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Pros and cons of fingerboard extensions
Twang
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Anyone got any opinions on fingerboard extensions over D hole guitars? It's interesting to see the variety of approaches. I've seen everything from fingerboards with absolutely no extension eg Holo, Favino etc, to guitars with up to 5 frets over the sound hole eg Maccaferi, AJL etc.
It did occur to me that one accidental advantage of a D hole was the access to the inside of the guitar for mounting pickups and repair work. An (over)extended fingerboard would likely take that advantage away.
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I have five over my D-hole, they are completely pointless to me as I never venture that far up the neck and they are so small they are practically unplayable. They spoil the look of the D-hole a little but otherwise I've never found them to be a disadvantage, there's still more space to get a hand in to the interior than you'd get on a petit bouche. I imagine that for serious repair work luthiers would take the neck and top off anyway.
Wish my D-hole didn't have a fingerboard extension so I could use my Peche pickup properly. They say you can clip it on the opposite side but then it interferes with picking hand; far too bulky. Traditional design elements like fingerboard extensions are an example of pointless and outdated details clinging to nostalgia, especially on 14 fret guitars.
@CraigHensley If it makes you feel any better there are issues with oval holes too sometimes. Some guitars are built with a reinforcement underneath the rosette and/or a guide for the trussrod allen key. Both can sometimes interfere with the clip on the peche. The magnetic thingy on the yves Gruen pickup looks interesting. I don't know how it shapes up sound/balance wise against the Peche though.
12-fret D-holes have a different issue than 14-fret D-holes as to how many frets stick out. Also, 670mm scale vs 640mm scale makes a slight difference.
Did it and think it was kind of a mistake. Unless you plan to be up there a lot, I don't see the benefit.
Cons:
Pros:
Some oval holes have them too (e.g. https://www.djangobooks.com/Item/selmer-transitional-replica ). Those kind are not as ugly as the typical D hole ones, but they still suffer from getting in the way of magnetic pickup mounting and that's a deal breaker for me.
I actually like the look the extension on the d hole. I call it the diving board. Though I do admit they are not the most practical/useful notes.
I like the look of them. Sometimes a D hole can look a bit “undressed” without one.
l like the look of D holes without too though.
On the other hand Antoine Boyer added extension on his Holo. And he's using it. They look neat to me, but they're completely impractical... unless you're Antoine Boyer.
Oh, I thought of a pro. It reduce the probability of your pick falling into the soundhole by 1-2%