Large Hands- Wider Neck?

[russjsmith]

After reading and replying to the "strings and hands" thread I was prompted to enquire if anyone knows of availability of wider strat necks.
With my large hands I find that playing chords at the nut end of the neck can be a bit of a problem and I find it easier to play chord inversions further down the neck.
Also I play some finger style Chet Atkins stuff and find that I can play it ok if I put the capo on further up the neck where there is a bit more room for the fingers.
It would be nice to have a wider neck if possible.

Russ

[Charlie Hall]

Hi Russ,
It would be probably necessary to order a custom made wider neck. Fender themselves probably would not supply unless it was for a complete custom shop instrument.
Strats from the earlier days could be supplied in 4 different neck widths, A, B, C, and D. The standard width was B. I think the others were by special order only.
There are a few good independent manufacturers who might be able to supply a wider than standard replacement neck. You would have to enquire with a few. Fitting a Fender logo would be needed as no independent supplier of a neck will do this.
If the string spacing at the nut appears to allow enough room to spread the spacing wider without the outer strings falling off the edges of the neck, a new nut cut with differently spaced slots might be another option to consider.
Regards,
Charlie

[glyderslead]

Hi Russ,
My Fender Strat "Elite" series (1983) has what I find to be a perfect wide neck and these guitars come up from time to time on e-bay. I gave details of the various measurements in a posting started on 28th Nov last. However, these are definitely "Marmite" guitars - not everyone will like the "improvements" that the 1980's owners of the Fender Co made to Leo's original perfect design.

Many details can be seen in the manual - www.fender.com/support/manuals/pdfs/instr_owners/Elite_Series_Guitars_1983.pdf

Cheers

Mick.

[glyderslead]

I've just tried the link and it doesn't take you directly to the pdf file,you will need to click support and then search "elite" to get there - sorry.

Mick

[bill]

Hi Mick,
The link should work fine now but my connection is too slow to test it
elite series guitars needed to be capitalised, finicky these computers.

[didier]

Jan 21, 2010 14:09:40 GMT russjsmith said:

After reading and replying to the "strings and hands" thread I was prompted to enquire if anyone knows of availability of wider strat necks.

You'll find different width Strat necks from Warmoth (including a "super wide" model) : www.warmoth.com/Guitar/Necks/WarmothPro_Strat_NutPop.aspx

Didier