I would very much like to have the feel of an 1955 neck "baseball bat" neck. Would the custom shope be the best place to start?

The Fender Custom Shop doesn't sell necks separately. The only way to get a new CS neck is to buy a CS guitar. (There are eBay sellers who buy CS guitars, disassemble them, then sell the parts separately.)

Warmoth makes a baseball bat profile called the "fatback". It's a full 1" deep from the heel to the nut and might be fatter than a '55 (there's enough "meat" that you can safely shave the neck down a bit). They also offer Strat necks with '59 Les Paul profiles that are slightly thinner than the fatback.

USACG offers more options -- if you can give them the dimensions you want they can build it. They aren't licensed by Fender so their headstocks have a little "hook" added (it's easy to cut it off to get the traditional Fender shape).

I have tried ebay. Only necks i can find are 57 soft V. May have to look into Warmoth. I don't understand why such an iconic year would not be re-issued.

I think you'll find that the MIJ/CIJ '54 re-issue Strat neck is similar in most regards to a '55. And I see those guitars parted out and sold by the piece on Ebay quite regularly. I have one of those necks and they're pretty sweet indeed.

Arjay

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Warmouth is the best source for licensed aftermarket Fender Necks and bodies.

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"55? Seems like such an arbitrary year to want. Usually its '54.'57, or '62. Its tough with those years because every guitar had a different neck, so the 'accepted' profile is usually just an average of several specimens they measure from. Look at Warmoths boatneck. Personally, i'd buy the boatneck because its very thick, and then shave it down to what I want.

Be very careful when dealing with MIJ reissues; they tend to look great, but not be very accurate when it comes to what the original was. As an example, my friend who owns the repair shop has a Japanese made 50's reissue. It looks awesome; sea foam green, flamed maple tinted neck, but upon further inspection, I realized the neck profile didnt match any 50's, and the body was made out of basswood, which wasnt used by Fender US back in the 50's, or most of the guitars they've put out since.

I see what you mean. It does sound arbitrary. I should of said '54. I'm actually after a '55 because Richard Thompson plays one on his strat. His is a '55 neck on a '57 body. So I suppose it would be the same specs as a '55.

I will take into account what you have mentioned about the Japanese models. I did find this one on ebay.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-54-RI-F ... 2c60a904e9
It says it has a V shape. Which is odd, considering that shape wasn't intoduced until 1957.

Hi Chinaski: just to offer some alternatives, since it sounds like it is really a fat, chunky neck you are after rather than specifically a '55 reissue one.

At one point in the price range the Jeff Beck sig Strat has a very hefty neck. 43 mil wide at the nut and a handful of a C-shape carve. And the word is that Jeff is now using even bigger necks on his own guitars and that Fender's signature model may follow suit in due course - though when that might happen we don't know.

At a much more affordable point in the catalog my Lite Ash Telecaster has a monster sized neck. Lite Ash models were discontinued a couple of years back but they come up on Ebay very regularly and at good prices. And a 9.5" radius fingerboard, 22 frets, abalone dot markers and some nice birdseye maple to boot. Something to think about if you don't absolutely have to have a Strat headstock.

Cheers - C

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Hi Ceri. I already own a Beck early 90s model. It is very wide. I don't know why Fender made them slimmer. Perhaps they were concerned it wouldn't/didn't sell. I'm after something similar in maple. There is the 1994 reissue model with a hefty price tag:
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/FENDER-USA-4 ... 5d310239b8

And I did see this. Only it doesn't have the 7.25 radius.
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Vint-56-NOS- ... 2eb8b0ce06