Anyone scalloped a guitar neck?

[axisus]

I have always fancied trying one and I just happen to have a couple of spare necks around to have a go with. Anyone here tried it?

[TheGuitarWeasel]

Yes ... but I've payed my price to society dammit ... do people always have to bring it up?

Seriously though ... yes I did a fair few scallop jobs in the eighties/early nineties. Easy enough to do, I roughed everything out with a Dremel using those little sanding drums (with the frets masked) then used progressively finer sandpaper over dowel to polish to a finish.
Watch out ... you may go through an inlay .... oh and I only find scallops useful above the 12th fret ... but that may just be me.

[Dulcetjones]

A friend of mine did one a few years ago and regretted it. It made a perfectly playable guitar into a nightmare to play. I'm sure if you put in the time to get used to the pressure you need to play it right it would be useful but to get the exact pitch on each note in a run or chord was really hard.

[barney.]

yeah i done it years ago....on a aria pro 2 guitar...wish i hadnt now though, to me it might be usefull above the 12th fret

[stonevibe]

Its easier just to have large fret wire on a neck, but I suppose if you have a neck already you want to attack this won't really help you...

[barney.]

another thing when i done it i took really deep scallops out...i think if i was going to do it again..altough i woulnd they would just be very slight grooves...just enuff to stop the fingers coming in contact with the fretboard..

[TheGuitarWeasel]

Its easier just to have large fret wire on a neck, but I suppose if you have a neck already you want to attack this won't really help you...

My feeling exactly! I have Dunlop 6000 wire on one of my Strats, which is basically like having chunks of railway track instead of frets! Feels brilliant, and up the dusty end I never 'touch wood'!

[findo]

I once did one to see what it was like. Took me ages! Came out nice enough but like others have said I didn't think it was worth it in the end. Big modern frets is enough.

[WezV]

i find a rat tail file real useful for doing the higher frets, then dowels wrapped in sandper to clean up - i tend to avoid full scallop jobs

i wouldnt trust a modern dremel for it as they tend to have more play in them than the old ones and it makes for an erratic experience


so my advice, do some of the higher frets to see if you like it - keep doing a few more at a time if you do. Also keep it subtler than you think. You can always go back and take more away

[axisus]

Hmmnn .... probably best to buy something off eBay and then move it on when it doesn't do it for me I guess. Kicking myself for missing out on a cheap Sambora strat a while ago.

I may still have a go, as my first guitar is in the loft in a pretty knackered state. It's an Aria Pro II and I've already learned refretting on it! To be honest, if it works I was going to butcher an American strat neck(!). It's got damaged finish, needs refretting and is surplus to requirements.