Fender Neck Strat RSTD Flat Oval RW

Bought this to replace the neck on one of my Tom Delonge Strats, as I wasn't a fan of the Tom Delonge neck profile.

Owned since June 2024 and used live since, post a week getting a fret dress / setup from my guitar tech. One thing to note, the fretwork was good, but to get it optimal it did need a fret dress.

The roasted neck isn't the golden caramel that they used to be several years ago. There is almost somewhat of a duller, greyish tint to the roasting, which took a bit of getting used to. If you like that golden caramel or chocolatey brown roasting, this won't be the aesthetic for you.

The rosewood fretboard looks great. Nice and dark looking. Very happy Fender brought this back as I prefer it to the Pau Ferro look. Finish is perfectly applied.

The neck feel is a little thinner and flatter than the C neck profiles you get on the Player Series. The 12" radius is perfect for me to get the action a little lower than the 9.5" Fender types without bends choking out.

It was a perfect fit for the Tom Delonge body.

I also bought the Fender short post locking tuner set, as I'm not a fan of string trees. With the short post tuners I get just enough downward pressure on the high E string to prevent the sitar sound.

Frets a good an strong. I gig around 5 or 6 times a month, using a Ernie Ball Hyper Slinky strings, and the frets have only the slightest divots in the money maker chords area, frets 1-5. Should last a very long time without needing another fret dress.

Haven't need to adjust the truss rod since the initial setup. Solid as a rock, however I am in the UK and we don't suffer much from environmental changes to guitars as other countries do.

All in all, I'm very happy with the neck and would buy more for other bodies.

Everything about the neck is fine but it is worth knowing that the string slots in the nut will need to be cut to your requirements (width/ depth) before you use it. Some will be happy to do this and others may consider it a luthier job. I have bought other necks that have a readily useable nut but this was not like that. You may also consider replacing the stock nut with an upgrade of which many are available (and some come with slots) but you would have to carefully remove the existing nut (again maybe a luthier job.)

Been wanting to make my own Partscaster for a while now, and this neck looks amazing, and is playing great. Maybe slightly pricey, but I'm not too sure if that's the standard rate for one of these. It is high quality. I got lucky when it arrived. The packaging made sure it was undamaged etc. If you're looking to make your own or by a replacement neck for your strat, Fender never disappoints. 👍