Has anyone noticed that rosewood fingerboards on most new american strats are fatter at the first fret than 22. In fact, as you go from the 22 fret to the 1 it is getting fatter and fatter. Is this supposed to imrove the sound or something or is it just a consequence of the edges being more hand rolled in the higher register than in the lower register area? It looks as a bit weird when you look at it while playing, it looks as if the neck is bent backwards.

Do you mean the fretwire or the gap between the frets? Or even the thickness of the board?

Not quite getting your meaning on this one mate.

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thickness of the rosewood board

How much does it differ by? I don't have a post 08 rosewood guitar to check it on? It could be an optical illusion caused by the radius at the wider point of the 22nd fret (56mm) as opposed to the narrow (42mm) first fret area.

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Funny how it looks more when you look at it but now that I've measured the difference 3 mm thick at the 17th fret and 4mm at the first fret. It's just 1 mm thicker but it looks like more.

The fingerboard is constant thickness all the way along the neck, it just APPEARS to get thinner toward the heel because of the effect of a constant fretboard camber as the neck widens out toward the heel.

If the neck was a constant width all the way along, you would see no apparent difference!

If you could measure the thickness of the board at the centerline, from the top of the camber to the base of the fretboard at both ends of the neck you would find that they are the same- unfortunately it is not possible to do that!!

As an aside, a compound radius board, correctly proportioned for the change in width of the neck, WOULD necessarily show a constant thickness along the side of the board.

Brilliant answer there. Makes perfect sense.

I believe we have a winner!

Though I suspect with enough inginuity there is a way to measure the center of the boards thickness.
If you could pack up a rule from the face of the headstock till the bottom edge of the rule was inline with the bottom edge of the board. Remove the nut, lay another rule across the center of the board behind the first fret. Measure the distance between the two, you'd get the thickness.
Measure the thickness at the 22nd fret overhang with a set of calipers, you'd be there.

A lot of agro for one little insignificant measurement though.

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