Fender necks?

dabluesman

dabluesman

New member
I've played some guitars with necks that feel like a baseball bat with a fretboard attached. I'm wanting to get a U.S. Fender strat but I'm not sure about the necks. I've heard them described as "V" shaped, "U" shaped, and even "C" shaped. I love the neck on my U.S. Kramer, I think it may be considered to be a "C" shape. It doesnt protrude out like some necks, it is more flat or "oval" in shape. I think the "V" shape is like the baseball bat, I'm not sure about the "U" shaped. I know that I'm just going to have to go and play different Fenders to find out which neck I like. By what I've read the '60's model strat has that "C" shape neck, so i'm going to start out with tring a 60's reissue. Has anyone already been through this? What did you decide & why? Thanks!
 
I haven't been trough this so to speak, but you are right. Fender guitars do have different shaped necks. The early days of teles and strats, the neck shape and taper varied from craftsman to craftsman when the they were still sanded down by hand. Also different years seem to be shaped different than others. Fender classified the differences with a letter code. A through D - I think. Some one else on here may know for sure. A being the smallest width and D being the widest. So the C the you talked about would be in this catagory. You can find the code hand written or stamped next to the date code on the butt of the neck where it joins the body or on the underside of the heel on others. The terms oval, round, V, or U reffers to the cross section or the entire neck or to the radius of the finger board alone. There isn't a code on the neck itself to state what type it is .A good book you shoud check out is The History of Fender Stratocaster. It's a paper bound coffee table book with many photos and info on dating strats. Since you call sign is "dabluesman" you may want to know that Stevie's "Strat" had a D neck and was modified with jumbo frets. A good sized neck is a C neck. Not too thin and has a flat overall radius.
 
In 1959 Fender started making their necks in 2 pieces, with a seperate fingerboard. This new rosewood fingerboard (they were maple until '59) was milled flat across the neck.

This neck was referred to as 'slab board' and continued until 1962, when they were given a more rounded shape.

The re-issued 1962 Strat has a contour similar to the old slab boards, but not quite as wide as many that I've played.

If wide and flat is what you like, you may want to try and find an early '80's 'Elite' Strat but be aware that the bridges and the pick ups were (let's be kind) not very good.

If you have more specific questions, please post here, or email me.

foo
 
Fenders Frontline Mag. has a good discription of nesk shapes. they are free at most Fender Dealers.

RussP
 
I have an american standard strat that has a sort of oval shape, it wasnt hard for me to get use too it, I played a I-been-had(Ibanez) jem before and have a charvel.

so if ur use to that kinda neck the am standard aint to bad.
 
Lots of players (Blackmore, Malmsteen) shave their necks down to a "V" shape. Just be careful! And leave the scalloping to the pros unless you're really good.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top