I saw an ad somewhere online a few weeks (months?) ago that stated Fender is now offering an 11" radius fretboard for those of us who like things a bit more flat. However, I can't seem to find any data on that! Not in mags, on- or off-line; not on Fenders' webby; not anywhere. Any news? Thanks!

That's news to me. You might have to poke through all of the product descriptions for Strats etc. to find a model that might offer it. Sounds like it would be a signature model. I prefer a flat neck. I just ordered a Carvin with a 14" radius. My Strat has the compound radius neck which I like alot.

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Hi gtr007: be useful if you could remember where you saw the ad, because I certainly haven't heard anything about an 11 inch radius from Fender, or anyone else. Fender offer a 12" fingerboard on a small number of models for those as want a flatter feel: I can't think of a reason for doing an 11" one except to be different to everyone else - and spend money on re-jigging in the factory to accommodate that brainwave.

Which is not to say they're not doing it: just that I can't find info about it on this site or anywhere else, as of this moment.

It so happens that a few months ago Stewart-MacDonald started offering fingerboard sanding blocks in the new and unusual radiuses of 15 and 17 inches. I guess must be in response to some sort of customer demand, presumably for luthiers wanting to work on acoustic guitars that are built to those unusual sized radiuses (radii, if you prefer).

Yet even Stew-Mac don't offer an 11" radiusing block - which may tell us something. When they do, well then we'll know eleven inches has gone mainstream. (Beyond what guys tell their girlfriends, of course...)

Cheers - C

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I find it hard to believe too.

Unless something was misunderstood :
http://www.debrix.com/Chrome-Rear-Fende ... -39-mw.htm

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Haha - well spotted!

Cheers - C

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I can. I have an acutely sensitive touch and could tell the difference, immediately.

My idea of the perfect fretboard is multi-radiused from 7 1/4" up to the 10th fret with a graceful transition to 9" at the 12th fret then another graceful shift to 12" from the 12th fret to the last fret, multi-shaped from fat vintage to shred along the same shift points, w/ ext jumbo frets EJ style up to the 12th fret, maybe some scalloping towards the last frets, satin...almost glossed finish, quarter-sawn of course, one rosewood, one maple, and one ebony, fretboard, neck thru on the maple neck 24-fretters, set neck mahogany 22 fretters, bolt-on maple 22 fretters. ...don't get me started on multi-piece neck-thrus and hollow-body configs.

...everything else is a compromise.

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Well there ya go, RCB. You play compound radius necks - I make 'em. And as someone who produces fingerboards in many sizes including compounds all I'm going to say is I'd be pretty impressed by someone with fingers that could genuinely tell the difference between an 11 and a 12 inch radius fretboard. Those would be sensitive hands indeed.

I too like compound necks. But it's a ve-e-e-ery tiny difference.

Cheers - C

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Yeah, but, so to are the verrrry tiny differences between a good setup and a bad setup, a good build and a purrrfect build, a good string and a bad string, and radii that feels good, and radii that don't.

9" radii don't work for me before the 10th fret, but 7 1/4" does, 7 1/4" after the 10th fret don't work for me, but...9 and then 12" do, and etc. I can tell the difference the instant I play a chord or a run anywhere on the neck that is radii specific to my touch and grip, not to mention...alls you have to do is look at the frets. If you have keen eyes, you can pretty much identify radii by looking at it. Yeah, identifying the difference between 11 & 12 by eye would require some skills and a close-up inspection, but the feel would be there too if you a/b'd the guitars and have a sensitive touch and went to the sweet spots where radii differences are noticeable.

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"The individual is handicapped by coming face to face with a Conspiracy so monstrous he cannot believe it exists. The American mind simply has not come to a realization of the evil which has been introduced into our midst." J. Edgar Hoover