I've been thinking about the thickness of necks lately and would love to learn from you all.
Apart from comfort, what are the benefits of having a thicker neck? What are the drawbacks?

I had thought a smaller neck would better because you could get in and really dominate it. However, after reading this forum I learned many people prefer thicker necks as they tend to cut down on hand strain. This combined with the fact many of Fenders Artists models (SRV, JM, KWS to name a few) advertise thicker necks makes me think there is something to playing with a thicker neck. Any opinions in this matter would be appreciated.

I find that with smaller necks I play softer and kind of caress the neck but a nice thick neck allows me to really choke the heck out of it. I play pretty agressive and it's nice to get a good grip. It's 95% personal preference, the other 5% is hand size... if you have small hands or short fingers a thick neck just may not work and vice versa, if you have big hands a small neck might not work.

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Tune Low, Play Hard & Floor it!

I recently purchased a CIJ 62 RI Fender Strat with a Baseball Bat neck profile.....I don't have long fingers, but damnnn I can't put it down...I have found that it helps me with better playing control and positioning. But adding further to the truth......The fatter the neck, the further back I go in time...lol...vintage..

oh welcome to the forum too....

Hi bcam23: to deal with one part of this, it has little to do with the size of your hands.

For instance, I have a classical guitar with a neck so wide it makes any Fender look anorexic by comparison. I also have pretty small hands - but I can play big or small necks just as well.

It has much more to do with how the shape of the neck fills your palm and how that feels. And for that there's no option but to try 'em.

Cheers - C

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I find it easier to grip the neck on a thicker neck. Feels more comfortable, more stable.

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I don't particularly like very thick necks (like on the SRV or '62 RI), and my hands are probably smaller than average for a guitar player, but I can still play them just fine. It's just my preference to have something slightly thinner. But not so thin that it becomes uncomfortable. And what is and isn't comfortable may differ greatly from person to person. So you just have to try out a bunch of guitars before you can really get a good idea of what you like and what you don't.

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Ceri is right on.It has more to do with how the neck sits in the palm of your hand than anything else.I dont have big hands at all.In fact I have small hands with sausages for fingers.I have 2 strats with the modern c shape and i have learned to adapt to them.My best fit is the SRV neck.I actually shied away from it because everyone told me it wasnt for small hands.One day i just happen to pick one up and the neck just fit so nice I couldnt believe it .The only way to know is to play all different neck profiles and find the best one for you and dont limit yourself .To me the neck is the most important thing on a guitar.

I can play any size too, but, i have small hands too, so i prefer thin necks with jumbo frets, also thin necks, i kind of feel they´re faster, i really like the neck of my jackson, the neck of my 79 strat is thick, and i don´t like it as much, my new strat is gonna have a thin neck.

I have all different sizes and profiles and can say I look at certain ones for types of music I'm playing. The thinner necks lend themselves to the shred genre for the hand position; thumb on the back of the neck. The thicker ones seem to feel better for bluesy stuff as they lend themselves to the thumb over the fingerboard position. The first is good for fast hammer-on/pull-off playing, while the second is IMO better for bends and vibrato

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I also fall into the shorter fatter finger category but I like a fatter neck. When I was younger I liked a thinner neck but I find I do not get fatigued with a thicker neck when my chops are not up to snuff. If you really want to see thin try an Ibanez Wizard neck. I know guys shred there asses off on them and fly around but it is like playing plywood it is so thin. I have never come across any Fenders no matter the make with a neck like that. To be honest my favorite neck is on a Wolfgang I have the old Peavey ones. I just love the asymetrical neck and flat radius are just IMHO as comfortable as it gets.

I think its just a matter of what feels the best in your hand. For me a neck that is too small will cause hand cramps, but a large neck can seem cumbersome in other ways. If I were trying to find my ideal neck I would look for specific Fender guitars with different neck styles and radius and also play a Gibson or 2 for comparison. I find the vintage Fender necks with the 7.25 radius are fabulous for playing chords, but I really like the modern C shaped 9.5 radius necks for leads. My Gibson 12 radius neck on my SG is perfect for bends. I think the Fender C 9.5 is probably the best for all around, but its still nice to have some variety.

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"My mind is a raging torrent, flooded with rivulets of thought cascading into a waterfall of creative alternatives." Blazing Saddles...

I prefer fat necks as well.. like the 90's Jeff Beck Strat U neck ... it all depends on how large your hands and how long your fingers are .. not all fat necks are comfortable though ... its subjective ...

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I have very small hands also, and for a long time I didn't even try to play on a guitar with a thicker neck because I thought it wouldn't fit my hands, but recently I tried a classic 60's player and a John Mayer strat (both with a slightly thicker C-shape neck) and boy where they comfortable!!! After trying lots of guitars I found out that - for me - the most important is that the fretyboard edges are rolled and not bound (with those sharp edges). Notice also that the neck of the modern C-shape Fenders are thinner BUT also a little wider than the more vintage 60's strats, so if you tend to bend a lot and/or play with your thumb around the neck, the wideness is even important as the thickness!!!