Comments

• flaco ✭ Shelley Park #151, AJL Quiet and Portable

  March 2023 Posts: 123

  My Shelley Park has a modern C shape neck. The neck is still a bit wider so it doesn't feel exactly like my steel string Martin acoustic, but it's no problem switching back and forth.
• EmilBirk New Gitane DG-300

  March 2023 Posts: 26

  https://www.djangobooks.com/forum/discussion/comment/113830#Comment_113830

  Thank you I’ll check them out, I never really had any wrist pain playing guitar before I got this guitar. I will say though I don’t stretch before or after practice sessions and most of the time I do around 4 hours a day. My other guitar is a vox bobcat v90 which has a very thin neck and is very easy to play.
• JSanta NY✭✭✭ Dupont, Gaffiero, AJL

  March 2023 Posts: 275

  I will toss Cyril Gaffiero in this pool as well. His Modele Originale has a neck that is very close to what I consider an electric guitar feel.

  If you work with a luthier, they can help you get what you want. Good luck!
• richter4208 ✭✭✭

  March 2023 Posts: 538

  As Michael once told me (and I would have saved some hassle if I would have listened), just get a Dupont

  
• EmilBirk New Gitane DG-300

  March 2023 Posts: 26

  https://www.djangobooks.com/forum/discussion/comment/113835#Comment_113835

  good advice lol. Would probably be the best idea
• EmilBirk New Gitane DG-300

  March 2023 Posts: 26

  https://www.djangobooks.com/forum/discussion/comment/113834#Comment_113834

  Interesting I’ll check out his prices and so on, thank you
• riccardomordeglia New mordeglia

  April 2023 Posts: 4

  Hi, I'm writing as a luthier, sorry for my English but I'm writing with the translator. The problem of wrist pain is not so much due to the shape of the neck but to the width-to-thickness ratio. We are talking about ergonomics understood as the relationship between the signature and size of an object and the human body. The neck of an acoustic or electric guitar is normally 44 or 43 mm wide, that of a gypsy guitar ranges from 45 to 48 mm depending on the model. Furthermore, the size of the attachment to the handle should be 11mm greater. The size of the long scale Selmer was 46-57mm between nut and fourteenth fret. A wider neck gauge aids gypsy technique by allowing more space between the strings for pick strike and thicker pick gauges. Many manufacturers keep the size of 57mm at 14 reducing that at the nut and making an acoustic guitar thickness . this causes a greater width in the central part of the neck not proportional to the thickness. classical guitars have a greater width, of 50-52mm at the nut and a thin thickness but the classical technique wants the guitar resting on the left leg and the foot raised, this places the arm and wrist in another position that avoids pain.

  So the solutions are:

  1-Choose a thicker (22mm thick at the nut or even more) or properly proportioned neck

  2-Choose a narrower neck, but this could compromise the gypsy technique for the right hand by having less space between the strings

  3-Change technique and play in classical style but this means having to reset the technique and not being able to use the thumb for the bass

  This in principle, then everyone has different hands and different tendons, different flexibility and different levers, everyone has their own individuality.

  One last thing, and I say this from my old sporting experience, stretching exercises can also be counterproductive, better not to overdo it. Better warm-up exercises and relaxation exercises before playing

  
• DeuxDoigts_Tonnerre Lawrenceville GA USANew Stringphonic #503 Basic, Altamira M30D, Eastman AR810CE, Giannini Craviola

  April 2023 Posts: 57

  I would say get an Altamira, an Eastman, or a Stringphonic if you are starting out. These guitars I believe all have a very standard neck profile and are widely available and affordable. They are wonderful guitars for learning the gypsy technique. Your hand will get used to the shape of the gypsy neck if you are striving for the gypsy technique.

  With Gitane / Cigano / etc., neck profiles tend to vary greatly. I had a Gitane 250M that had a thin neck like a Fender Stratocaster. It would start to hurt my hand after playing rhythm on only 2 songs. Also had a Cigano and the neck felt like a flat-top neck. Also had a Gitane 500D and the neck felt extra-wide.

  I have had an Altamira M30D for 10 years and a Stringphonic Basic 503 for over a year. I am so used to playing on these necks that most other "normal" guitar necks now feel foreign to my hand. I have a flat-top, several semi-hollows and several archtops that I hardly play anymore.
• EmilBirk New Gitane DG-300

  April 2023 Posts: 26

  https://www.djangobooks.com/forum/discussion/comment/113919#Comment_113919

  I was looking at the stringphonics, the only worry I have with them is the shipping internationally, from what I know they don’t have a retailer in the UK. I suppose though that if something did happen during transit they would replace the guitar