How fat is fat on a vintage Fender neck?

The difference might be small but the feel is definitely noticeable.

Take the Fender Classic Series '50s Telecaster neck. This is a "fat" neck. What makes it fat is not just the fact it has a "C" and not a "Modern C" contour but rather something else...

...and that something else is the depth, which is sometimes referred to as taper or thickness.

If you pick up any modern Fender American Professional Stratocaster or Fender American Professional Telecaster, both of those guitars have "Modern C" neck contours. The shape is important to how it feels, but so is the 1st fret and 12th fret depth measurements.

Fender "Modern C" has a 1st fret depth a.k.a. neck thickness of 0.82" (20.82mm) and a 12th fret depth of 0.87" (22.09mm). This is true of both the Stratocaster and Telecaster.

The Fender Classic '50s Telecaster neck seen above has a first fret depth of 0.86" (21.84mm) and 12th fret depth of 0.919" (23.34mm).

In simple terms, we're basically talking about a 1mm difference in neck thickness and a different shoulder shape between the modern and the vintage neck. On the back of the neck, the modern is thinner and flatter while the vintage is thicker and rounder.

Does a 1mm thickness and differing shoulder shape really make that much of a difference?

Yes; this is something that can be felt even before you pluck the first note. As soon as you grip the neck, you will feel the difference.

Is a fatter neck better?

It can be.

If "where you live" on the guitar neck is at the first 5 frets (as in the cowboy chord area), fatter is better because that's where you feel the extra thickness most. Rounder and fatter allows for better grip.

Gripping, to be clear, is not the same as pinching. Pinching is when only your thumb and some of your index finger is touching the back of the neck most of the time during play. Gripping is when you're actually using the palm of your hand. A thicker neck with physically more wood to grab will be more comfortable for players that use the palm to help hold the neck with while playing.

It should also be noted that ergonomically speaking, gripping is better than pinching. Using more of your palm results in less wear and tear on the hand.

Is it difficult to find a fat-necked electric guitar?

How difficult it is to find neck taper information literally depends whether the manufacturer states this information or not. Unfortunately, most guitar companies don't.

Schecter and Ibanez do state tapers for 1st and 12th fret neck depth/thickness.

Neither Fender nor Gibson state their neck tapers on guitar product pages. But at least for Fender in particular I could find that info from the "parts" section of their site. And no, it does not follow suit for Squier as they use different neck shapes and tapers, among other things.

ESP/LTD does not state the neck tapers. G&L also does not state the neck tapers.

Music Man, who does have very detailed product info pages for their guitars, does not state the neck tapers, ironically enough. Every other single thing you'd ever want to know about their models is there except that one rather important bit of info.

Guitar Fetish's Xaviere brand does state the neck tapers.

Rondo's SX and Agile brands state the neck tapers for some of their guitars but not all.

Again, whether you can find out the neck taper info or not depends on whether the manufacturer actually bothers to mention it...

...but it's totally worth looking into, because sometimes a fat-necked guitar feels really nice.

Published 2020 Apr 21