Does anyone know anything about any "24 fret Stratocasters"? Because I think it would be pretty cool if there was. Although I think it wouldn't be much appreciated by a lot of people around the globe 'cos Fender doesn't and hasn't ever (I think) made a 24 fret Stratocaster. And that sort of sets them apart from the rest of the main guitar companies out there (e.g Ibanez, Dean, Washburn, Jackson...)who all make 24 fret guitars. Let me know what you think!

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It's been done but in every case I've seen they had to give up the neck pickup. The 24th fret sits over the cavity.

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James Burton Upgrade Telecaster
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Hi Rockman988:

Google images of the Showmaster Strat, for example.

Though some of those have three single-coil pups...

Cheers - C

There have been some Strats with 24 frets (kinda') for some reason they only extend the top layer of the fret board. Like SoggyCrow said; it spills over and covers the neck pickup pos....problem with this config is yes; you have 24 frets on your guitar but you do not have a 24 fret guitar...the scale is never changed and you do not have a 2 octive setup...the neck length must me streched to a 25" or a 25.5" scale to cover the ovtives spred...it has been said that due to the large cost of reworking your machines to cut and build longer necks and the revamp on the fretting machine Fender just will not do it..I dont know if this is true beacuse like Ceri said ; Fender does make the showmaster which is a 25.5" scale / 24 fret neck guitar. this leads me to belive they are already set up for this....will the show master neck fit on the strat?.....I dont know i never have seen show master in person...I dont know why Fender will not mak a 25" scale 24 fret neck on the strts....it sure seems there is a market for it and plenty of cometition to steal buyers form Fender...

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(80’s Hair Metal) = A snapshot in time before Grunge ruined Rock & Roll forever!!!!

Many aspects of a guitar are subjective and we can argue about them until the Lord returns. They are a matter of personal preference - no right or wrong. What we are focused on here is based on the laws of physics. These are facts and if you make a decision without facts, you only have an opinion!

Let’s briefly talk about the scale of an electric guitar. For the purpose of this post I will focus on the 25” scale length. This is the length of the string between the nut and the bridge. Most electric guitars have a scale length between 24 ¾” and 25 ½”, with a few exceptions. The shorter the scale the shorter the spacing is between frets. And for any given gauge (thickness) of string the tension required to produce a given note is less than the same string on a longer scale. So for a given string gauge, a guitar with a longer scale will have more string tension along the neck.

Pickup location is important because the amount of motion (or distance travelled across the pickup) of a plucked string is different as you travel along the string from one end to the other. The amount of string vibration at the pickup location makes a difference in which notes are picked up. Notice I said notes. When you pluck a string there is a fundamental harmonic or PRIMARY TONE and a series of OVERTONES. How much of the primary tone and each successive overtone is picked up changes as you move the pickup location up and down the strings.

the points along the string where the string does not have any motion for a given overtone are called NODES. Also think of the nut and bridge as nodes. The greatest string travel for any given frequency that would generate the most electrical energy or sound occurs at the center point between the nodes of any given frequency.

Nodes are important because they are DEAD SPOTS for that overtone. If a pickup is located at a node of any overtone, that overtone will not be heard because the pickup is located in a dead spot where there no motion associated with that frequency. The amount of electrical energy created by a given pickup is directly proportional to the amount of string motion or travel over the pickup, so if there is no string travel at a particular frequency, there is no electrical energy or sound created at that frequency. The greatest string travel that would generate the most electrical energy occurs at the center point between the nodes of any given tone or frequency.
98% of all Gibson Guitars & all the PRS 22 fret models are built with this inherent mistake in the design. It is beyond me why they don't fix it. Gibson came out with a double cut Les Paul some years ago that addressed this problem but they discontinued it. I think they are simply afraid to point to this problem. It would be an admission of guilt. Gibson would never admit to making an error. especially one so grave and irrefutably wrong.
C.F. Martin Guitars has never admitted that their guitars were inherently made wrong for 150 years. Incredibly they did not use truss rods on their guitars for over 150 years. They finally quietly started using them in 1985. Everybody wants to see a better guitar tomorrow than what we built today, says Chris Martin, CEO -- and the sixth generation of C.F. Martin & Company. I applaud him for being a forward thinker and obviously wanting to change with the times. I wish more companies would have the forward mentality and stop relying on old technology simply because it has been accepted by the buying public. These companies should all wake up and smell the coffee.
The interesting thing is that the fret locations get farther apart at an increasing or logarithmic rate as you move from the bridge toward the nut. However nodes occur at integer divisions of the scale. The nodes progress toward the bridge as you play notes down the fret board. So if you played with a capo over the 12th fret, all of the nodes move 50% toward the bridge.

The 12th fret is 12 ½ inches from the nut or halfway between the nut and bridge, which is also the dead node location of the first overtone. 22 fret guitars have a neck pickup right where the 24th fret would be, which happens to be a dead node of the third overtone.
Pickup positioning clearly effects the tone of your guitar and now you know why. It determines how much of the primary and each successive overtone is picked up.
The Classic Fender Strat style guitars are exceptions. Simply because our ears have grown accustomed to the nasal ducktone & quack associated with that style of an instrument. Plus the neck pickup is only halfway in the node. Still the fact remains they are improperly designed. The laws of physics are absolute.

It is costlier to do 24 fret necks, Most companies that sell pre slotted fret boards will only supply 22 fret necks, If you purchase any fret slotting machinery you will immediately notice that the arbors are usually set up for 22 frets and if you want any oddball scales you will probably have a devil of a time trying to buy it. (oddball means anything other than Fender or Gibson)

I prefer 24 frets, for a lot of reasons, the most important being, the rhythm pickup has to be installed off axis where the 24th fret would normally fall. On a 22 fret neck the pickup sits directly over the 24th fret harmonic node. Simply explained a node is a dead spot or a massive phase cancellation. These nodes occur on the 7th fret, 12th fret, 19th fret and 24th fret. If you place a pickup directly on a node the midrange frequencies will cancel themselves out. Make sure you avoid a guitar that the node falls on the pickup. Unless of course you want a muddy distorted rhythm sound like you would normally experience with a Les Paul or any Les Paul type guitar. Most intelligent people will agree on the fact that a Les Paul has a nice meaty lead tone but chords sound like crap. fenders avoid this for the most part due to single coil pickups.

24 frets is the wave of the future, 22 frets is the older way. All the new cool guitars have 24 frets. Gibson has finally jumped on the band wagon. Gibson has offered a double cutaway Les Paul with 24 frets. for under $2,000.00!!! Sadly it still uses a Rosewood fingerboard, plastic inlays, and a limited reach. They have stayed with their same old tired 24 3/4 scale. Fender has the Showmaster which is a 25' scale, its less money and seems to be a better quality guitar. The fender guitars that use the overhang on the neck and cover the first pickup are a joke.
the bottom line is that any pickup stuck in the dead zone will never achive the tonal possibilites it could have........I love my Stratocasters /////I just wish Fender would get with the times change the scale on all their guitars..........

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(80’s Hair Metal) = A snapshot in time before Grunge ruined Rock & Roll forever!!!!

Hmmm... OK, so I'm no expert, but I thought 25.5" was the standard Strat neck scale?

I cant say I go past the 21th often...

Yes that is correct ..

A 24 fret neck ruins the traditional design and layout of the Stratocaster.

So while such a beast would still look Strat-like, it couldn't be enough Strat-tradition.

A 24 fret Strat-like guitar certainly has its place and its fans, but most of Fender's customers would not view it as a real Strat.

They got away with 22 frets because it wasn't too great a step away from the traditional design. Using an overhanging fretboard was a great idea.

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Member #26797
My other guitar is a Strat.

umm, the harmonic node for the 3 rd overtone, as you call it, and i am not debating, only sits at that particular spot if you are playing open strings. the nodes for the overtones move as your fingers shorten the string length by pressing down on the strings at the various frets.

I can see how your physics apply if you are playing open strings, or slide, but even then the debate is : Is it a dead spot, or a sweet spot?

As far as i can see 22 vs 24 is irrelevant for most players.

The physics is that a pickup is not directed like a pin-point onto the nulls/nodes of the string vibrations. A pickup's focus is very wide compared to the period of the string vibrations. So the pickups do "hear" all of the harmonics.

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Member #26797
My other guitar is a Strat.

Yeah, I just meant that as far as the strings themselves go, the nodes move as you play,but given how pickups work, its kinda moot anyway.Maybe if they were microphonic it would matter.

To answer the original question....YES , Fender DID make a 24 fret Stratocaster, as my 1990 HM Strat can attest. I know, I know, it is not a typical Strat, but so what!! It was not meant to be a vintage style guitar. It was meant to be a hard rock/metal machine, and for that, it kicks $@!. Gotta show off my baby!!!

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A bunch of guitars, a few amps, some pedals and some other stuff that makes noise.

You can see from the photos that the way Fender did its 24-fret guitars was to squish the pickups closer together. That is, the neck pickup routing cavity is closer to the bridge than it is with 22-fret guitars. So is the middle pickup's cavity.

And I agree that "dead spots" are far from absolute. You can easily find the center point for the harmonic, but the coils will get signal from an appreciable segment of the string. So no particular harmonic is really dead at any pickup location.

Personally, I don't need a 24-fret guitar. I sometimes use the 22nd fret, but not often. But I know that some people like to spend time there.

In the end there is no right or wrong. A lot of people love the sound of a Stratocaster neck pickup right where it is. I know I do. And it was good enough for Jimi Hendrix.

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James Burton Upgrade Telecaster
Hot Rodded Am Fat Strat Texas Special (now featuring Kinman Traditional II pickups)
Fender Blues Jr.
SWR California Blonde
Pedals Pedals Pedals

24 frets ? You`d need arms like an orangutan to reach the 1st fret.

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