Preferred Acoustic Fretboard Radius?

[b1j]

Originally Posted by colins

I didn't know who used what so I did a quick internet search, and that suggested Martins are 16 inch, Taylors 15 inch and most Gibsons 12 inch. (And spell check quite mistakenly wants me to put an apostrophe in 'Gibsons'. Arghhh!)

Don’t get me started on spell “check.” You can’t call it artificial intelligence if it’s not intelligent. Those plural nonpossesives can’t be that hard to understand.

Gibson’s Gibson’s are fine guitar’s, though.

[abn556]

Originally Posted by Lillis

I never thought much about it until I recently got my Gibsons. I quickly noticed and really like the 12” radius. My others are still fine I just really enjoy the Gibsons.

I agree with you on this. I have been playing Gibsons for over 45 years. Everything else feels different to me, but none of the acoustics bother me.

[Silly Moustache]

14 to 26" compound. That's what Collings give me.

[NeptuneBlue]

It's not as important to me as I used to think - probably helps that I've gotten away from reading about guitars online too much, haha. I have a range of radii in my collection. Some are flat - I notice those but I find them easy to adjust to. The nicer guitars I have seem to be in a 14-16 range.

I do have one that takes some getting used to, a wartime Epiphone archtop with a radius that's probably less than 10, with a 1 5/8" nut to boot. That one takes a few minutes to warm up to. I find that I do adjust, but it does force a slight change to how my left hand works since I'm so used to flatter stuff. I don't think I'd be a fan of old Fender necks.

[brencat]

I’m not overly fussy here as long as it’s not too flat.

But if you force me to choose, I’ll take the Gibson 12” every time.

[jaymarsch]

I voted other since I know that my 4 main guitars have compound radii. Now, what measurements they are, I haven't a clue. They are all extremely comfortable to play and sound wonderful so I have no need to get the exact info on that spec.
Best,
Jayne

[mercy]

All you Eastman and Epiphone players are skewing the results. Everyone knows 16"is the one.

[thefsb]

Anything between 12" and infinity is fine with me.

[Gordon Currie]

I like flat (no radius) but I'm OK with 16 inch radius.

Playing classical many years ago crystallized my preference.

Getting lower action is easier with a flatter fretboard.

[DDW]

Of course it depends on what you play, and what your playing style is. For classical style, flat is best for me. In fact I just had a carbon guitar with a 16" radius planed to 34" (very nearly flat) at some expense but it was a definite improvement.