Hi.

I am looking forward to buying my first strat and I have a (silly) question.
Is there any difference in the fret length* between a 21 fret and a 22 fret strat?

*) I am not talking about the fret itself (like medium jumbo, etc.) but the distance between 2 frets.

Thanks.

On the same guitar, with the same scale length, no, there is not a difference. There is just one more fret along the scale to use.

The 22 fret neck's fingerboard is longer than a 21 fret neck's fingerboard.

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Member #26797
My other guitar is a Strat.

A 22 fret neck has the "extra" fret at the neck heel end, not the headstock end. There is no difference in distance between the frets of a 21 or 22 fret neck. A 21 fret Strat and 22 fret Strat BOTH have a 25.5" scale length. It's just personal preference if you want the vintage style 21 frets or modern 22 frets if you just gotta have that extra note

See the 22nd fret overhang on the neck on the right.

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Obligatory gear list: Fender, Rickenbacker, Gibson, Gretsch, Vox, Martin, and more Fender.

Thank you very much for your answers but I still don't get it.

metropolis74 says the neck is identical in size, 25.5".
orvilleowner says it's longer.

Actually that was my question in other words: Is the neck identical?
If the neck is longer on the 22 fret guitar than the distance between the first and second fret would be identical to the one on the 21 fret guitar but if the neck size is identical than the extra fret would mean that the distance between the first must be shorter.
Or, there is one more possibility. The space on the end of the neck (next to the bridge) is just bigger on the 21 fret guitar and you could just place another fret there. Right?

On more thing
@metropolis74 Well, for me it's not really preference but budget. I'm actually comparing MIM to MIA not vintage to new )

Thanks you so much for answering my stupid question.

Hi actodea: in fact, both those statements are true. Except metropolis74 said the scale length is the same 25.5", not the length of the neck.

The scale length is the distance from the breaking point on the nut (the edge facing the fingerboard) to the breaking point on the top e string saddle at the bridge (in fact, fractionally short of the breaking point - but let's not get into that). In other words, the speaking length of the string. That is what is 25.5 inches on a Strat.

Frets fall in mathematically predetermined positions within that speaking length. You can finish the neck anywhere you want and so have more or fewer frets on it. If you want 22 frets the neck will have to be a little longer than for 21 frets, as metropolis's photo showed. You could even make the neck longer still and have 24 frets - or more.

The essential point is, those frets are always placed in the same positions along the length of the string.

Make sense now?

Cheers - C

Thanks.
I get it now. I didn't know how to look at metropolis's picture.
Thank you all.