Scalloping a Strat Neck 

Eddie Julian Dude, it's like you had a self contained RU-vid argument. You've done a great service as now, no one else needs to get all triggered and engage in a useless comment war with you. Well done!

still good looking out my friend. to come from a place of caring about someones health is a good thing.

+Luke McPeeters you must be as bored as I am

yea how did I wind up here again?

Skelly :-) &

Dave Morrison I was born with a scalloped neck

Had to miss work that day...

I ate a scallop with a neck today.

You've got an awesome channel, Dave! ❤️

Extra jumbo frets are your friends, without ruining your instrument.

@@glassbox7761 Why is it "ruining" because it is in contrast to what you might do? Your one of THOSE people aren't ya? If your preference is different than mine then you are wrong. I can't imagine living life like that. Surely your a miserable person. Lol, you suck.

I'll do it on a PRS SE.

Have you refret a guitar with scalloped neck? How did it go?

If we do it we have to give up on the inlays right?

Thanks V! Hope all is good your end buddy!

@TruthSurge exactly! I was thinking the same thing! Where's the fretboard?

@@luisantoniocoello well, I think he did a good job. I think I was looking for a little bit more shallow scalloping and it looks deep but I still see some fretboard in there so it's prob just my expectations that were causing me to comment as I did. I plan to do this to a neck and I wish I had a good way in mind but I guess just sanding using a round tool is best. Go slow and do it right the first time.

I agree, with a more gradual scoop, the fretboard markers would probably have been preserved as well. Doesn't affect playability of course, but it looks more pleasing (at least to me) with the fretboard markers intact on a strat.

lol

oof rip

Damn, and we forgot how to count too, so we can't just remark them.

Downhill Phil He used a brand new performance enhancing drug called Meth.

"scalloping the neck" And why would you want to do that?

@@NostalgiaforInfinity because it plays awesome. And no Dunlop 6000 alone does not replicate the feel.

Thanks mate! I'll post some stuff real soon!

Same thing I thought

Maybe boiled linseed oil?

The clear material is very likely mineral oil -any pharmacy will sell it as a laxative...cheap :)

I haven't tried one either, but many of these things are just personal preferences. Nothing will make you a better player except practice.. I think someone with the level of technique as sam could say there's a huge difference between a scallpoed and normal neck, but for a player who's still in the battle to get up there, i don't think it matters very much :P

baksteen123 Scalloped necks make bending and vibrato a tad easier and everything else a tad more difficult.For example having no wood as a safety net anymore you can go out of tune if you press the string too hard especially at the first 3 to 5 frets.....thats why even playing chords may be more challenging for some simply because they press too damn hard.All the other elements of playing are pretty much the same....no it wont make you go faster(maybe a hair slower) or make your sweeps easier or or or...things you hear perpetuated. Scalloped fretboards look sexy,make control of the string during bending and vibrato easier and give you an overall great feel of playing on...air.Nothing more nothing less.....in my view they teach you the proper touch on the instrument cause you can play a scalloped neck and then a regular one without a problem but...the opposite isnt always the case if your technique sucks.

baksteen123 I've have one scalloped neck. They help me get my fingers more perpendicular to the board (when required) without my nails contacting wood as my nails connect at the very tips of my fingers, this is with my nails totally trimmed off. This helps (me) with gripping the string when pulling towards the floor, among other things. Pix of Yng show that his nails are similar, so I think that's why he likes scalloped. But for me tall frets provide as much of this feature that I require, so that's how I roll.

Ive tried 1....amazing! Easy bending, and vibrato.... No more bleeding fingers.... Or scraping your nails on the wood 😫.... Although I would go for more shallow scallops than deep bottomless ones...

True, that could be a far superior method if t you also made a jig to keep it from pulling towards the fret, and also had plenty of different sizes to accommodate the different fret spacings. But the more I think about it, you would also then need to remove the frets because the radius wouldn't work out otherwise. Personally, I would do this type of work using only hand tools, but not many people know how to properly use or even sharpen them these days.

@@aylbdrmadison1051 I did this with 80 grit sandpaper. It was fucking excruciating. I dont know how much files cost, but they're worth it.

What is the machine that he is using called?

@@hunterea0525 a dremel

You don't press the string down to the wood... that would be insane. It requires a lighter touch to play correctly, but with advantages... namely, it makes it easier to fret notes with less pressure (making your fretting hand and arm more relaxed), makes bending easier, and (in my experience) made me play a little faster. Your fingers don't have the friction drag from touching the wood... it's kind of like having tall frets. It's not everyone's thing, but it's pretty cool.

@@MrSupahz this. You have to learn to control how much pressure you apply to the strings. Most people push like they're trying to stamp the strings imprint into their fretboard.

Jared Deinlein ...yes it also happens to a nonscalloped neck...

you aren't supposed to push down that hard generally... the point is to make it so your fingers don't drag on the wood...

Self control helps. Dont try to murder your strings and you stay on pitch.

@@xjunkxyrdxdog89 exactly

Look on the side of the fretboard. Those are still there

Now both guitars have the same value

@@glassbox7761 scalloping doesn’t decrease value and the joys of a strat are you can easily swap the neck.

+Nick Baldeagle Caster oil for guitar

+Nick Baldeagle Go to Crimson Guitars Nick. They have the best oil.

I believe it was mineral oil. Love the username by the way, always makes me chuckle!

Mark Norris you really dont you just learn to play without them or get fret inlay stickers to put on

it's to reduce or eliminate your fingers contacting the wood so with a lighter touch you can play faster

Tyler Marney: when Chip Foose tunes a car, he doesn´t use any ruler to put the vynil lines on the chasis, he does it by eye. That´s when you reach an upper level of artistry.

+Jaden Styla I really only don't like seeing the whole fret board scalloped, I can see the appeal of some small ones above the 12th fret. I like when they use files too, it feels like it all comes along a little better

+Nira Machina Naah..on the contrary....a scalloped strat with stainless steel frets has probably the best playability a guitar can have.Scalloping provides with superior bending and vibrato feel..combine that with well polished ss frets that are smooth as fuck and you really cant do better...at least for a player that actually has a decent touch and isnt just a banger.

its okay Yngwie will use it. oh wait its not yellow. r.i.p strat

Go Play one. Scalloped is nice. I think this one may be a little too far.

No dont urge him to play one....he is one of those folks who think the string actually touches the fingerboard in regular boards too let alone scalloped ones....leave him be....he might be one of those flat earthers too.....

Yes. Find the fret inlays you value the most. Typically the 12th fret. Work slow and check often but start in the middle between the 11th and 12th frets and start scalloping with a round bastard file. Yes, you can walk into a hardware shop and ask for a "bastard file" and not get punched in the face or just shown the door... Work deeper until you have the depth you want or until to think you start seeing the inlay getting less vibrant in color - ie, you're about to go too deep. Remember though, when you're finishing the scallop with finer grades of sandpaper, you will go to the lowest part of the cuts put in with the file or even just a little deeper, so if you have a cut from the file that works all the way through the part of the inlay then you'll likely wipe out that part of the inlay when finishing. Don't skimp on the grades of sandpaper used to remove the scratches from the file. Don't try and go from a file to a 800 grit and then 2000. You'll be working that 800 forever and then the 2000 until the end of days. When finishing with sandpaper, use a cylindrical piece of wood that's about a 1/4 the width of the spacing between frets. It'll be a tiny piece for the top few frets and something chunky for the bottom few. Any dowels will do if the local hardware store has then in inexpensive woods and even a circular pencil will do for 17th and higher. If you've never done it before, just go to the hardware store and buy a piece of random wood and mark it off like a fingerboard and have at it. Better to play and trash a $3 piece of wood that your JEM neck. Be warned though - it takes a damned long time. It will end up being a project and not a 1 night thing, especially if you're new to this. On the few I've done I typically start on a Saturday morning, put in about 4 hours on each weekend day and then a couple of hours each night until done. There is a reason why I only have a few guitars scalloped ;) But those are the guitars that I play the most. I just picked up a ESP Snakebyte SE Baritone with the cool snake inlay around the 11th to 13th fret. Those will be a little more fun to do that the 12th fret moon in a Gibson Gothic V.

Caster oil for guitar :)

+Matthew Pearce ok thank bro!!!

I didn't know that. I scalloped all my own necks but did it the hard way with files and sandpaper. Now im spoiled and cant hardly play a gutiar unless its scalloped