get SS frets.

 

[Leona]

Scalloping was probably really necessary back in the day before there was huge frets, but honestly I doubt you're going to notice much difference between having 6000 size fretwire and a scalloped board.
When I played a Malmsteen strat, it seriously didn't feel different enough from guitars with really big frets and no scalloping to warrant doing that to a guitar.
Your best bet would probably be to get your guitars refretted with 6100 size stainless steel fretwire (which is almost the same height as normal 6000 fretwire), since that will pretty much offer the smooth bending and vibrato you would want anyway.
I suppose, yes, it still wont offer the feel of a scalloped fretboard and if you ABSOLUTELY MUST have that feel, get the scalloped board, but I would think it's a wiser choice in the long run to get SS frets.

Uh, having the same size fretwire in a different material isn't going to mimic the effects of a full scallop.

 

[Harry]

Uh, having the same size fretwire in a different material isn't going to mimic the effects of a full scallop.

I realize that, and I EVEN SAID "I suppose, yes, it still wont offer the feel of a scalloped fretboard" in my post, but my point is that as far as bending and vibrato is concerned, there isn't really much benefit with a scalloped board over huge frets.
When I played the Malmsteen strat, the Dunlop 6000 fretwire was doing pretty much all the work as far as making sure my fingers didn't touch the fretboard and allowing easy bending.
There's much more benefit to scalloping a fretboard fitted with vintage/medium height frets, which is why I imagine it was done in the first place back then, to allows that greater ease of bending and vibrato before huge frets became commonplace and easy to get.
The most recent Malmsteen strat apparently has an even deeper scallop, which is probably more for aesthetic reasons to really give it the "Malmsteen vibe" than anything.

 

[Durero]

Scalloping was probably really necessary back in the day before there was huge frets, but honestly I doubt you're going to notice much difference between having 6000 size fretwire and a scalloped board.
When I played a Malmsteen strat, it seriously didn't feel different enough from guitars with really big frets and no scalloping to warrant doing that to a guitar.
Your best bet would probably be to get your guitars refretted with 6100 size stainless steel fretwire (which is almost the same height as normal 6000 fretwire), since that will pretty much offer the smooth bending and vibrato you would want anyway.
I suppose, yes, it still wont offer the feel of a scalloped fretboard and if you ABSOLUTELY MUST have that feel, get the scalloped board, but I would think it's a wiser choice in the long run to get SS frets.

I agree with your point that a tall enough fretwire will produce the same effect as a scallop.

It's a matter of using a fretwire tall enough to eliminate any finger contact with the fretboard wood, and the required height probably varies from player to player.

My fanned-fret 7 has custom made extra-tall steel frets which are about 1.6mm tall and make it impossible for my fingers to feel the fretboard. I really love the feel and light touch and easy bending.

There are frets available which are taller than the Dunlop 6000 type. Sintoms make huge frets with up to 2.59mm crown height.

Another factor to consider is that installing extra tall frets is a reversible mod, and of course scalloping is not.