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jptortor

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 16, 2008
Messages
246
Location
Rochester, New York, United States
Hey everyone. It's been a while since I've been in the market for a new music man and lots has changed! I'm really looking for a nice S type guitar and I came looking at the silhouette special but now think the cutlass SSH might be a great choice.

I have over time come to like slightly fatter necks, and I'm wondering if anyone could take to me about the neck shape on this model, bot in terms of thickness and also the back shape.

THANKS!
 

racerx

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 10, 2021
Messages
367
Its a soft-V to soft-C shape, I'd qualify it as reasonably medium sized thickness (I can get the calipers out if you care), but its certainly not the business-end of a baseball bat thick either. I have meat claws and come from the church of the '50s-style profiles and have no complaints about my Cutlass' profiles. Its a different feel but still very comfortable regardless of what style I'm playing.

The StingRay RS is a closer relative to the fuller/thicker style if it is the most important part of your decision (and if you cared for HH pups).
 

Astrofreq

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 5, 2006
Messages
4,122
Location
Santa Fe, NM
I tend to like fat necks as well, but my Cutlass is still very comfortable to my hands. It sort of pushes the limits of how thin a neck can be for me and still feel good. The Hunter Hayes Cutlass was noticeably thinner and not near as much to my liking.
 

DrKev

Moderator
Joined
Jul 8, 2006
Messages
7,164
Location
Somewhere between Paris, Dublin, and Buffalo
My Cutlass neck measures about 0.810" at the first fret and 0.900" at the 12th fret. That's really similar to the Silhouette Special and in the ballpark of Warmoth "Standard C" and a Fender "Modern C"...

BUT the cutlass is a soft V-shape at the 1st fret, not a C-shape, and most V-shapes of other manufacturers are thicker. By the time you get to the 7th fret it's a C-shape.

Personally I switch between the cutlass and silhouette without thinking about it. When I first got the Cutlass, yeah the V-shape took a little getting used to but I hardly know its there.
 

elvisdog

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 30, 2019
Messages
63
I have a generic preference for fat necks -- I have a 69 thinline Tele that's a nice full U-shape and it's my favorite -- or it was till I got my hands on the Cutlass, which plays effortlessly. But yeah, the StingRay is a little bigger / fuller overall, and quite a comfortable neck. I should note that both the Stingray and the Cutlass are plain maple necks, before they started roasting them, so the shape may have changed.

I've been playing Strats for a few decades and have owned some nice ones. This Cutlass is the best of them.
 

DonA

Member
Joined
May 16, 2021
Messages
15
Mine has a narrow, thin neck- it's 1.63" wide at the nut and 0.772" thick at the 1st fret, not my preferred size, but it's a nice shape and the finish, or lack thereof, feels great. The width and thickness feels great around the 5th fret and higher.
 
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banjoplayer

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 8, 2007
Messages
2,683
Location
Ulm, Germany
If your looking for a S-Type guitar with a slightly bigger neck, I would throw in an Albert Lee SSS Model.
From all my Music Man guitars it has the most meat on the neck. Not fat in the sense of a FAT-Baseball-Tele-Neck but very round shaped C with alot meat but still very comfy
 

DrKev

Moderator
Joined
Jul 8, 2006
Messages
7,164
Location
Somewhere between Paris, Dublin, and Buffalo
Mine has a narrow, thin neck- it's 1.63" wide at the nut and 0.772" thick at the 1st fret, not my preferred size, but it's a nice shape and the finish, or lack thereof, feels great. The width and thickness feels great around the 5th fret and higher.

Most Music Man guitar necks, including the Cutlass, are 1 5/8" (1.625") wide at the nut, which was the vintage standard Fender nut width. (The Sabre and the JP guitars are Gibson nut width 1 11/16", as was the Armada).
 
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