Do people have preferences and/reasons for 21 over 22 frets on strats ?

SquireJapan

I get that 24 frets is a different aesthetic, and causes placement limitations with regard to the neck pickup - however I do wonder why people might choose 21 frets over 22?

Only thing I can think is if you’re doing a strict traditional style and you think 22 looks odd. 

I like I can get the high e from the 22nd if I want to ... and I feel like as it doesn’t harm anything (or does it) why not get a free fret?

It surprised me seeing most of the used necks and even custom builders will make 21 more than 22. 

Thoughts?

ICBM

22.

There's a solo in a song my band used to play which has the high D bent up to E. Nearly impossible on a 21-fret guitar - you have to pre-bend a semitone, then bend another full tone, which with an 11-gauge E and that hand position, is not going to happen.

When I played it on a 21-fret guitar I did manage to fake it by playing it at the 10th fret and forcing the octave harmonic, which worked... mostly .

The 'Strat' I have now has a full-length 22-fret neck though.

guitars4you

Not bothered - Hard to recall ever playing that last fret, so far up the fingerboard !!!!!

Eski

This one goes to 22!

HAL9000

On Fenders I think the overhang on 22 fret necks looks ungainly. Due to the aesthetics and being of the school that anything past the 15th is just showing off, I have a slight preference for 21 frets but it’s really not that big a deal.

Alex2678

I never really get that high, and never really feel like I’m missing another one, or three. I do prefer the traditional 21 fret look daft as it sounds 

Keefy

21 for me.

(1) I never play that high up the neck;
(2) That bloody lip makes it really hard to get the scratchplate off.

stickyfiddle

There’s no money above the 15th fret...

Philly_Q

I like 22.  Because it's one extra, and I think it looks good too, covers up that gap you sometimes get between the scratchplate and the end of the fretboard.  21 is fine, though.

There are two things I wish I'd spec'd differently on my CS Strat - I should've had 22 frets, and I should've had this type of neck heel/plate:

Sassafras

Don't think I've ever played past the 15th fret let alone the 21st.

Danny1969

22 for me, simply because a lot of guitar stuff is in E and A and the high D bent up to E is very useful in those keys. Not that is deterred EVH ... I don't actually know but it sounds as though he bends up the C# to E on the end of the Beat is solo so I guess that was a 21 fret guitar ? 

adampeter

I get a nosebleed past 19, 21 is plenty

richardhomer

I recently appeared in a video, miming a part that I’d recorded on a 22 fret PRS, on a 21 fret Strat. I can honestly say, it’s the first time I ever cared about one extra fret - and only because when I relearned my improvised solo, I realised I’d used the 22nd fret. 

As a basis of choosing a Strat, I don’t think the presence or absence of a 22nd fret would factor into my decision at all.

frown

Much prefer 21 without fretboard overhang - don’t find I get up that high often enough to worry about it either.

bbill335

always 21. any song that *needs* that high D probably sucks.

not like it's easy to get up there without arachnodactyly anyway

tone1

I think only dogs and special equipment can hear anything higher than the 17th fret anyway...so 21 for me...plus 6 screw pivot and split post tuners

LastMantra

I've only just counted my frets after reading this. Never thought about it before. 

BahHumbug

Between 3 Strats and a Tele I have 2 21 fret necks and 2 22 fret necks.  Aesthetically I prefer 21, but i happily live with both.

ICBM

bbill335 said:

always 21. any song that *needs* that high D probably sucks.

not like it's easy to get up there without arachnodactyly anyway

I think it mattered for the song I played with it - that particular screamy high note really added a lot to the song. I have tiny hands too... and I can still do it on a Les Paul. You just have to be determined to reach it. 

Fez

I have both but never really worried about it.

Voxman

My original 1969 Strat is 21 frets. My 2009 US limited edition Strat, and 2004 US 50th deluxe Strat are 22 frets.  I do play at the dusty end and I really miss the 22nd fret on my '69, and also on my recently acquired Harley Benton Tele. There are some things that are just more awkward on 21 frets.