“It’s less significant than your guitar strap being an inch higher or lower”: John Mayer on why fretboard radius doesn’t actually make that much of a difference

John Mayer has offered a potentially spicy hot take concerning the build of an electric guitar: neck radius doesn't actually matter all that much.

His PRS Silver Sky has become one of the best-selling signature guitars in recent years, having topped Reverb’s sales charts for 2022 and 2023. It took two years to fully develop, and speaking about that process in the new issue of Guitar World, Mayer detailed how the experience proved to be an education for him, too.

“Before creating this guitar, I didn't understand what neck radius meant,” he admits, “I just looked at the guitars I loved the most, and they were 7.25". That was my measuring stick. Now that I know the math behind it, I still don't think about it.”

In simple terms, 'neck' radius – or, more accurately, fretboard radius – relates to how much a fretboard curves. As conventional wisdom would have it, 'rounder' fretboards make fretting easier as they better trace the natural curvature of our fingers. Flatter necks are typically better at bends and guitar solos, because there's less resistance to move over.

Many firms have their preferred measurements. Very broadly speaking, a 7.25" radius offers a more 'vintage' style, while the likes of 9.5" and 12" are used on more modern builds. But Mayer doesn’t see it as the be-all and end-all.

“The difference between 7.25" and 9.5" is less significant than your guitar strap being an inch higher or lower,” he professes. “I'll fight anybody on that.

“Every guitar is different and has about 100 points of variation,” he explains. “Neck profile helps sort out neck profile, which is only one of many details. So the only way to truly compare radii is to build two molecularly exact copies of the same guitar with just that difference.

“I can do everything on this neck that I could do on a 9.25". If the guitar is set up correctly, if the frets are level, you can do anything you want.”

Elsewhere in his Guitar World interview, for which he was joined by Paul Reed Smith, Mayer looked back on the making of the Silver Sky. During the conversation, Smith recalled the unexpected discovery he made when he put Mayer's 1964 Strat under the microscope.

Head to Magazines Direct to pick up the new issue of Guitar World, which features a list of the best guitar gear of the 21st century.