Strat question......

[Greg_L]

I'm no strat expert by any means, and don't even really like strats much (even though I have 2 of them), so pardon my question if it seems retarded.

I have a Fender mexican strat with 21 frets, and a Squire standard with 22.

I've also noticed many high-end 'real' strats with sometimes 21, and sometimes 22 frets.

Why do some have 21 and some have 22? Whats the reasoning/story behind this?

 

[Light]

21 is the "vintage" version, 22 is more modern.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi

 

[pdadda]

On non-USA models, the number of frets=the age in months of the child who assembled it.

 

[Greg_L]

Okay thanks guys.

 

[Thurgood]

Which do you guys prefer? Mine is the "modern style". works well. Would it be marginally easier to bend the strings on a 21 than a 22? Or is it that the scale length is the same but one fretboard is shorter? Dunno. I have an old Gibson rd 77 and I believe it has a longer scale length. Funky guitar. OT- What is this thing worth in very good condition?

 

[cephus]

I see the 22-frets on the especially shitty ones. I think it's because the extra 1/4 or brown banana wood hides the shitty neck socket and pickguard edge

 

[32-20-Blues]

I see the 22-frets on the especially shitty ones. I think it's because the extra 1/4 or brown banana wood hides the shitty neck socket and pickguard edge

Joking aside, the fingerboard cantilever does hide the neck cavity. The cavity is tight as hell on my model, but some strats (70's ones) have a pocket that seems to have been cut by a madman with a steak knife.

 

[travelin travis]

22 frets are for sissies. I think the scale length is the same. The only difference being the extra sissy fret.

 

[legionserial]

I had a Squire with 21 frets, a US Fender with 22, and an Ibanez with 24.

None of it makes any difference to me. I suck too much to play on frets that high without somone slapping me.

 

[ggunn]

I had a Squire with 21 frets, a US Fender with 22, and an Ibanez with 24.

None of it makes any difference to me. I suck too much to play on frets that high without somone slapping me.

Thank you. Finally someone with the guts to admit that (like me) they don't use those frets anyway. ;^)

 

[Light]

They are the same scale length, but the 22 fret versions have a little bit of a cantilever over the body. Personally, I like the 22 fret version, but my strat has a 21 because they didn't make a 22 fret with a 7.25" radius (which was more important to me, as I relish my comfort, and damn my ability to express myself!)


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi

 

[Big Kenny]

THere's no money above the seventh fret.....

 

[marshall409]

who said that?

THere's no money above the seventh fret.....

is that a quote or did you just say that?

i love it.

Adam

 

[travelin travis]

THere's no money above the seventh fret.....

I find some change between 9 and 12.

 

[ggunn]

I find some change between 9 and 12.

Yeah, when I go above the 12th, it's on the house.

In a related story...

I was and am a Grateful Dead fan, and there was a special relationship between the Dead and their fans, like we were all friends and we fans cut them a lot of slack in virtuosity of performance versus their huge playlist. Anyway, when they covered "Little Red Rooster", Bob Weir would play slide. Now, playing slide well is not an easy endeavor, but Bobby wasn't too bad at it, considering he didn't do it much. However, near the end of the song, Bobby would sometimes get exuberant and go up past the 12th fret, where the notes are really close together. I usually went to their shows with a friend who is also a guitarist, much better than I am, and when that would happen we would say to each other, "Please, Bobby don't.... ah, well... just get it over with." ;^)

 

[travelin travis]

Yeah, when I go above the 12th, it's on the house.

In a related story...

I was and am a Grateful Dead fan, and there was a special relationship between the Dead and their fans, like we were all friends and we fans cut them a lot of slack in virtuosity of performance versus their huge playlist. Anyway, when they covered "Little Red Rooster", Bob Weir would play slide. Now, playing slide well is not an easy endeavor, but Bobby wasn't too bad at it, considering he didn't do it much. However, near the end of the song, Bobby would sometimes get exuberant and go up past the 12th fret, where the notes are really close together. I usually went to their shows with a friend who is also a guitarist, much better than I am, and when that would happen we would say to each other, "Please, Bobby don't.... ah, well... just get it over with." ;^)

You can't blame a guy for trying.