Diminished Triad
New member
In a Fender article, the company reported:
Today, most Fender electric instruments use one of two main fingerboard radius measurements. Most prevalent is the modern 9.5” radius (241mm), which was adopted in the 1980s and is now found on about two thirds of Fender electric instruments.
The next most common fingerboard radius, 7.25” (184mm), is a vintage-era spec now used on just under a third of Fender electric instruments. The 7.25” fingerboard radius originated in the early 1950s, and was used for most Fender electric instruments until the 1980s. It never really went away completely, but its prevalence was superseded in the modern era by the slightly more flattened 9.5” radius.
When going through the long list of available Fender guitars (including bass guitars) I find very few still enjoying the 7.25 fingerboard radius. In fact, it seems like this feature is now limited almost exclusively to the American Vintage re-issue line, although I have already found one of those guitars not using the 7.25 but using the 9.5 radius.
Always on the lookout for great 7.25 strats, teles, basses, and other comparable guitars. Doesn't it seem like very, very few new guitars these days have a 7.25 radius (not sure if anything ever made with a lower radius?)...seems like Fender may be the only manufacturer today and from everything online it seems like less than 10% of Fender guitars actually still have 7.25 radius fretboards.
Thanks for any info about this you can share, and if you know any other brand that has a 7.25 radius fingerboard I'd appreciate your sharing this with me.
Today, most Fender electric instruments use one of two main fingerboard radius measurements. Most prevalent is the modern 9.5” radius (241mm), which was adopted in the 1980s and is now found on about two thirds of Fender electric instruments.
The next most common fingerboard radius, 7.25” (184mm), is a vintage-era spec now used on just under a third of Fender electric instruments. The 7.25” fingerboard radius originated in the early 1950s, and was used for most Fender electric instruments until the 1980s. It never really went away completely, but its prevalence was superseded in the modern era by the slightly more flattened 9.5” radius.
When going through the long list of available Fender guitars (including bass guitars) I find very few still enjoying the 7.25 fingerboard radius. In fact, it seems like this feature is now limited almost exclusively to the American Vintage re-issue line, although I have already found one of those guitars not using the 7.25 but using the 9.5 radius.
Always on the lookout for great 7.25 strats, teles, basses, and other comparable guitars. Doesn't it seem like very, very few new guitars these days have a 7.25 radius (not sure if anything ever made with a lower radius?)...seems like Fender may be the only manufacturer today and from everything online it seems like less than 10% of Fender guitars actually still have 7.25 radius fretboards.
Thanks for any info about this you can share, and if you know any other brand that has a 7.25 radius fingerboard I'd appreciate your sharing this with me.
