If Clapton's original "BROWNIE" strat was '56. would it be safe to assume that the neck radius was 7.25? And I wonder when he made the switch to the 9.5 neck radius?

Anyone have any thoughts on this.

peace out.

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I would not think neck size means that much to him as before he made a Strat his main ax he played a Tele, Les Paul, SG, and 335. I would just guess when he put Blackie together it just felt right.

I think you're right, it probably doesn't matter at all, I'm sure he can play anything without a problem.

I guess my question then is, in '56, did Fender only make a 7.25 neck radius on a strat?

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I believe so. I think the 9.5 came in the 70's? I could be wrong...

Yep 7.25" in '56. Fender didn't change neck radius to 9.5" until sometime in the early 80's, but kept 7.25" for the reissues.

The Clapton Strat came out in 1988. So 1988 is my answer to when Clapton made the switch to 9.5" (although I heard in an interview with Clapton that Blackie had a fingerboard that was so worn and been refretted so many times that the radius was getting too flat so he decided to retire it because the old wood just couldn't handle another refret).

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According to the Stratocaster Handbook, Blackie was a "hybrid of 3 different Strats, including a 1957 serial no. 20036"

"In 1970, Eric bought six then unfashionable Strats for $100.00 each at the Sho-Bud guitar shop in Nashville..."

"He took them back to England and gave one to Steve Winwood, another to George Harrison and one to Pete Townsend. From the remaining 3 he took the best components and assembled Blackie"

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2012 American Standard Strat Charcoal Froast
2009 Standard Strat Sunburst Brown
Blues Junior Tweed NOS
2007 Line6 Spider Jam

Cool, thanks for the info. I find that very interesting.

I am looking at a CS 56 Strat NOS, it has the 10/56 boat neck , but is a 9.5 neck radius. What's interesting to me is, if it's "new old stock", why would a 9.5 NR be on a 56 NOS? I would think it would be a 7.5 NR, staying true to a 56. So really the AVRI strat and teles are more accurate to the production year. So then, in my quest for another strat, I would have to wonder what makes the 56 CS NOS $500.00 more than the 62 or 57 AVRI Strat.

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The big thing to note about that is that it is Custom Shop, with an emphasis on the custom part. The CS makes some straight reissues, but alot of their stuff the tweak the specs a bit to appeal to modern players. One of the things that a makes a CS more expensive is smaller production numbers and even more closer attention to details. I have a guitar made up of CS 65 parts and there are slight nuances of it that feel a bit more crafted than my production line John Mayer sig or 1981 Fender Bullet Deluxe.

Which is great information thanks, except we're talking about Brownie..

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Fender Highway & Classic 60s Strats, Fender Toronado, Telecaster, Gretsch Projet, Charvel 3, PRS SE Soapbar II & Custom 24, Burns Batwing and many others!

I guess I am color word blind!

Sorry for that

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2012 American Standard Strat Charcoal Froast
2009 Standard Strat Sunburst Brown
Blues Junior Tweed NOS
2007 Line6 Spider Jam

My understanding is that Fender used 7.5" radius until the Elite Strats came out in 1983 with a 12" radius and the first use of the 9.5" radius was the American Standard three years later.

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My other guitar is a Strat.

I keep looking at the '56 CS NOS, it has the 9.5 radius and the 10/56 "boat neck" and a '62 AVRI Strat. I can try out a '62 AVRI but the '56 CS is going to be difficult if not impossible for me to try out. And I'll never be in a position to visually inspect both side-by-side.

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The Clapton guitar grew out of active electronics research on the Elite. On retiring the old guitar, Eric was looking for more 'teeth' in a new instrument. The Plus Series was in development at the same time. The Clapton neck is said to have been generated from where the old guitar's was as the time of retirement. It is quite different from the other V-necks offered by Fender. All we can seem to glean from the most authoritative sources is that what came to production in 1988 was the end product of all the prototypes which were developed for him with respect to electronics and neck carve. The original color options of pewter, red, and green were his brainchild. Two years later, he agreed to add black and, it seems, he stayed with that as his choice for a stage guitar

Doc

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"Another day in paradise!"

Where are you located. I'm in Boca Raton 'til the 8th and there have been two occasions on which three of us have gotten together for lunch. I'll arranged to set up an internal email and perhaps you can join on the next occasion...likely late in the year, unless something changes in our schedules.

Doc

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"Another day in paradise!"

Doc,
Got your message and sent a reply. thanks!
Nic

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