7 1/4 radius, Talk to me....

I've been playing on an Affinity Strat for over a year now and just can't get with the skinny nut width. Thirty plus years in the automotive industry have not been kind to my hands. Some open chord shapes are a labor to grab cleanly especially on a skinny neck,the guitar is fine otherwise.
I've been looking around and the allparts SMO-V is in high contention as a replacement. I've had my hands on the Tele counterpart and it felt very nice.
Most of the necks on instruments that I have owned or played at any length were 9 1/2 radius and I could get all of the bends I want out of them without any fret out. Does the 7 1/4 impede your bending say 1/2 steps up?
Any of you guys playing this radius, pros and cons, I'd appreciate any input. Dave

I play a Nocaster and have no problems with strings fretting out, even with a whole step up bend.

I have a couple Strats with 7.25 inch radius and relatively low action, and even 1.5 step bends are no problem on either guitar.

I can't do much more than 1.5 step bend comfortably, so if this supposed problem with fretting out occurs with bends larger than that, it is of little importance to me..

i actually prefer the 7.25 radius and the small frets plus the gloss finish. i've bought several of these necks at WD music. i have nice low action on all these necks. maybe not as low as i can get on a 11-13 radius, but i like my action to be just high enough to get the meaty part of my fingers under the string so i can bend.

Good words from you good men, I appreciate that. I'm in the Houston area since our move from NOLA and have met some nice folks in the smaller music shops I frequent. Most of them have a nice complement of Allparts in stock. I should be able to pick up a neck within a week or so.
I may even go for a pre finished depending on price, although I've got a quart or so of nitro laying around. I've also got a set of Klusons and a 1 5/8 bone nut in the parts box.
Thanks again, Dave

allparts SMO-V

All my necks are AllParts vintage radius V's and I can't say enough good things about them. Love them V necks and the tight radius has always been fine with me.

I love the 7-1/4" radius and I never have any problems. I keep my action low and use D'Addario 11-49 strings, so I should be a prime candidate for fretout. I'm going to have a few made with the taller, wider frets since nobody stocks 'em. A good fret dressing with a bit of fallaway above the 12th fret should keep it from fretting out.

Dave, I'm glad to hear you have checked out the girth on a TMO-VEE. If you find the shape and girth acceptable, I think there's a real good chance you will be very pleased with the playability. I don't think the Affinity will set properly low enough to cause any fret out, but there could be a chance the Affinity neck pocket will be a bit different than a lot of other Squier model types, and fit could be an issue. I think it is a fine neck, as good a match as one will ever find, and if the Affinity body won't accept the consistent Allparts product, I'd build a new guitar around the nice neck and give the Affinity the old heave-ho.

Check with John F on this board and see if he ever tried any other necks on the Affinity he had, which was replaced by a Classic Player Strat in Shoreline Gold; I still don't know how he played that lil bitty neck so long.

I grew up on 7.25 radius. I personally hate it and have had problems with fret out on several guitars. On a 24" scale guitar it is total murder. I personally feel the day Fender went to 9.5 radius to be one of the best days in human history. YMMV

I love the 7 1/4" radius. I did have problems with fretting out. No matter what I tried, I couldn't set it up myself to stop the fret out without having the action too high. I ended up taking it to a pro and since then it's been great.

I've been playing on an Affinity Strat for over a year now and just can't get with the skinny nut width. Thirty plus years in the automotive industry have not been kind to my hands. Some open chord shapes are a labor to grab cleanly especially on a skinny neck,the guitar is fine otherwise.
I've been looking around and the allparts SMO-V is in high contention as a replacement. I've had my hands on the Tele counterpart and it felt very nice.

....I've also got a set of Klusons and a 1 5/8 bone nut in the parts box.

Dave

Maybe I'm slow on the uptake, but I'm not 100% clear on the question and want to clarify. I take it your Affinity has a 1 5/8 width at the nut neck and it's too narrow. But then you mention the 1 5/8 nut you have and may install. At the same time you're wondering about the fingerboard radius? I understand the question about the fingerboard radius but I wonder if your issue is also the width of the neck since you mentioned a 'skinny' neck being an issue.

At any rate, one thing to mention is that you can get a 1 11/16 neck or wider - see USACG. Of course, there is a limit - too wide and you need a wider neck pocket.

I'll tell you what I do, but be warned, it's the way I like a setup - everyone is different and if you played my Strat you might hate it or you might like it. But my setup is probably fairly typical for a blues/rock type of player.

My Strats and Teles are all 7 1/4 radius. I have no problem with bends up to 1 1/2 steps on higher frets. On my setups, I start with the factory string height recommendations for 50s models and fiddle from there. My experience is with a touch of relief in the neck, that height gives a good balance of relatively low action and ability to bend. Ability to bending and control the string at the top of the bend for vibrato is a priority for me; I find I may have to sacrifice a slightly lower action in order to get enough surface area of my fingertip 'under' the string to control it. So in general, I am close to the factory string height - maybe a touch (a 1/128? 1/64?) higher on the treble side.

One other thought I have is you could try a compound radius board - Warmoth and USACG both have them. USACG has a 7 1/4 - 9 1/2 board I'm considering (just out of curiosity) for a Strat I'm putting together. But I'm so used to the 7 1/4 I'm still just thinking about it right now.

Re the Tele you played: if you liked it, go with it. After all, you can always change it.

-Kevin

I have a 64 strat with very worn frets and no rattle or fret out. could it be that the 7 1/4 neck isn't 7 1/4 any more?

Original US made fenders up until at least 1976 were 7 inch radius .. NOT 7.25.. and I can bend 2 tones with 10 - 46. A point of trivia .. radius .. the US vintage reissues that came out in circa 1982 had a 7.25 inch radius .. the japanes reissues were 7 inches - whihc as i say was the actual original radius .. i still have 5 pre cbs and 2 early 70s strats and if you take out the nut on any of them the radius is 7 NOT 7.25 .. ask any luthier who has tried to fit a precut pre bottom radiused 7.25 nut in a genuine vintage strat or tele .. the rock in the slot and need work - many wont have noticed because they make the nut from scratch with a bone blank - curiously the Japanese Fender reissues that came out in the early 1980s onwards are accurate and have a 7 inch radius - or at least the 3 I have do - strats have been my obsession since 1976 when i got my first one - I have been playing them or working on them virtually every day since - if you want to see my fave it's a 73 .. I played a show on the same bill with Clapton, Mayer and Sheryl Crow a few weeks ago - the film is up on the internet I think.

Every time I think a 7.25 radius and vintage styled frets isn't good for crazy bends I watch this video -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyi4_JQ74T4