I have a beautiful Blue Clapton (2010 Ltd).
The treble side of the neck (if you sight it down), appears to be slightly concave.
The bass side seems to be just a hair convex. I use .10s on it. Should I put a slightly lighter guage string(s) on the treble side (maybe 1st,2nd, and 3rd), and keep the heavier guage on the bass side, or am I just over thinking the whole thing? After 47 years of playing strats, I have never encountered this situation. I watch my humidity level in my home and keep it right !
Any suggestions would be appreciated !
Thanks,
PW

Is it still under warranty? I would take into the shop, have a Fender Repair Technician look at it. If it is as bad as it sounds it could just become worse. Sometimes they can fix them. Worst case scenerio, replace the whole guitar.

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RK

2007 Fender Highway 1
2012 American Deluxe
2015 MIM Dave Murray HHH
2010 Fender Blacktop
1987 Fender Avalon Acoustic
2012 Marshall DSL 15 watt head

I would definitely have someone look at it

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Instead of sighting the neck, try using a straightedge.
Theres all kinds of things on either end of the neck to throw your eye out. I always used to sight necks. I never bothered after I saw what a straightedge was showing me compared to how I judged the neck by eye.
Other than that, your only option is to take it back to the shop.

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No no and no

I had the same problem with a new '78 maple neck Strat I bought-although it was almost inperceptable at first,after several months it became a full fledged twist that no amount of adjustment or steaming would be able to put right.Fender replaced the bad neck no questions asked as it was such a rare occurance and you could clearly see the imperfections in the grain which were the root cause.I suggest that you have the neck replaced because a compound warp like this is practically impossible to rectify.

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'65 Strat,65 Mustang,65 Jaguar,4 more Strats,3 vintage Vox guitars,5 Vox amps,'69 Bassman with a '68 2-15 Bassman cab,36 guitars total-15asst'd amps total,2 vintage '60s Hammond organs & a myriad of effects-with a few rare vintage ones.

Thanks for all the input,so far.
The only problem is that I bought the Clapton Blue Ltd Ed. used from GC, and I do not think Fender would help me out.
I am going to try the straightedge, because, as I said, the guitar plays beautifully.
The string guage idea is pretty much not going to help, huh?
PW

With one piece neck/fingerboard guitars, one is significantly at the mercy of the grain as the rod can only do so much. Changing string gauge won't help as the twist will remain proportionate; heating, steaming or even planing the fingerboard is not a remedy either as the common denominator here is the fact that the grain of the wood is going to continue doing its thing.

If the guitar plays great and the twist is not an impediment, forget about it. If it is that much of an impediment, all you can really do is to G & P the frets. Of course, the twist will still be there but the playing surface will then be even.

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You dig?

Two things:
First, have you taken it back to GC? Unless they specifically told you (or have a written, posted policy regarding it) that there is a no-return policy, maybe they will repair the neck for you, pay for a new neck and you pay for labor, put on a replacement they have in a different store, or some other compromise that gets you what you thought you were paying for (a guitar with no major issues). Even if they have a no-return, no repair, kiss my arse policy, it is worth a trip to the manager's office and a polite but firm conversation about what you thought you were buying.
Secondly, if it's a 2010 model, I would not assume that it is done moving (or twisting). This kind of problem usually occurs soon after it's built, and may have been there when you bought it, but it also may continue to move. So I would wait a while before getting it repaired. If GC is willing to fix it now, ask for a guarantee that if it continues to happen they'll take care of it.
If it were my guitar, I would contact GC now, get an agreement as to what they are willing to do, and then either let them replace it or wait a bit before it is repaired.
String gauge would have to be drastically changed to make a correction. I mean so much that you wouldn't want to play it. A gauge or two would only add a small increase in the tension needed to reverse a twist.
Check out this string tension calculator:
http://www.mcdonaldstrings.com/stringxxiii.html
Changing from .010, .013, .017 to .013, .017, .020 (basically 3 gauges up) would increase the tension on the plain strings by approximately 30lbs (14kg), which is an increase of something on the order of 75%. This may fix the issue, or may not, but it would feel like dooky and be way out o' balance with .026, .036 & .046. in regard to your picking and fretting, not to mention the pickup/string balance.
I've used 13, 17 & 20 with 38, 48 & 58. Bending was a lot of work, and didn't work well with small vintage frets. I had to put tall frets on to make it feel right.

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"There's an arse for every chair"

5 guitars
7 amps
4 dogs

How long have you owned the guitar? Guitar Center has a ten day guarantee on used gear.

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Check out my new FB music page!

https://www.facebook.com/TheDevilandMe.Music

I have had the guitar since January, so I guess I am out of luck in that reswpect.
Thanks for asking , tho'

Hello fellow members.
Well, I have used a straightedge and also took Robin's advice (checked high and low E strings with capo on fret one, holding down last fret- then checking with a feeler gauge at fret 7).
The neck is slightly twisted.
Man, what a bummer. I bought the guitar used from GC. They won't help me.
Now what ?
I have .10, .13, .17 gauge strings on the treble side (concaved side) and .26,.36,.46 on bass side(slight concave).
It appears to have the twist at 5th fret area.

Any ideas to remedy would be greatly appreciated. I can't afford a new CS Ltd. Ed. neck for my pretty daphne blue Clapton. I just keep it in the case with the humidity at 50% and the bass strings loosened up. I hope, eventually it will cure itself.
This is the first of around 25 plus strats I have owned that I have encountered this problem.
I am bummed. It plays ok, but I have to raise the saddles on the low E and A strings to compensate and make it play, buzz free. I am anal about my guitars, and want them to play "perfect".

I wish someone could help !!

Now you go on eBay and wait until a new EC neck pops up, then buy it! OR, if you wanna be a little dirty, set it up the best you can and sell it! but there is a special place in hell for people like that lol.

Planing the fingerboard (neck) and re-fretting is the way to fix this. BUT it is not going to be able to be correctly diagnosed online. I have performed this procedure many times in my 45+ years of guitar repair, and can state with a "high degree of certainty" that if you wait until your neck has stabilized (stopped twisting) it will be a permanent fix. But again, you need to get it to someone who has the experience to properly diagnose the problem.
The other option is to send it to the factory, and pay them to replace the neck. That way, it would have legitimacy as being "original" should you want to sell it in the future.
It is unfortunate that you have to deal with this, and I'm sure you are disappointed. But this is the exact reason that Leo designed his guitars with a bolt-on neck; a replacement from the Fender Factory will be every bit as valid as the neck it was born with.

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"There's an arse for every chair"

5 guitars
7 amps
4 dogs

Thanks for all the input. I guess I will have to send it to Fender. I would never attempt to sell it anyway. It is so slight that my family thinks I am just paranoid ( that is how slight it is).

The only thing that would make it hard to live with is an un-adjustable backbow, and you have the opposite condition. You have an ever-so-slight difference in the relief available on the treble and bass side of your neck, and still have full use of the truss rod. One of my guitars has had this condition for almost thirty years, and has remained perfectly playable and stable. Can I see it? Only if I measure it. Would I fix it? No, I wouldn't bother, and I do it for a living. So I think you should take your family's opinion to heart, and enjoy your guitar. If, at sometime in the future, it gets worse, you can deal with it just as easily. You have no warranty to expire, so you have nothing to lose by waiting. It sounds like a very minor issue.

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"There's an arse for every chair"

5 guitars
7 amps
4 dogs