Hi all, Just pitching something at you for your feedback and to share your experience with this matter.

Approximately 6 weeks ago I purchased a 2009 American Deluxe Strat.

I am a right handed player and at the moment with my Deluxe, I am feeling some discomfort in my left hand after approx 20 minutes of playing.

I was happy to purchase this Deluxe on the grounds it had the same neck specs as my 2008 American Standard strat, a modern C shape neck profile.

I have lined them both up standing upright together and the Deluxe Neck appears to be thicker towards the nut and as I look up the neck it thins out.

I have played with the neck relief and that has seemed to help a bit but I am confused as to why this neck profile appears to be different as my AM Standard that apparently has the same specs.

I will say though, I do not regret buying this lovely peice of fortune out of the box from the store, I just have to work out this neck business...hmmm.

I'm glad for ya! pictures would be awesome!

_________________
I believe in Christianity as i believe that the sun has risen. not only because i see it, but because by it, i see everything else. C.S. Lewis

With which configuration? HSS or SSS?

The HSS was available with a Floyd Deluxe locking bridge between 1998 and 2006. Fender dropped that feature in 2007.

If it's a 2009 HSS, then it's a guitar with the regular non-locking 2-point bridge.

Okay - do you have a 2009 American Deluxe (with SCN pickups) or do you have a 2010 American Deluxe (with the N3 pickups) that just happens to have a 2009 (i.e. DZ9XXXXXXX) serial number decal?

Either way the guitar you have will have a slightly different neck than your 2008 American Standard. All 3 should have a fairly similar shape on the back of the neck, but there are some differences:

2008 American Standard - should have a 1.685" width at the nut.

2009 American Deluxe (the 2004-2009 spec with SCN pickups) - should have a 1.6875" width at the nut.

2010 American Deluxe (new spec with N3 pickups) - should have a 1.6875" width at the nut plus a compound radius. I only include this because the first batches of 2010 American Deluxes had 2009 serial numbers - I assume that Fender produced the first run toward the end of 2009 so they could immediately fulfill orders when the guitar was introduced in March 2010. The compound radius could also be messing with your hand if you do have one of these.

I do feel for you on this - I have similar issues and have found that only a 1.625" nut width neck works for me. In fact, I just sent back a perfectly nice John Suhr s-type I demoed because the neck didn't work for me - it was 1.650" wide at the nut plus it had a compound radius.

You've already pointed out that your Deluxe has a thicker neck at the 1st fret than yoiur American Standard. Fender's can be all over the place on depth - even though the necks are rough cut on CNC machines there is still hand sanding to finish them up. This isn't unique to Fender; frankly I don't think I've ever played two guitars from any brand that were exactly the same. They are typically close, but never exactly the same due to the human element.