Thank you Fender!

gavin_axecaster

Swapping necks isn't a problem with Fender spec necks, especially if the mount holes are not drilled.
With Warmoth budget £74 for a CITES import certificate for rosewood. Takes about 2 weeks to receive once you've applied.
http://www.warmoth.com/Guitar/Necks/NeckWoods.aspx
Might be easier to contract a UK builder to build the neck. Probably cost less overall.

thermionic

I don't have any problem with the 7.25" radius. I currently have 4 Classic Series guitars and I've managed to set them up pretty well with minimal choking (only on extreme bends high up the neck). When I pick up a 10" or especially a 12" radius guitar now it feels concave for a few minutes. All part of the classic Fender experience for me.

Let us know how the neck feels on your Strat - I have the same model in sunburst and it's thinner than all the other Classic Series necks I've had. It's a nice neck to play but I prefer a bit more wood, like my older Classic 60s Strat had. Maybe mine is a one-off that got sanded down a bit too much at the factory.

Modulus_Amps

are you a Dire Straits fan? I see Mark is back in the studio at the moment red strat in hand

hotpickups

I viewed a video last night with John Mayer talking about his new PRS sig guitar. He says he uses 7.25 radius but thinks it's all nonsense mainly about radius' as it's a combination of many things. He's happy to play any radius if the other variables are ok. Basically he's saying try one and you may be surprised that you like it and the myths about 7.25 radius choking out are rubbish  

lovestrat74

I've got a Hank Marvin Strat you can have off me (pm me), simply sell on the maple neck to pay for a rosewood one of your choice (allparts SRO necks are very good and not expensive) and there you have it. A 60's strat in fiesta red for half the price of the andertons one. You could also choose to get a refin done by one of the many talented chaps on here

munckee

I bought an allparts nitro neck with rosewood from axecaster recently which is lovely.

p90fool

hotpickups said:

I viewed a video last night with John Mayer talking about his new PRS sig guitar. He says he uses 7.25 radius but thinks it's all nonsense mainly about radius' as it's a combination of many things. He's happy to play any radius if the other variables are ok. Basically he's saying try one and you may be surprised that you like it and the myths about 7.25 radius choking out are rubbish  

Well I'd rather believe a heartthrob pop star than science too, but he's wrong. 

It's quite simple geometry, whether you CARE or not depends on your playing style and setup preference.  

lovestrat74

p90fool said:

hotpickups said:

I viewed a video last night with John Mayer talking about his new PRS sig guitar. He says he uses 7.25 radius but thinks it's all nonsense mainly about radius' as it's a combination of many things. He's happy to play any radius if the other variables are ok. Basically he's saying try one and you may be surprised that you like it and the myths about 7.25 radius choking out are rubbish  

Well I'd rather believe a heartthrob pop star than science too, but he's wrong. 

It's quite simple geometry, whether you CARE or not depends on your playing style and setup preference.  

Well, it's all about the action isn't it? You cannot have low action on a 7.25 radius board. After all, worked for Hendrix et al right?

crunchman

lovestrat74 said:

p90fool said:

hotpickups said:

I viewed a video last night with John Mayer talking about his new PRS sig guitar. He says he uses 7.25 radius but thinks it's all nonsense mainly about radius' as it's a combination of many things. He's happy to play any radius if the other variables are ok. Basically he's saying try one and you may be surprised that you like it and the myths about 7.25 radius choking out are rubbish  

Well I'd rather believe a heartthrob pop star than science too, but he's wrong. 

It's quite simple geometry, whether you CARE or not depends on your playing style and setup preference.  

Well, it's all about the action isn't it? You cannot have low action on a 7.25 radius board. After all, worked for Hendrix et al right?

You don't want too low an action on any radius of board though.  If you dig into the strings a bit, they will buzz if the action is too low.

At a sensible action, 7.25" is fine.

p90fool

crunchman said:

lovestrat74 said:

p90fool said:

hotpickups said:

I viewed a video last night with John Mayer talking about his new PRS sig guitar. He says he uses 7.25 radius but thinks it's all nonsense mainly about radius' as it's a combination of many things. He's happy to play any radius if the other variables are ok. Basically he's saying try one and you may be surprised that you like it and the myths about 7.25 radius choking out are rubbish  

Well I'd rather believe a heartthrob pop star than science too, but he's wrong. 

It's quite simple geometry, whether you CARE or not depends on your playing style and setup preference.  

Well, it's all about the action isn't it? You cannot have low action on a 7.25 radius board. After all, worked for Hendrix et al right?

You don't want too low an action on any radius of board though.  If you dig into the strings a bit, they will buzz if the action is too low.

At a sensible action, 7.25" is fine.

No, YOU don't want one. 

Schnozz

I like my action as low as I can get it without buzz, on a flat or compound radius - Playing arpeggios where the strings are all at different heights is annoying and I appreciate it's a small difference, but it still makes things more difficult.

Vintage thin frets are not great full for pull-offs/hammer-ons, getting under the string for bends, or sometimes slides.

Doesn't affect much on a Bass, but it's not practical on a guitar. Tokai make one with medium frets and it feels massively better and I would take that over a nitro finish any day.

Grover Jackson sorted the strat out in the late 70s.

bgmartinsbridge

I wonder how many of the sixties and seventies players had the frets flattened by the tech to a 9.5 radius?

Ive heard stories of this happening, almost without the artist knowing. But the tech new they liked a particular feel. 

I believe Rory G played a 7.25 but it was actually flattened to 9.5.

lovestrat74

bgmartinsbridge said:

I wonder how many of the sixties and seventies players had the frets flattened by the tech to a 9.5 radius?

Ive heard stories of this happening, almost without the artist knowing. But the tech new they liked a particular feel. 

I believe Rory G played a 7.25 but it was actually flattened to 9.5.

Do you mean fretboard? Back then why would they have chosen 9.5" specifically and not the 12" of a gibson?  Fender didn't introduce this radius until the 80s right?

Barnezy

OK tried the guitar today and really liked the 7.25 radius and the small frets. The setup on the guitar was really good surprisingly and the action was easily low enough. I tried my hardest to get a bend to choke out. I could only do it around the 17th fret pushing the B string as hard as I could, to around the A string position. I definitely don’t do bends that big, so it’s not an issue. I did however really like the ease of playing chords, especially barre chords. 

Whilst there I tried a compound radius too. I really disliked it. It was way too flat for
my tastes. It also had jumbo frets, which I hadn’t played before. It all felt a bit “floaty” to me. I get why a shredder could make use of it, but didn’t feel comfortable to me. 

WezV

lovestrat74 said:

bgmartinsbridge said:

I wonder how many of the sixties and seventies players had the frets flattened by the tech to a 9.5 radius?

Ive heard stories of this happening, almost without the artist knowing. But the tech new they liked a particular feel. 

I believe Rory G played a 7.25 but it was actually flattened to 9.5.

Do you mean fretboard? Back then why would they have chosen 9.5" specifically and not the 12" of a gibson?  Fender didn't introduce this radius until the 80s right?

Fairly sure he means the frets.  Tall fretwire will let you tweak the radius a bit, at the expense of a few years fret life. you can also make them a compound radius so its flatter up the top end where it gets less wear 

I have just put new frets in one that was low all over, but noticeably lower down the middle.  not the first I have seen levelled like that

Changing the board radius is a definite no-no on veneer boards

fretfinder

richardhomer said:

As I’ve said before - prior to 1983 when 9.5” became standard on Fender’s non-vintage style guitars - players has no choice. All the classic Strat solos played by Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Mark Knopfler, David Gilmour, Rory Gallagher, et al - we’re on 7.25” boards.

True, but all that tells me is that great guitar playing is just as possible on a 7.25 board as it is on a 9.5 or 12 radius or whatever. That doesn’t mean those players wouldn’t have preferred a flatter profile and bigger frets had it been available, and they might have moved on to that later in their careers. I was chatting to Roger Giffin in the mid 80s in his Q7 shop in Kew and he told me Gilmour had bought half a dozen brand new AVRI Strats for a world tour and brought them all in to have the boards flattened and refretted with larger frets. That was simply his preference I guess, as it is for the vast majority of players now. 

clarkefan

p90fool said:

crunchman said:

lovestrat74 said:

p90fool said:

hotpickups said:

I viewed a video last night with John Mayer talking about his new PRS sig guitar. He says he uses 7.25 radius but thinks it's all nonsense mainly about radius' as it's a combination of many things. He's happy to play any radius if the other variables are ok. Basically he's saying try one and you may be surprised that you like it and the myths about 7.25 radius choking out are rubbish  

Well I'd rather believe a heartthrob pop star than science too, but he's wrong. 

It's quite simple geometry, whether you CARE or not depends on your playing style and setup preference.  

Well, it's all about the action isn't it? You cannot have low action on a 7.25 radius board. After all, worked for Hendrix et al right?

You don't want too low an action on any radius of board though.  If you dig into the strings a bit, they will buzz if the action is too low.

At a sensible action, 7.25" is fine.

No, YOU don't want one. 

This.  Low action plus 7.25 radius plus low frets = choking out on bends. Choose yer poison, you kanna change the laws of physics Captain, etc.

crunchman

clarkefan said:

p90fool said:

crunchman said:

lovestrat74 said:

p90fool said:

hotpickups said:

I viewed a video last night with John Mayer talking about his new PRS sig guitar. He says he uses 7.25 radius but thinks it's all nonsense mainly about radius' as it's a combination of many things. He's happy to play any radius if the other variables are ok. Basically he's saying try one and you may be surprised that you like it and the myths about 7.25 radius choking out are rubbish  

Well I'd rather believe a heartthrob pop star than science too, but he's wrong. 

It's quite simple geometry, whether you CARE or not depends on your playing style and setup preference.  

Well, it's all about the action isn't it? You cannot have low action on a 7.25 radius board. After all, worked for Hendrix et al right?

You don't want too low an action on any radius of board though.  If you dig into the strings a bit, they will buzz if the action is too low.

At a sensible action, 7.25" is fine.

No, YOU don't want one. 

This.  Low action plus 7.25 radius plus low frets = choking out on bends. Choose yer poison, you kanna change the laws of physics Captain, etc.

Low action equals buzz on any radius when you dig in. If you have an action that doesn't buzz, then it won't choke out on any normal bend.

Barnezy

So the guitar has arrived and it is very nice. My only concern is with the neck alignment. The high E string Strats to run away from the fret board. I’ve measured it and at the nut there is 2.5mm of space to the edge of the fretboard, on the last fret there is only 1.5mm. The low E seems to run parallel to the edge of the board. My only assumption is the bridge is slightly further away from the neck at the high E side and this is pulling the string out of alignment. 

Ive looked at my other guitars and don’t notice this on them. I can’t tell yet if it’s going to be an annoying problem. Does anyone have a view on this? 

thegummy

fretfinder said:

richardhomer said:

As I’ve said before - prior to 1983 when 9.5” became standard on Fender’s non-vintage style guitars - players has no choice. All the classic Strat solos played by Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Mark Knopfler, David Gilmour, Rory Gallagher, et al - we’re on 7.25” boards.

True, but all that tells me is that great guitar playing is just as possible on a 7.25 board as it is on a 9.5 or 12 radius or whatever. That doesn’t mean those players wouldn’t have preferred a flatter profile and bigger frets had it been available, and they might have moved on to that later in their careers. I was chatting to Roger Giffin in the mid 80s in his Q7 shop in Kew and he told me Gilmour had bought half a dozen brand new AVRI Strats for a world tour and brought them all in to have the boards flattened and refretted with larger frets. That was simply his preference I guess, as it is for the vast majority of players now. 

It's kind of like saying that the Beatles made Sgt. Pepper on a 4 track tape machine with very minimal tools to change the sound so it's a viable option to get one of those now rather than getting a computer with all the great audio software.