# Slim Neck profiles. Jackson, Esp, Ibanez?



## StefanWest (Jul 13, 2011)

I love the wizard prestige contour, but while pairing it with a jacson kelly body, I want it to work. will Jackson provide an equal counterpart to ibby wizard specs, will esp?
I like the wide planky.
Warmoth?
also wanted to know why birdseye maple is looked down on for low tunings for finger boards.
i.e. drop A and drop Bb.


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## MaxOfMetal (Jul 13, 2011)

StefanWest said:


> will Jackson provide an equal counterpart to ibby wizard specs



Give the CS enough cash and I'm sure they'll be able to cook up something. As for stock, even the thinnest 90's Dinky and Soloist necks are still a hair thicker and much rounder feeling.



> will esp?



Same as Jackson, nothing off the shelf really, but the CS I'm sure can do it.



> Warmoth?



Warmoth does offer a "Wizard" profile neck, and from what I've played it's damn close to those 90's Ibby necks. 

It's good to keep in mind that two of the biggest things that make up the "Ibanez feel" neck wise are the flatter overall profiles and the larger fretboard radii. You can have a 17mm - 19mm neck, but if you throw on a smaller (think Jackson 12" - 16") radius it's not going to feel like an Ibby. 



> also wanted to know why birdseye maple is looked down on for low tunings for finger boards.
> i.e. drop A and drop Bb.



I've owned a Moonstone Strat-style with a Birdseye board and played a few Valley Arts guitars with them and never thought it was bad for low tunings. The VA I played was a baritone too, in traditional baritone tuning. I think it's just a case of people talking about "magic wood".


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## snowblind56 (Jul 13, 2011)

Some Jackson necks will be comparable. The newer Pro series necks tend to be thicker. The early 90's Professional and Performer series had some crazy thin necks.


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## Ascension (Jul 13, 2011)

Don't know about this on the particular Guitar order. However Grover Jackson himself loves honkin HUGE baseball bat necks. When he designed the gen II Washburn MG series while working for Washburn as the head of production and running the USA CS in the 1990's the first ones had a thick chunky neck. Rudy the CEO of Washburn pulled the line and forced the redesign to a slimmer neck profile. Thought that would be an intersting bit of trivia to drop into the thread. 
I know this because both Grover and Rudy have told me so BTW.
I have owned 2 of the thick neck early Washburn USA Artist series MG's with the Grover Jackson spec thick necks.


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## snowblind56 (Jul 13, 2011)

MaxOfMetal said:


> Warmoth does offer a "Wizard" profile neck, and from what I've played it's damn close to those 90's Ibby necks.


I have used the Warmoth Wizard profile. It may be as thin as the Ibanez Wizard, but the shape is different. It's not as flat. More like the shape of a Mexican strat neck, but Ibanez thin.


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## Ascension (Jul 13, 2011)

StefanWest said:


> I love the wizard prestige contour, but while pairing it with a jacson kelly body, I want it to work. will Jackson provide an equal counterpart to ibby wizard specs, will esp?
> I like the wide planky.
> Warmoth?
> also wanted to know why birdseye maple is looked down on for low tunings for finger boards.
> i.e. drop A and drop Bb.


If you like the Prestige Wizzard profile you would love a Grover Jackson designed USA Gen I 1993 Washburn MG neck like this one has.


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## Toshiro (Jul 13, 2011)

Warmoth's "Wizard" neck is based on Wizard II necks. It's 19mm at the nut.


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## drgordonfreeman (Jul 13, 2011)

MaxOfMetal said:


> Warmoth does offer a "Wizard" profile neck, and from what I've played it's damn close to those 90's Ibby necks.
> 
> It's good to keep in mind that two of the biggest things that make up the "Ibanez feel" neck wise are the flatter overall profiles and the larger fretboard radii. You can have a 17mm - 19mm neck, but if you throw on a smaller (think Jackson 12" - 16") radius it's not going to feel like an Ibby.





I'm slightly confused by this. 

Do you mean the Ibanez necks are wider at the nut with a larger thus flatter radius profile? Using your numbers: 17mm to 19mm wide at the nut with, say, a 500mm radius? 

I just want to make sure I'm following what you're saying correctly. Thanks.


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## MaxOfMetal (Jul 14, 2011)

drgordonfreeman said:


> I'm slightly confused by this.
> 
> Do you mean the Ibanez necks are wider at the nut with a larger thus flatter radius profile? Using your numbers: 17mm to 19mm wide at the nut with, say, a 500mm radius?
> 
> I just want to make sure I'm following what you're saying correctly. Thanks.



Ibanez necks (at least the sought after late 80's, 90's, and early 00's, models have a thickness of 17mm at the first fret, thickening up to 19mm at the twelfth fret. They then have a 430mm (~16.93") radius at the nut, fretboard, and bridge. 

As for the back profiles you're looking at a fairly flat shape without any shoulders. Thus a "squished C" would be the best description, with a "D" implying shoulders. 

Even if you get the thickness and back contour the same as an Ibby Wizard 1/Super Wizard you still need a relatively flat 430mm or more radius across all points to cop the same feel. 

Ibanez necks are thin, have a large radius, and a flat feel around back. If you take any one of those away you won't have the same feel. 

As far as neck width goes, Ibanez necks (6-string) are 43mm, but that's a fairly common measure, as it's a standard OFR nut width.


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## johnythehero (Jul 14, 2011)

I have a jackson dinky concept from 94 that has a thinner (albeit rounder) neck then any wizard I have played. (wizard-II 7 and Wizard Prestige )


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## djpharoah (Jul 14, 2011)

If you want a profile outside the Speed/Standard Jackson profiles, you'll have to give the Custom Shop a very detailed chart of the neck specs and your 1st born 

The thickness of the Jackson necks goes like this. Also note these are relative to each other not other guitars. I've used all three and find the speed to be the best on 7s and the standard to be the best on 6s.

Dinky (thinnest), speed (thinner), standard (thick)


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## MaxOfMetal (Jul 14, 2011)

johnythehero said:


> I have a jackson dinky concept from 94 that has a thinner (albeit rounder) neck then any wizard I have played. (wizard-II 7 and Wizard Prestige )



Those are a full 2mm (at least) thicker than the Wizard I/Super Wizard, not to mention a good amount wider. 

As Mesh mentioned, that Dinky profile is the thinnest Jackson has to offer from a production standpoint.


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## MatthewK (Jul 14, 2011)

I had a japanese kelly and the neck was pretty slim. ESP necks have been a little fuller in my experience. The Music Man Petrucci necks are extremely similar to Ibanez. 

Birdseye and any other kind of pretty maple (flame, quilt,...) are supposedly not as strong as normal maple. I have no idea if it's true or not.


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## johnythehero (Jul 15, 2011)

MaxOfMetal said:


> Those are a full 2mm (at least) thicker than the Wizard I/Super Wizard, not to mention a good amount wider.
> 
> As Mesh mentioned, that Dinky profile is the thinnest Jackson has to offer from a production standpoint.


 Must be a perception thing because I could swear it was thinner .


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## xvultures (Jul 15, 2011)

If you have an Ibanez neck already, you could try ET Guitars, they _might_ be able to make a body in a Kelly shape with an AANJ neck pocket. Can't hurt to ask ET Guitars | Custom built Guitars | Off the shelf Guitars

Also, be careful with Jackson necks/bodies. Make sure they're from the same country, I've had issues with necks/bodies not fitting right. If you decide to mix and match, that is


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