Fernandes FTE Telecaster Nut Widths

[dcochran4]

I ordered and received a Fernandes tele today (as best I can tell, an FTE70 from the late 70’s: Spaghetti logo, SN 61304). All in all not a bad guitar by any means, but the neck feels painfully small!
The nut width measures to ~39mm/1.5354….inches. That comes up skinny compared to any production Telecaster necks that I’m aware of from Fender.

Does anyone own or know of a comparably late 70’s Fernandes with a nut width closer to the “vintage spec” of 42mm/1.65”?

For instance, my Tokai TE55N has a neck with that vintage spec nut width (or as close as I can measure to it), and I believe what they call the vintage “Deep U” shape.

 

[Homer J. Simpson]

The '75-'77 (?) spaghetti logo Fernandes are said to be the last ones made by Kawai, followed by the first stone logo (at least some made by Tokai but likely none by Kawai) guitars, which are more likely to have standard 1 11/16" neck width.

I don't know if the narrow nut width is even typical for the Kawai era guitars, however it might be somewhat typical for the era - I came across a few early 70s copy war exports with remarkably narrow necks in my long gone workshop days.* It's known that Japanese companies (most prominently Fender Japan) sprinkle(d) in a few production runs with shorter scale and/or narrow necks for small hands, but this isn't necessarily typical Japanese considering that e.g. Gibson had probably introduced the "pencil neck", which is probably why some late 60s 335s remain remarkably semi-affordable for their age.

However the big problem is that on every 20 places discussing or specifying neck thickness and profile there is at best one about the nut width and another one about fretboard radius and only 1 out of 100 Reverb offers are stating any of those, so there's very little to learn through the internet about that and I hope somebody with some actual experience with Kawai-era Fernandes chimes in.

*I also still have a typical (but unlabeled) Strat copy with "reclaimed bowling alley wood" body, big headstock and 38mm (!) nut width. It's pretty much unplayable for anything except some cowboy chords near the nut.

 

[Voidoid56]

I've never owned an actual FTE from that era, but I have had a '76 FST-60 (I think..?) Burny Custom Strat and two weird and wonderful Kawai-built John Bennet guitars from 75-76. A BST-600 Strat and BTE-550 Tele, the same basic guitars as the corresponding Fernandes models, with some different appointments. All three guitars had broomstick necks with 38-39 mm nut widths, with the FST's profile being especially deep.
There is some evidence that some brands and manufacturers worried about the neck measurement of the US originals being too large for a more slightly built Japanese audience early on. Many 60's and some early-mid 70's guitars have skinny necks, so that might be a reason, though the relative fatness of these mid-70's Kawai builds seems to contradict that somewhat. I've no idea if there was much difference between various FTE models, but I kind of doubt it, tbh.

Some pics of the John Bennets while I'm here. The Tele had an elm body and an original (and really muddy) humbucker in the neck position. Both had exactly the same neck, down to the decal ("S&T Custom") and another quirk of the brand at that point was the factory matt-finish torty pickguard, something I've never ever seen in any other instruments. Gotta love the small brands.