The contoured neck heel adds to one of the legendary changes that Leo Fender made to the Fender Stratocaster. This was Leo Fender’s addition of body contouring. Body contouring is that nice scooped out section of the guitars body that fits against your hip or ribs. Having body contouring makes the Stratocaster hang comfortably against your body. In addition, it eliminates the sharp edges found on such guitars as the Les Paul. It makes the Stratocaster a much more comfortable instrument to play.

Contoured Neck Heel

The 2010-2015 series of the American Deluxe Stratocaster features a contoured neck heel. This is a new area of body contouring. It is found where the new compound radius neck joins to the body of the guitar. This part of the guitar is called the neck heel. A block of wood, called the heel, helps hold the bolts in place that attach the neck to the body of the guitar. Older Strats featured a sharp-edged heel shaped like a square of wood. Well not on the new American Deluxe Series Stratocaster. Fender replaced the sharp-edged heel on earlier Strats with a new beveled design.

The beveled, or contoured, neck heel has the lower corner of the wood block shaved down and rounded to perfectly fit your hand. Fender also rounded the metal mounting plate to match the contour of the neck heel. This new neck heel literally sits perfectly in the palm of your hand. Playing is easier when you slide your hand on top of the neck heel to reach the upper fret ranges. I’ve never played on a guitar that has such an easy playing neck heel area. Some glued-in neck guitars, such as the ES-335, have a nice smooth rounded neck heel. Although the new strats aren’t quite that streamlined they are more streamlined than ever before.

Conclusion

The new contoured neck heel on the American Series Stratocaster is an excellent improvement. An improvement that you never knew you needed until you’ve played it. Every time I play in those upper fret ranges I appreciate how smooth and efficient the new beveled neck heel is. It’s another improvement that you have to take into consideration when making your purchase of a brand new Fender American Stratocaster.