Fender and 22 fret Strat necks

honeyiscool · Post by **honeyiscool** » Thu May 19, 2011 8:35 pm

Why are they so sporadic about this 22nd fret thing?

In the Squier lineup, the Standard and Deluxe Strats have it, and then none of the CV and VM models have it.

In the MIM lineup, pretty much the Blacktop has it, and then you have to bump up to Highway One or American Standard to get that 22nd fret.

Is it really so hard to make a 22-fret neck? Why is it that lower end models like Blacktops and Squier Standards have the 22nd fret, and so many other higher end models are not?

A 21-fret neck is hardly a dealbreaker for me, but it's something that can definitely make me lean heavily one way or another.

Gabriel · Post by **Gabriel** » Thu May 19, 2011 9:24 pm

Never really worried about it myself, I prefer 21 frets on fender but thats just me?

George · Post by **George** » Thu May 19, 2011 9:30 pm

Really doesn't bother me, I've never been playing guitar and thought "damn, if I just had an extra fret" - truth be told I doubt many of us spend much time up at that end at all anyway.

As to why it's 21 frets on a lot of models, I'm sure it's just a tradition thing or vintage correctness, and no that one's really bothered.

Fran · Post by **Fran** » Thu May 19, 2011 9:38 pm

George wrote:truth be told I doubt many of us spend much time up at that end at all anyway.

Lol. Up the dusty end of the neck.
Must say, i've never noticed nor care.

stewart · Post by **stewart** » Thu May 19, 2011 9:44 pm

honeyiscool · Post by **honeyiscool** » Thu May 19, 2011 9:58 pm

George wrote:Really doesn't bother me, I've never been playing guitar and thought "damn, if I just had an extra fret" - truth be told I doubt many of us spend much time up at that end at all anyway.

As to why it's 21 frets on a lot of models, I'm sure it's just a tradition thing or vintage correctness, and no that one's really bothered.

Of course, nobody spends much time up there, but it's sometimes that one note you have to hit in a song and chances are, if you're going that high, that high note is pretty important.

And it's weird because American Strats almost always have 22 frets, so they seem to consider it a high-end feature or something, but then they have it on Squier Avril Lavigne Telecaster.

Fran wrote:Lol. Up the dusty end of the neck.
Must say, i've never noticed nor care.

C'mon, you got shredder geets and you've never hit the 24th fret before? Feels good, man.

Sparky · Post by **Sparky** » Thu May 19, 2011 10:05 pm

Give them 21, they want 22, give them 22 and they want 24.

honeyiscool · Post by **honeyiscool** » Thu May 19, 2011 10:08 pm

Sparky wrote:Give them 21, they want 22, give them 22 and they want 24.

And give them 24, they want 27. But at that point, you have no neck pickup.

I know Leo decided on 21 early on and we're bound to that, but I think if he could go back, he'd choose 22. Look, when he designed a new neck for the 24" scalers, he gave it 22 with no overhang. G&L and Music Man both feature 22-fret necks.

I like 22 frets because it doesn't interfere with the neck pickup, and also because that makes it possible to bend to a high E. From the 21st fret is a little painful.

endsjustifymeans · Post by **endsjustifymeans** » Thu May 19, 2011 11:13 pm

There's more than 16 frets? I'll be damned...

hotrodperlmutter · Post by **hotrodperlmutter** » Thu May 19, 2011 11:17 pm

endsjustifymeans wrote:There's more than 16 frets? I'll be damned...

LAYWL

srsly, file this one under whogivesafuck

cobascis · Post by **cobascis** » Fri May 20, 2011 12:01 am

I have no idea how many frets either of my guitars have.

Ankhanu · Post by **Ankhanu** » Fri May 20, 2011 12:34 am

Playing bass, solo, is the only time I've ever noticed/cared about the number of frets way up there... My Yamaha BBN5 (5 string) was 24 fret, and I have made songs for myself where I played up there, mostly on the G string... but I can't recall ever going up there with bands or other people.

For most of us, 21 or 22, or even 24, doesn't really matter much... we play further down.

honeyiscool · Post by **honeyiscool** » Fri May 20, 2011 1:26 am

Yeah, OK, so there are no girls above the 7th fret. And I only am in that area of the neck very infrequently, like when I'm playing Journey songs for laughs. But I have at least one song I've written that has a part that gets to the very highest frets and it's not something I planned, it's just something that happened with the arrangement.

It just seems weird that the market has seemingly decided that 22 frets are the norm, yet Fender churns out mostly 21 frets for the instruments in its most accessible price range, yet clearly also believes in 22 frets because they have many many instruments with 22 frets as well.

I think bass, I've definitely noticed the deficiency with my Mustang-style Basses because to play some New Order bass lines you need the 21st fret, and I only have 19. Oh well.

Ankhanu · Post by **Ankhanu** » Fri May 20, 2011 1:47 am

honeyiscool wrote:I think bass, I've definitely noticed the deficiency with my Mustang-style Basses because to play some New Order bass lines you need the 21st fret, and I only have 19. Oh well.

Get a VI, they're awesome instruments

Peter Hook used one from time to time, even (his is a Shergold Marathon). Adding the high B and E strings to bass really changes what you can play with the instrument. They're a lot of fun and offer some great tones.

SKC Willie · Post by **SKC Willie** » Fri May 20, 2011 1:52 am

cobascis wrote:I have no idea how many frets either of my guitars have.

+1

I had to look

Mo Law-ka · Post by **Mo Law-ka** » Fri May 20, 2011 1:57 am

if you want something to have all the specs you want, buy it like that. if not, don't worry about it.

gaybear · Post by **gaybear** » Fri May 20, 2011 3:52 am

a 22nd fret really only gives you one extra note (the 22nd on the other five strings can of course be played on the next string up)
so it's not really a big deal

Nick · Post by **Nick** » Fri May 20, 2011 4:11 am

My Ovation Tornado has 23 Frets.

My Vox has 22

My Rickenbacker has 24

I forget how many my Hagstrom has but I think it's 22.

Lauren's Danelectro Convertible has 21, I only know this cause it's hanging on the wall and I'm looking right at it.

Bacchus · Post by **Bacchus** » Fri May 20, 2011 5:36 am

I like having 22 frets but only appreciate those odd times that I'm soloing in E and want to bend up to the root night at the top, it's a simple full tone bend instead of a tone and a half bend. So maybe once every month and a half I appreciate it.

Mo Rawka wrote:if you want something to have all the specs you want, buy it like that. if not, don't worry about it.

Ha, aye. Some have it, some don't. I don't really know what more there is to be said on the subject.

JJLipton · Post by **JJLipton** » Fri May 20, 2011 1:48 pm

I think the obvious answer is to get 24 frets

. Actually 22 work fine for me on my les paul. 21 feel weird to me though