50s Baja Telecaster - Have the neck profiles changed?

[El Tele Lobo]

So...was in Sam Ash yesterday picking up a stand and played (again) a 50s Baja Telecaster. I LOVE the necks on these...big and fat like a baseball bat.

What I'm wondering is...I have several big-necked teles and would swear this is a 1" U-shape with a 1-11/16 or more likely 1-3/4" nut...yet the fender and sam ash sites say it's a 50s soft-V with a 1-5/8" nut. I know neither of those guys EVER make mistakes in their copy but am I missing something? Did they in fact change the neck shape and this is an older model? Fender doesn't make NEARLY enough guitars with bat-tastic necks and I won't want this to be another "yup...you missed it."

I have to say, having built a custom and modded some partscasters into happy land, I'm not super impressed with a lot of what I find hanging on the wall for less than $1500 (and even some OVER that), but the Baja is a refreshing exception. Big neck. Clean fretwork. Nice finish. Quality pickups, pots and switch...probably the only thing I'd change on one I bought is to put in an electrosocket eventually.

What say ye? Anyone know the story on these necks? Also love to hear some feedback from owners. Almost NEVER see them for sale used...probably a good sign.

 

[overlock]

I have a recent one, bought just a couple of months ago, and the neck is definitely a soft V. I love that neck!

 

[songtalk]

I have owned 4 of these guitars and played a dozen in stores and the neck shapes are all different.

Some are basically a medium C all the way up. Some have a nice soft V that becomes a C gradually. Some have more of a U shape.

These are hand made instruments and down in the Ensenada factory, no two hands make the same thing exactly twice let alone two different neck shaping people.

I have seen the thickness range from .82 -.90ish

Never seen one that is actually an inch thick.

The big ones I've owned were around ".88 1st fret and had the V shape til about the 6th fret.

The one I still have is a U shape but it's apparent "fatness" is a product of how much shoulder a U has compared to a V. Not from its depth (on that one).

Definitely doubt it's a deliberate change by FMIC.

 

[Mike Eskimo]

What I'm wondering is...I have several big-necked teles and would swear this is a 1" U-shape with a 1-11/16 or more likely 1-3/4" nut...yet the fender and sam ash sites say it's a 50s soft-V with a 1-5/8" nut. I know neither of those guys EVER make mistakes in their copy but am I missing something? Did they in fact change the neck shape and this is an older model? Fender doesn't make NEARLY enough guitars with bat-tastic necks and I won't want this to be another "yup...you missed it."

The Baja neck is a baseball bat until you play a GE Smith - then it's a twig.

The GE Smith neck is big until you play a 1st year Jeff Beck Strat.


The vast, vast majority of deep necks (notice how I'm not saying "big" or "wide" ?) ever made by Fender are 1 5/8" at the nut.

Including/especially actual early 50's Tele's/Broadcasters/Nocasters.

Even if they're really deep like a GE, the depth puts your hand in a different position so you think the nut isn't that small.

Even a "kinda-big" neck like the Baja would be a helluva handful if it had a 1 3/4" nut width.

I've played Am Std's that were a little wider than 1 11/16" at the nut but their relatively shallow depth made them comfortable to play.

Two things : depth and width. They work together to give you a neck you either love or dislike.

Edit : as Songtalk said - "shoulder" has a lot to do with it too.

 

[songtalk]

Yeah, the reason I like the Baja so much is its deep and narrow, which for guys with shorter sausagey fingers like me, is ideal because a wide nut means my wedding ring grinds into wood and wood digs into my palms in uncomfortable ways (I am a thumb over player a lot of the time).

No neck is right for everyone but every neck is perfect for someone.

::::::::zen:::::::::

 

[Mike Eskimo]

^^^ So songtalk has the wedding ring thing, and since I have looooong sausage-y fingers/big hands, I always play a cowboy "E" and if my hand meat doesn't muffle the high "E" string them I'm good w/ that particular neck.

A deep enough neck - even with a 1 5/8th nut width - works for me.

 

[El Tele Lobo]

Thanks guys. Good info, all the way down, as it were...

My Granville is just under an inch deep, 1-5/8" nut...actually doesn't feel that big to me, but it's nice.

My knotty-pine partscaster has close to an inch at 1 and 12 and a 1-11/16" nut...definitely fills the hand more, but I could probably go 1-3/4...not that much difference...I think it's more of a fat C than a U, though. Shoulders do make a difference, as much as nut width.

I'm going to guesstimate the one I played was a 1" U...prob. 1-5/8" at the nut, but maybe 1-11-16"...

Wondering if I ought to go grab that puppy. I don't really need another tele right now and a love affair with a neck is probably not a good reason...(must...fight...G.A.S.!!!).

Gosh this is such a journey. Looks like I like U necks, at any rate...or wide, chubby Cs.

I play jazz as well as country and blues and I like the way a fuller (purposeful choice of words due to all the X factors) neck fills and supports my hand and reduces thumb crampage gripping those jazzbo chords.

Anyway, thanks for satisfying a cat's curiosity. G.E. Smith? Nocaster? Don't usu. see those down my way. My sam ash is usu. a little on the lame side for selection...in spite of being a big store.

 

[GuitarJonz]

Just got in a 2011 Baja neck, this one is .875" deep at 1st fret, with soft V for the first 5 frets or so, then more C shaped from there up. Nut width is 1.656" , or right between 1 5/8" and 1 11/16".

A while back, when I was looking at 1" baseball bat fat necks, Tommy from USACG recommended staying with a 1 5/8" nut on a 1" fattie, as going wider on the nut caused problems for many players he'd worked with in the past.

 

[boris bubbanov]

Just got in a 2011 Baja neck, this one is .875" deep at 1st fret, with soft V for the first 5 frets or so, then more C shaped from there up. Nut width is 1.656" , or right between 1 5/8" and 1 11/16".

A while back, when I was looking at 1" baseball bat fat necks, Tommy from USACG recommended staying with a 1 5/8" nut on a 1" fattie, as going wider on the nut caused problems for many players he'd worked with in the past.

Tommy did some super soft V necks for me, 1 inch thick, with a wide 1.72 inch nut. I guess because it is not a full U shape, I have no problems at all with this combination of thickness and depth. My all time favorite shape.

Your description of the 50s Baja neck is as close as anyone's. I'd hand my Bajas to guys and half would find that V shape for the first 5-7 frets and the other half would feel no V at all. But obviously it is NOT a full U shape - I think Fender emphasized it was something other than a full shouldered U shape and maybe misused the V term but they got the message across it was not full shouldered. More of a Boatneck is what I'd call it.

I agree with you the Baja neck is OBVIOUSLY bigger than your typical Fender neck, but 1 inch thick it is clearly not. .875 to .900 inches, sounds about correct to me.

 

[GuitarJonz]

The V is nebulous for sure, but nice fatter necks in any event

 

[Twang Tone]

In a word, no, they haven't changed.

Fender aim for consistency with necks, but remember, there's still a lot done by hand, so there will always be variations. My 2 (50s) Bajas have different necks, which is actually quite nice. My 2010 BSB Baja has a slightly slimmer taper towards the nut, and feels great, while my 2013 FSR Baja has a comparitively chunkier neck. But both necks are the supposed "soft V" profile.