Project "Mystic Blue Strat": Step 3 - The Neck - Too many options

So now it was time to decide on a neck for this build. I knew I wanted a more 'modern'/flatter radius, preferably compound if possible. For Neck profile I figured I would end up going with a 'modern C' even though 'V' would be preferred. However I still wasn't sure if I was going to Maple or Rosewood though (or something else all together..). Good thing we can experiment with all kinds of different necks without even having to buy anything with Photoshop! Starting off with the Mystic Blue Body I had the 'original' full guitar images - Both Rosewood and Maple visually actually looked very good in my opinion.

American Standard Mystic Blue - Maple

American Standard Mystic Blue -Rosewood

However once I swapped out the white(ish) pickguard for the black Dimarzio pickguard, the rosewood seemed to get lost a little bit where it almost seemd to turn in a 'hodge-podge' of colors when looking at the whole guitar (blue/black/brown/amber) - see below

Should I go Maple Fender Neck?

or Rosewood Fender Neck? Or something completely different?

I think it comes down to the 'contrast' of it all that just doesn't seem right to me.. However further down I have a rosewood neck example with a black headstock that IMHO DOES look very nice!

Just to be thorough I figured I'd look at all (or at least some more) options for a neck:

Warmoth Custom Neck - They are local to me and in the past whenever I needed anything they have been very pleasant to deal with. I could pick the Neck Profile, The Tuners, the Finish (or none) etc. Almost too many options to pick from! It is VERY tempting to go this route and try to do the tru-oil approach like I have on my Mason Telecaster Neck. That neck is probably my favorite feeling neck of all my guitars. Definitely an option - but not sure how I feel about trying to finish it myself with a chance of screwing it up and needing to have the patience to actually do the work.

Moses Graphite Neck - I think I was looking through the Stew-Mac or Allparts site to see what necks they might have and I noticed these ultra-modern all graphite necks. Visually if I were to stick that on the body I'd end up with what would be very close to that 2005 FSR called 'Bad Boy Blue' with the addition of the headstock & back of the neck being pitch-black too. (So almost more like my 'None-more-black' Strat).  They come standard in a 16" radius (other options available) so that's VERY interesting as well. Again I notice myself not really liking a 'dark guitar/neck' with a light headstock like the BBB. (would rather have the black headstock in this case ) so going 'all black' is definitely an option.. I photoshopped my None-more-Black Neck on to the body to get a feel for what it would look like

The original FSR "Bad Boy Blue"

Concept with all Graphite Neck - Looking pretty sharp!

Then as I emailed with Steve (hey big surprise - he was a nice guy ;) ) at Moses Graphite he told me about a few more options such as inlays etc, so I went a little photoshop crazy and came up with this totally 'out there' concept. Basically Ibanez headstock, Vine of life inlay.. now THAT looks good!

Ibanez RG / JS Neck - Yes, probably blasphemy to some, but I actually toyed around with the idea of getting a 22-fret Ibanez Neck (Old RG or JS model - the ones that do NOT have the 'All Access Neck Joint' aka AANJ) and seeing if that would work on this Strat Body, but  a) it would mean having to get an OLD OLD neck and b) Or search the ends of the earth for a suitable neck and c) it would possibly be way too many headaches.  As a couple of quick concepts though it does look really sharp and I almost like the Ibanez headstocks better than the Fender ones... Hmmmmmmmm....

Played around with virtually 'chopping off' a 24-fret RG neck... not bad,but the blue would really have to match for it to be good looking

Concept of a Ibanez JS model neck on a Strat Body - looks good!

Tried photoshopping the Andy Timmons Neck -Think this is my favorite by far!

Fender Compound Radius Neck
If I was going with a Fender Neck I really wanted a flatter, 12" radius+ neck , or a compound radius neck which usually runs 9.5"-14". Looking at what necks Fender has that come in compound radius I found the following:

• Stratocaster Deluxe Compound Radius - Modern C
• Stratocaster Deluxe Compound Radius - Soft - V, Vintage Tint
• Stratocaster Deluxe Plus Compound Radius - Modern C  
• Stratocaster 'Hot Rod' Neck - 7.25" - 12" radius - Classic C

The Difference between the Deluxe & Deluxe Plus Necks seem to be that the 'Deluxe' has the 'silver' Fender logo & lettering and a 'Contoured Heel' joint, where as the 'Deluxe Plus' has a 'normal' logo, and the regular '4 bolt in a rectangle' joint. Also based on pictures the 'Deluxe' seem have a very light amber like tint , where as most (but not all) pictures from the new 'Deluxe Plus' seem to show a lighter color (though not nearly as light as for instance the 'Eric Clapton' necks - those things are practically white! I like'm though ). So based on the above , if I went with a Fender neck it would have to be the Deluxe or Deluxe Plus with the Modern C.

Deluxe with V Profile, Vintage Tint

Deluxe with C Profile

Deluxe Plus with C Profile

One other Fender neck I ran into was a 12" radius Japanese Hot-Rod 50's Neck. Since I really like my 57 RI Japanese neck on my other strat this could be an option as well.. I am just not a fan of the 'relic' factor with the dark spots on the neck.

Then there's also the 'other' 12" radius necks - Eric Johnsons models or "Deluxe Player MIM" necks. I was not really interested in either (I'm fickle.. while MIM Fenders are usually great I don't like putting a MIM neck on a MIA body for some reason.. MIJ I can do... lol) and what's up with the Gold accents on those deluxe players?? nasty looking.

Looking at the different mockups, I REALLY like the Ibanez necks the best , but I am not sure how I could make that work. (though JS100/JS1000's supposedly fit right on if they are specific years with a 56mm wide neck)  Graphite looks good, but I'm not sure if I'm ready to make the leap to that over a 'traditional' neck. Then there's the good old maple necks.

I'm going to need to think things over for a while...