True Modern Series

Telecaster Neck - Maple with Ebony Fretboard

The modern Telecaster neck we see today has been crafted from decades of “fine tuning” and whilst this isn’t the first 9.5” neck ever seen on a Tele, its certainly one of the best.

This incarnation came just after the management buy out at Fender, appearing just after a “recovery period” during the mid 80s, where Fender maintained (…or rebuilt) their reputation with vintage re-issues from the Far East.

Initially, this design of neck appeared on the Elite Series (another doomed dual humbucker, 4 control model charged with the impossible task of converting Gibson players!) sporting a flatter 12” radius as early as 1982, however, the guitar proved unpopular and was dropped.

However, elements can be traced back as far as 1966/67, when the machine head holes were gradually being enlarged to accommodate the new Fender designed tuners, which required 10mm holes vs. the 8.6mm seen on guitars prior to this point. This feature would carry on to the modern day, to accept a wide range of “modern” machine heads.

And again, the 9.5” radius is certainly nothing new, originally seen as early as 1972/73 on the Telecaster Deluxe, with several other models showing this new “intermediate” radius.

The Deluxe also sported the medium jumbo frets and the headstock truss rod adjustment hole (however, this featured a pronounced “bullet” at the business end, and granted – the neck had more in common with a Strat then a Tele)

Finally in 1988, the design of the neck was tweaked and finalised, increasing the curvature of the radius to 9.5”, dropping the jumbo frets down to mediums and the modern Telecaster neck was born, first seeing the light of day at the 1988 NAMM show on the new American Standard.

The design harks back to simpler times, with a nicely curved Fret board and smaller frets lending themselves to more chord based playing, but without getting in the way of single note playing – as we see on 50s/60s models.

Points of note include the walnut surround in the headstock, the walnut skunk stripe, and a 22nd “over hanging” fret.

All in all, a great playing neck that really shows the evolution of the Telecaster, and its gradual changes into the guitar many of us know and love today.

True Modern Series

Telecaster Neck - One Piece Maple

The modern Telecaster neck we see today has been crafted from decades of “fine tuning” and whilst this isn’t the first 9.5” neck ever seen on a Tele, its certainly one of the best.

This incarnation came just after the management buy out at Fender, appearing just after a “recovery period” during the mid 80s, where Fender maintained (…or rebuilt) their reputation with vintage re-issues from the Far East.

Initially, this design of neck appeared on the Elite Series (another doomed dual humbucker, 4 control model charged with the impossible task of converting Gibson players!) sporting a flatter 12” radius as early as 1982, however, the guitar proved unpopular and was dropped.

However, elements can be traced back as far as 1966/67, when the machine head holes were gradually being enlarged to accommodate the new Fender designed tuners, which required 10mm holes vs. the 8.6mm seen on guitars prior to this point. This feature would carry on to the modern day, to accept a wide range of “modern” machine heads.

And again, the 9.5” radius is certainly nothing new, originally seen as early as 1972/73 on the Telecaster Deluxe, with several other models showing this new “intermediate” radius.

The Deluxe also sported the medium jumbo frets and the headstock truss rod adjustment hole (however, this featured a pronounced “bullet” at the business end, and granted – the neck had more in common with a Strat then a Tele)

Finally in 1988, the design of the neck was tweaked and finalised, increasing the curvature of the radius to 9.5”, dropping the jumbo frets down to mediums and the modern Telecaster neck was born, first seeing the light of day at the 1988 NAMM show on the new American Standard.

The design harks back to simpler times, with a nicely curved Fret board and smaller frets lending themselves to more chord based playing, but without getting in the way of single note playing – as we see on 50s/60s models.

Points of note include the walnut surround in the headstock, the walnut skunk stripe, the one piece design incorporating a 22nd “over hanging” fret.

All in all, a great playing neck that really shows the evolution of the Telecaster, and its gradual changes into the guitar many of us know and love today.

Historical Series

Early 50s Telecaster Neck

Not exactly the first Telecaster neck, but certainly the first one worthy of note, boasting fenders first truss rod system, running from 1950 - 1955, and again for a brief period in 1958-1959, built from a 1 piece maple block, with a 7.25" radius, a C profile and fretted with 21 vintage style frets, they really are a chord players dream.

Finished to the very highest quality with a walnut skunk stripe, walnut truss rod plug in the headstock and cross head truss rod screw in the heel, matching those famous 50s specs down to the letter. All wrapped up in a beautifully fast playing honey gloss. Ticking all the boxes that made the Telecaster one of the worlds favourites in the infancy of electric guitars.

Supplied with 42mm Slotted Bone Nut.

Historical Hybrid Series

Early 50s Telecaster Neck - Jumbo Fretted

Not exactly the first Telecaster neck, but certainly the first one worthy of note, boasting fenders first truss rod system, running from 1950 - 1955, and again for a brief period in 1958-1959, built from a 1 piece maple block, with a 7.25" radius, a C profile but fretted with Jumbo frets, which would have been a common aftermarket modification at the time of production.

Finished to the very highest quality with a walnut skunk stripe, walnut truss rod plug in the headstock and cross head truss rod screw in the heel, matching those famous 50s specs down to the letter. All wrapped up in a beautifully fast playing honey gloss. Ticking all the boxes that made the Telecaster one of the worlds favourites in the infancy of electric guitars.

Supplied with 42mm Slotted Bone Nut.

Historical Hybrid Series

Early 50s Telecaster Neck - Modern Radius

A modern twist on the classic 50-55 tele neck, with the 7.25" radius replaced with a 9.5", making it slightly more suited to the modern style of playing, with a fine balance between out and out chord and solo work.

Cosmetically identical to the Early 50s necks in every way, but with all the benefits of a modern neck.

Finished to the very highest quality with a walnut skunk stripe, walnut truss rod plug in the headstock and cross head truss rod screw in the heel, matching those famous 50s specs down to the letter. All wrapped up in a beautifully fast playing honey gloss. Ticking all the boxes that made the Telecaster one of the worlds favourites in the infancy of electric guitars.

Supplied with 42mm Slotted Bone Nut.

Historical Series

Early 60s Telecaster Necks

Another pivotal moment in fender history, from late 1959, the one piece maple necks were discontinued and the introduction of rosewood gave both strats and teles a new lease of life. With the trusty telecaster coming back to the forefront of music

The initial run of the maple and rosewood combination was from 1959-1962, fitted with a thick slab rosewood board (in contrasts to later models), no skunk stripe, no plug and heel access for the truss rod.

A rather strange combination that was completely different to the specs of all previous "standard" necks, with all the truss rod fitting taking place before the fret board capped everything in. This has lead to a legend (rightly or wrongly) that fender actually suffered a prolonged strike during this period and it was in fact the managing sector that took up the tools and filled the orders, while this explains the limited availability of this combination, there appear to be very few records of the action. Irrespective of the truth behind that, these necks represent the rare snap shot into fenders history, despite the length of time they ran, very few survive today.

Other then the new 2 piece set-up, the spec returned to the early 50s design, with a 7.25", C profile, 21 vintage frets etc, and as with most early fenders, their squarely aimed at chord work, with the tight radius making the higher frets slightly more "challenging" when compared to other guitars of the period.

Supplied with 42mm Slotted Bone Nut.

Historical Hybrid Series

Early 60s Telecaster Necks - V Profile

A hybrid between the aesthetics of the early 60s telecaster neck, and the playing style of the mid 50s neck. Great for anyone looking for something specific from their Telecaster build.

Supplied with 42mm Slotted Bone Nut.

Modern Hybrid Series

High Gloss 22 Fret Telecaster Neck - No Walnut

A fine example of a modern telecaster neck, without the walnut truss rod surround or skunk stripe normally seen, great for anyone looking for an all maple neck.

This 9.5” radius model really offers the best of both worlds, striking that delicate balance between chord and solo work. Fretted with modern style medium jumbo frets, a C profile all capped in under a 22 fret board with last fret overhang to keep the scale length a simple operation.

Supplied with 42mm Slotted Bone Nut.