I am upgrading a Squire strat that was given to me. I want to put a soft v neck on it. I have never played a 7.25 radius but seems that is pretty common w/the vintage necks. My other Fenders are all 9.5 radius and frankly I hate to drop some bucks and hate what I bought. Can anyone share their experience swaping from 9.5 radius to 7.15? Thanks.

Lose of people a somewhat "huge" difference. I notice no difference at all.

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• Fender American Series Stratocaster (Olympic white, maple)
• Gibson Flying V (dusty faded cherry)
• Fender 1969 Custom Shop Stratocaster (3-tone sunburst, maple)
• Fender Highway One Stratocaster (Honey blonde, rosewood)

The only difference i notice between 7.25 and 9.5 is chording is easier on 7.25. You may attribute that to the fact that I like a healthy string height, so bending is not an issue. Nothing drastic, just high enough to feel it.

If you want to compare softV's try a clapton or 57 hotrod both have 9.5" radius against a 57AVRI which has a 7.25" radius. I hasten to add that the back of the clapton and hotrod is a lot less sharp than the V of the 57AVRI.

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No no and no

In essence, he has no bending issues because of the string height preference he prefers. The 7.5 radius, being less flat, can give you choke issues if you prefer your setup low.

You need to find those three guitars mentioned and do a side by side audition. Your final resource for replacement will likely be Warmoth. You will not be able to "Fenderize" the headstock through Warmoth.

Personally, I'd save my coin and purchase one of the above intact. Each is a helluva guitar.....the Clapton and the "57HR in particular.

Keep the Squier as a backup, in the event you have a gig that takes you somewhere you suspect you might be suspecting possible loss or damage.

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"Another day in paradise!"

Conversely, soloing is easier on the 9.5" because the fingerboard is slightly flatter so the action can be a bit lower than on the 7.25" without notes cutting out during bends.

Either way, IMO, people dwell on this varying radii business way too much and have created a psychological problem along the lines of paranoia for themselves as no mechanical problem ever existed for them in the first place.

Starting way back when and right up through today, many players (including myself) owned Fenders and Gibsons which meant constant switching back and forth from a 7.5" radius to a 12" radius fingerboard. We never dwelled on it then or now nor even gave it a second thought then or now. As a matter of fact, I'll bet at least 50% of said players couldn't even tell you the degree of radius on any of their instruments nor even what fingerboard radius is precisely in any detail.

Consider it akin to owning two different pairs of comfortable, superior grade shoes: For whatever the immediate wants are, once one pair has been selected and been worn for a couple of minutes, what wearer would ever contemplate, "Gee, I wonder what the ramifications of my other pair of comfortable, superior grade shoes would be right now in comparison and contrast to these"? The point being, one immediately adapts and isn't even conscious of one vs. the other. This is provided of course, that one doesn't choose to fixate on it.

To me, this entire radii issue is along the same lines of the now, irrational yet still immaterial hum concerns of single coil pickups. YMMV.

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You dig?

That's Martian nice.

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"Another day in paradise!"

It's a bit more difficult to bend on a 7.25 radius. Yeah you can raise your action to help your fingers grab the strings but by that time the action may be a little higher than you'd like.

Another consideration are the frets. Small vintage frets are generally regarded by most players as being more difficult to play and bend on. You can always have the neck refretted with any fretwire you want though.

Seems to be enough here to support the reason why the Clapton neck came to rest in the '86 prototype as a modified '57 profile, as that's to what the original Blackie neck had been worn to by then, with a 9.5 radius and vintage fret wire, and has been carried forward thus to the present day.

Hope that's sufficient for our Squier-mod bent OP to decide how best to proceed.

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"Another day in paradise!"

One of my guitars has a 12" radius fretboard, the other is 7.25"... I don't care enough to notice a difference.

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Tune Low, Play Hard & Floor it!

I like 7.25" radius necks because they just feel sexier in my hand, part of the essence of a Fender guitar, IMO. I don't have any trouble bending on them, and they all have vintage style frets too.

I won't even dare to ask you to explain this!

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You dig?

Go try one of the RW Tele's with the 7.25" or another 7.25" and then compare and see what feels best for YOU.

I have both and like both.

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Being able to play and enjoy music is a gift that's often taken for granted.

Don't leave home without it!

Personally, I don't think chording is any easier on a 9.5 as opposed to the 7.25, but you can get the action lower without fretting out on bends. I actually prefer a 12" radius to any, but my personal background has a lot of classical guitar training, and those use wide, flat necks ...

Why is Warmoth the only brand mentioned as an alternative? There are plenty of other good neck manufactureres out there ... just wondering.

Simple! Familiarity breeds content

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"Another day in paradise!"

Ohhhh, NOW I understand!

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You dig?