I'm debating between these two guitars. Anyone play both and can tell me which one they liked better and why?

Does the 12.5 radius on the Classic player's make the neck larger? I've got fairly small hands and right now I play a 7.5 and 9.5 with no issues. Will the 12.5 be a big difference?

Are the pickups much better in the Classic player's?

OB

The neck radius doesn't refer to the thickness of the neck. It refers to how flat the fretboard is. The lower the radius, the rounder the fretboard. I've got the 12.5 radius on my EJ and it's pretty flat.

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The 12" fingerboard radius works well for me with smooth rolled frets. I've played some guitars with super jumbo fretwire and didn't like the feel of it.

You really should try both and see how YOU like them because it's more of an individual preference thing. That goes for the pickup sound as well.

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Hi, As I own both, I hope this will help. Finish of both guitars as good as each other. Playability comes down to choice, but both very user friendly with no problem jumping from one to the other. Takes only a few seconds to adjust to neck radius change. I don`t have long fingers and have no problem with either. Fretboards are same width. Out of the box the Classic Player had a hendrix/srv vibe esp on neck pick up. The classic 60 did NOT have that vibe. Sounded more like the 80`s USA standard strat, a little brittle and characterless to my ears. I therefore bought a new Fender Classic 69 pickup which is stock on the Classic Player and popped it in the Classic 60. Both guitars now sound great, that is if you want that SRV honky tone from the neck pickup. Strings also sound a lot different on these guitars, I tried a few well known makes, the best for me were Fender Originals 10-46. I play these guitars mainly thro a Vibro Champ (practice) and a Super Champ into a Marshal 2x12 for Jams. Sound great.
:from Bluesedout.

I really like the 7.5" radius on my 2 classic 60's strats. It feels better to my hand when chording. And some people have issues with "fretting out" on big blues style bends with the 7.5 boards, but I found that this is usually fixed by a good setup, especially making sure the bridge saddles are adjusted to match the curve of the fretboard. Flatter boards usually find better use in shredding, single note fast runs, but really, a player can adapt fairly well to any guitar with time and practice. I agree with bluesedout, the stock pickups on the classic series dis seem a little lifeless. I swapped them out with Texas Specials. Just pick the one that feels "right" in your hands, because a guitar you enjoy to play will help inspire you to continue to practice.