Greetings all - curious what the thinnest neck is on a off the shelf strat. either 7.25 or 9.5 radius, i think. something in the sub $750 price range as well. tia.

Well I don't think the radius has anything to do with it. The radius is refering to the curvature of the fingerboard, not the thickness of the neck. Most people will tell you the American Standard's have the thinnest necks. I remember mine as being rather wide and uncomfortable. Not thick, but wide from edge to edge. I have a MIM standard neck from '99 that's pretty thin.

I also think my Road Worn '50's Strat and American Vintage '57 RI Strat have fairly "small" necks but they're probably technically thicker (from the back point of the neck to the fretboard) than the standards. They have a V-shape neck and didn't seem nearly as wide (from edge to edge) as the American Standard.

In the price range that you're speaking of, you might want to go with a MIM Standard but your best bet is to go to a guitar shop and play as many Strat's as you can in your price range.

Right now I think the Squier CV have the thinnest strat necks.

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Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding. It is the bitter potion by which the physician within you heals your sick self. Therefore, trust the physician and drink his remedy in silence and tranquility.-Khalil Gibran

The '57VRI neck on the Gilmour, and the neck on the Clapton.

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"Another day in paradise!"

those are north of his $750 mark.

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Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding. It is the bitter potion by which the physician within you heals your sick self. Therefore, trust the physician and drink his remedy in silence and tranquility.-Khalil Gibran

Yes, they do but they flex too much because they are too thin!

In his price range, Fender's 'modern C' neck is what is going on those guitars. [The Gilmour neck is described in specs as a '1983 thin shouldered 'C' neck' which, in Phil Taylor's book, The Black Strat, is pictured in the hands of its builder, Jose Moreno, and described as a 1983 57V. It was taken off his white 1983 57VRI which, along with the famous Red Strat, both of which were acquired in the mid-80's when the new company geared up and started building guitars again. The Clapton neck has remained as such since the guitar was brought on board in the late 80's. If he's looking for a shredder's neck the likes of which you'll find on an Ibanez JEM, he's not going to find that on a current Fender guitar.

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"Another day in paradise!"

The CV line have an almost shredder neck. Very thin, and under $400. Fits what he is looking for.

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Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding. It is the bitter potion by which the physician within you heals your sick self. Therefore, trust the physician and drink his remedy in silence and tranquility.-Khalil Gibran

[quote="Krab]The CV line have an almost shredder neck. Very thin, and under $400. Fits what he is looking for.[/quote]

Really. I'm going to have to take a second look at that in person. The specs don't directly address the front to back neck carve. I've been pushing them to put the same neck used on the '57 Road Worn on their 50's Squier Classic Vibe. I'd like to take that white one with the gold pickguard and make it Gilmourish with an EMG SA set and SPC/EXG pots.

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"Another day in paradise!"

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2011 PRS 25th SAS
2008 Eric Clapton Custom Antigua Strat
2012 PRS Artist Package Studio Special Order

Many thanks. We've been throught this. You'll find a very heavy recent hread around somewhere.

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"Another day in paradise!"

When I started playing guitar again about two years ago I picked up a CV 60's I thought it was a nice guitar. I wanted to make sure I wanted to play again. After remembering how much fun I had playing and how good I was, I made the plunge into a Fender. First thing I noticed as the necks on standards were thicker. After talking to some other players, they said the same thing, the CV necks were much thinner then the big boy Fenders. This is leading me to think the Modern Player line might be just as thin. Need to play one to find out though.

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Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding. It is the bitter potion by which the physician within you heals your sick self. Therefore, trust the physician and drink his remedy in silence and tranquility.-Khalil Gibran

I played the CV 50 a couple of months ago and was impressed, but I felt that a v-neck belonged on that guitar. V-necks, the Clapton in particular, are my preference. This 'modern C' with a fuller, 'played in' shoulder has been their workhorse neck for quite a few years now. They seem to put it on everything new, unless the guitar is artist specific.

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"Another day in paradise!"

That guitar definately needs a V-neck. If it had one, I'd buy it and swap out the electronics. But not with a C shaped neck.

I pushed Brad on this issue and he said he'd pass the word on. Don't know where it's going to go from there. Fender has a lot of irons in the fire and economies of scale would dictate only one neck carve on this 'crafted in China' product.

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"Another day in paradise!"