I’ve been thinking about the question of high-fret playability quite a lot for the last year or so. Ultimately, that led to me developing a whole new guitar model to solve the problem effectively. I think that is the best solution to the problem, but I’m aware that the new model doesn’t appeal to everyone, and many people would prefer to have a more traditional looking guitar with improved high-fret access. There is a fashion at the moment for elevated fingerboards, but that isn’t an option which I offer, because I feel that it gives, at best, a marginal improvement in high-fret access. In the past I’ve offered a simple cut-away option, but this week I’ve been experimenting with a scalloped cutaway (using my cheap plywood test guitar) and I’m liking the results… so a neater and nicer version of this will be an option on my guitars in future.
