Neck Pitch - Why and How Electric Herald

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Neck Pitch – Why and How
For a beginner guitarist, neck pitch (tilt) is nowhere on the radar when it comes to
choosing an instrument. The color is much more important. They’ll eventually discover
that di�erent neck pitches change the feel of the guitar signi�cantly, though. It can
also have a profound e�ect on how you play (your sound).
It’s great for players to be aware of this speci�cation and their preferences, but you’re
not here to play. A luthier’s understanding of neck pitch needs to go a little deeper.
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Why do pitched necks even exist? How are they made? Is a pitched neck superior to a
�at plane setup? These burning questions and many more will be answered for you
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Neck Pitch - Why and How | Electric Herald https://www.electricherald.com/guitar-neck-pitch-angle-guide/

As with most electric guitar arguments, you can set Fender and Gibson
 against each other as comparative yin and yang examples. For anything
related to pitch, feel free to compare a Stratocaster and a Les Paul.
I. The Origin & Purpose of Pitched Necks

The origins of pitched necks has caused a bit of confusion on the internet. A few
online sources point to the invention of the electric pickup as the instigating event.
Their research suggested pitched necks were a necessity to accommodate the extra
bulk of the pickups under the strings. This is incorrect.
Pitched necks are a carry-over from the classical instruments that the guitar descends
from. Look at a cello, violin, or upright bass for an example. Each has a pitched neck &
fretboard that lift the strings away from the body to meet a raised bridge.
The reasoning for this is purely acoustic.

Luthiers discovered that increased string
pressure against the instrument bodies
improved vibrational transfer long ago.
Downward force is generated with a

raised bridge and strings �xed to the
body behind the bridge. Modern
instruments achieve this with a tune-
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o-matic style tail piece or string-through
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(https://www.electricherald.com/ ) Neck Pitch – Why andferrules.

How String vibrations are transferred
to the body wood more easily with more
downward force on the bridge.
Added pressure allows for louder, richer

tones.
The early 1900s archtop guitars are great examples of the transition from classical
design to modern electric. This is because you can see the borrowed violin design
features very easily. Orville Gibson is one such builder whose work exempli�es this.
Carved single-piece tops and backs, the bridge & tailpiece designs, tilted necks,
bracing, f-holes – it’s all there. Keep in mind, the very earliest examples of Gibson’s
pioneering archtop guitar designs are acoustic guitars. No pickups to even take into
consideration.
So there you have it – pitched guitar necks exist so that the fretboard plane can meet
a raised bridge. Together, they allowed for better acoustic performance.
II. Why are pitched necks still around today?

You would think that after electric transducers (pickups in fancy speak) and ampli�ers
became standard equipment (https://www.electricherald.com/history-�rst-electric-
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guitar/ ) and acoustic resonance
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Neck no– Why
Pitch longer needed, that the raised bridge and
and How
pitched neck would be done away with.
Leo Fender felt the same way, which is why he sought to create a �at pitch guitar
design. Well, the main reason he wanted a �at neck pitch design was for easier
manufacturing. The goal was to get rid of all the extra work that comes with
manufacturing traditional pitched necks & joints.
The angled cuts and gluing process that came with manufacturing pitched necks was
time-consuming. This was the motivation for Fender to create bolt-on neck designs.
(https://www.electricherald.com/wp-
content/uploads/Pitch-2.png )
(https://www.electricherald.com/wp-
content/uploads/Pitch-1.png )
Simply putting the fretboard on the same plane with a simple joint and using a bridge
�xed to the body wasn’t enough though. Leo felt that the improved transference of
string vibrations of a raised bridge was something he wanted to maintain. The strings
were �xed at a lower level than the bridge to create downward pressure. Either inside
or behind the body (through holes with ferrule mounts).
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You can see another approach
(https://www.electricherald.com/ ) to this
Neck Pitchin– Rickenbacker’s
Why and How designs from the same era.
Rickenbacker sought to do the same thing, but unfortunately, his innovations weren’t
as attractive as Fender’s.
The wraparound bridge is notable because it fails to generate any downward force. It has
the raising action of a tune-o-matic, but vibrational qualities of a �xed bridge.
Why do some guitars still have pitched necks then?
Because there are a number of desirable factors (subjectively) that come with a
pitched neck still. It goes beyond simply creating downward pressure on the bridge.
Here’s a few arguments for pitched necks:
• Playing comfort
The feel of a raised bridge against your hand is important for some.
A raised bridge also creates a spacious picking area. Those with a
preference for resting ones’ palm on a pickup ring may �nd an
improvement here. Purely subjective.
• Carved top design preference
Most carved top designs require an elevated string & fretboard
plane. A carved top with a �at setup (0° fretboard plane) is perfectly
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possible, but the results are more subtle. Body contours can be
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much more exaggerated
(https://www.electricherald.com/ ) with–aWhy
Neck Pitch raised bridge and pitched neck.
and How
• Action
Neither of the actions will be de�nitively better than the other when
comparing pitched and non-pitched necks. There’s a few factors
that create or a�ect a guitar’s action. Primarily, the bridge position in
relation to the nut, fretboard plane (pitch), and string vibration. A
pitched neck is equipped to allow for much more accurate action
adjustments by default. String action can be honed through bridge
adjustments alone.
A �xed bridge and a �at plane will still have a small amount of play
in the saddle heights. Fender found this to be insu�cient when
reconciling with the string’s vibrational frequency. For this reason, he
created the micro-tilt adjustments (https://www.fender.com/articles
/tech-talk/how-micro-tilt-majorly-a�ects-your-action ) that you’ll
�nd in post 1970s Fenders (https://books.google.com.mx
/books?id=gQoLAQAAQBAJ&lpg=PT55&dq=why%20neck%20pitch&
pg=PT55#v=onepage&q&f=false ). This innovation allows for a very
�ne tilting back of the neck. The fretboard plane can be brought as
close to the strings as possible. This extra action factor is not
something that pitched-neck players have to think about. It’s one
less adjustment in the setup process as well.

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• Improved resonance
(https://www.electricherald.com/ ) / tone
Neck Pitch – Why and How
Finally, we return to the place we started – downward string

pressure on the bridge. There’s no getting around the fact that a
stronger joint between the body and bridge will result in better tone
transfer. The question is whether or not you subscribe to the idea of
tonewood having an e�ect with electric guitars.
The subject of whether wood vibrations a�ect the transduced tone

can be found in the tonewood article
(https://www.electricherald.com/tonewood-for-electric-guitars/ ).
There’s also the factor of string mounts – tailpiece vs. ferrules
speci�cally. Those are questions for another article.
As you can see, there’s a number of reasons why pitched necks are not going
anywhere. Neither is technically superior to the other. Some may argue about the
tone, but we all know where that ends up. It’s really down to player preference and
comfort. For a luthier, though, the di�erence is a little more signi�cant.
III. Pitched Neck Construction

Here’s the important stu�. Now you know the reasoning behind pitched necks, you’ll
have a much better handle on the construction side. You may come up with some of
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your own innovative design
(https://www.electricherald.com/ ) ideas
Neckthat
PitchFender and
– Why and HowGibson didn’t think of. They did think
of a lot of stu� though, so don’t hold out hope for that.
Speaking of Fender and Gibson, let’s use them as quintessential examples of pitched
and un-pitched neck construction. Everyone knows what a Stratocaster pocket looks
like since it’s a simple bolt-on part already. But what’s inside Gibson’s glued-in pitched
neck joints?
Take a look at the cutaways below for some construction insights:
(https://www.electricherald.com/wp-content/uploads/Les-Paul-Tenon-Shapes-
Designs.jpg )
It’s quite apparent that a typical pitched neck involves a lot more thought and e�ort.
This is one of the di�culties in attempting toACCEPT
replicate the Les Paul design, along with 
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the carved top.
Gibson’s tenon designs vary in length (seen in the examples above). Some have
protruding tongues that breach the neck pickup route, others have shorter blocks with
less surface area for gluing.
There’s something in common with each of those tenons – none of them have an
angled cut on them. The bottom of the tenon is perfectly parallel with the fretboard
plane. That’s because the pitch is routed into the tenon pocket rather than on the
guitar neck. The neck construction process is easier because of this (in many respects,
depending on your tools).
You’ll can see this example in the graphic below (#1):
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(https://www.electricherald.com/wp-content/uploads/Neck-Pitch-Graphic.png )
Gibson Les Pauls have a neck pitch between 3° and 4.5°. The LP design was
initially a 3° pitch, but was changed to 4° – 4.5° for higher downward tension on
 the bridge just before 1960. You can observe the two variations in these 3D
models (https://www.electricherald.com/shop/3d-guitar-model-gibson-les-
paul/ ).
Another method..
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The diagrams above show Gibson’s method of routing the pitch into the tenon �oor on
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the body (#1), while guitars
(https://www.electricherald.com/ ) such asPitch
Neck the –one
Whybelow
and Howsimply angle the tenon’s underside
plane (#2). Take a look at the diagrams below to see how an Ibanez SZ320’s pitch is
built in:
(https://www.electricherald.com/wp- (https://www.electricherald.com/wp-
content/uploads/Ibanez-Neck-Pitch- content/uploads/Ibanez-Neck-Pitch-
1.png ) 2.png )
So now that you’re a little more aware of the thought that goes into creating a pitched
neck, as well as the purpose behind it all, you may have some ideas for your own
model.
Check out the video below to see one a neck pitch being created in the tenon’s (or
heel’s) underside, like the #2 example shown above:
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All I do is shred guitars and eat cheetos.
Related:
How to Set Up a Guitar (Perfectly) How to Fix Fret Buzz (the right way)
(https://www.electricherald.com/guitar- (https://www.electricherald.com/�x-fret-
Guitar Neck Pro�le Guide setup-pro-guide/ ) buzz/ ) Pickup Winding Guide: Part I - Approach
(https://www.electricherald.com/guitar- (https://www.electricherald.com/pickup-
neck-pro�le-guide/ ) winding-guide-part-i-approach/ )
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(https://www.electricherald.com/ ) Neck Pitch – Why and How