Fender had never made a Strat with a fanned Novax neck such as this axe shown below:

yeah ok.

It was an interesting idea ... longer scale lengths for lower strings.

The angles are supposed to be more comfortable when playing bar chords up and down the neck (but I can't swear to that as I've never had my hands on such a fanned beast).

_________________
Member #26797
My other guitar is a Strat.

Ralph Novak said his Novax fanned necks can also be retrofitted on any Strat, Tele, Precision and Jazz bass guitar.

http://www.novaxguitars.com/parts-acces ... -guit.html

http://www.novaxguitars.com/parts-acces ... -bass.html

However, this operation requires a few modifications for the bridge saddles, and only a professional luthier can do this. This might work especially fine with hardtail Stratocasters, though I didn't care much for a tremolo-equipped guitar.

That's interesting about the saddles.......I had heard that the neck could just be fitted and you would just have to srt out the saddles and intonation yourself........the price of these necks to then need a luthier to 'sort' out the saddles is a bit of a kick in the teeth.

I alsothink the aftermarket necks have less of a fan towards the body of the guitar which makes me doubt the effectiveness of the system here.

I, personally, don't like them on electrics. I just think they look a bit of a mess when the neck is added to a stock Strat, the neck pickup ends up too close to the butt of the fingerboard and just looks a bit 'messy' in my opinion.

The fan frets look stunning on acoustic guitars though. ANdy Mckee is using one now, and with his acoustic style you can actually hear the corected intonation when he is using his fan fret as opposed to his previous.

I havn't played one yet but I wonder how it would feel doing scales and solos on the areas of the neck that are fanned the most..............

_________________
speak slowly I'm a drummer too!!

And I proudly lack a stick or a kazoo up my arse...........

It's interesting that every new genius manufacturer comes up with "the" fix for what ails us; whether it's intonation, tremolo/tuning stability issues, sustain, noiseless pickups, true bypass for effects, etc., there's a seemingly endless array of devices or upgrades that are supposed to make our lives better.

I think most of those manufacturers/inventors/whatever don't realize that the ridiculous "improper" things about the guitar are what make the instrument what it is.

Yes, the intonation is rarely perfect on a vintage Telecaster with three saddles...but Roy Buchanan's songs are as close as perfect as a song can be; so why fix it?

Yes, the tremolo on a Strat affects both sustain and tuning stability...but that freaky little wobble made Ike Turner and Jeff Beck what they are; so why fix it?

Yes, a disengaged pedal can affect your tone...but that little bit of tone "suckage" (terrible misnomer) sounds better than the sterility of true bypass, and often adds personality to the player's tone and style; so why fix it?

Don't get me wrong, if there's a true fix for a really intolerable issue with a guitar, I'll give it a shot. But to ruin the lines, playability and vibe of a beautiful work of art for improvement that only dogs and Eric Johnson can hear, what's the point?

_________________
Good Vibes To Y'all!



Screamin' Armadillos
Texas Roadhouse Music
Guitar/Slide Guitar/Harp/Vocals

Gotta admit, I do think it looks weird, and not in a good way.

Still, I'd love to try one just to see. If it feels completely fabulous under the left hand perhaps we would get over the look? I wonder...

Cheers - C

_________________

Someday I may perform for Eric Johnson. I want him to hear perfect tone.






(not)

_________________
2002 mim Telecaster
Jimmie Vaughan Stratocaster
Mexican HSS Stratocaster
6 non-fender guitars
2 kids (not for sale)
1 wife (uh....no comment)