I'm curious as to what the neck radius is on a 2001 MIM standard strat.

I have this guitar, but I don't know the stats. I have the trem blocked with a piece of wood and I have GHS David Gilmour Signature 010 strings. I don't have any issues with bending. Really just curious.

While I am at it, can someone explain how Fret-board radius and fret height affects bending. I'm curious why some combination(s) are considered easier to bend than others.

thanks,

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The radius on that guitar is 9.5 inches I believe. The radius of the neck is a measurement of how flat or curved the neck is. Imagine this, a 9.5 inch radius means that if you drew a complete circle using the arc on the fretboard, that circle would measure 9.5 inches in radius (from the center of the circle to the edge). If the same guitar with the same neck width had a 14 inch radius then the circle would be a lot larger and the segment that represents the top of the fretboard would be much flatter.

For the most part the consensus is the flater the neck radius the easier it is to play fast and furious. This is because since the string height follows the curvature, the strings on a guitar with a larger neck radius are relatively flatter also. You don't climb a mountain from high E to G and D then back down the backside to the low E.

Necks with more curve favor chord playing and fingerstyle again as a general rule. I believe that it all just depends on what your are comfortable with and use to. I tried to play Slash part of Sweet Child of Mine this weekend with a friends LP (14 inch neck I believe) and I had a hard time getting used to it. I can bang it out pretty easily on my Standard Strat (9.5 inch neck) because that is all I mostly play.

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

9.5" is the standard radius. The flatter the radius the better the bends. When you bend the string on a rounder radius, it takes more effort because you work hard to keep the bent string to touch the fret wire...

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Ahhh now I get it, how stupid of me!! Thanks!

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