Not that I have or have bought many guitars, but there was a time when I was looking for what was the best guitar for me. Anyway, a Fender. I found it difficult because they differed from each other on so many points. For example, it could happen that a guitar that felt good in the store, revealed itself very differently at home.
The neck was mainly a point that I had to take into account. That is why I had written down all kinds of neck profiles from fender brochures. To always have that piece of paper at hand, I kept it in my wallet. One morning (in 2019) I discovered that that piece of paper was still in my wallet and that I have been carrying it with me for 25 years.

I switch guitars every now and then. From the feeling. A guitar, which has been in the attic for years, can suddenly be very satisfying and give a lot of fun. This experience taught me not to trade in guitars anymore. Every guitar has its moment.
It is true that all my guitars have had a special treatment (with the luthiers Ferdinand Rikkers and Jacco Stuitje, Groningen) and thus became more playable for me.
Lately I have been playing on a Fender Squier 70s Reissue from 1983 (made in Japan, but with American parts) and that works well. I leave my 54s Reissue Strat (1995) on the stand for that. The 54-er originally has a rock maple neck with a V-profile and thin frets. I didn't like playing: the strings felt tight and stiff, the neck stiff. I had the neck replaced at Rikkers. I wanted one like the one on the Fender Squier. It also had a Godin Ibanez-like neck with a rosewood fretboard and jumbo frets. Quite different from the Squier, which I initially wanted, but I enjoyed playing on it for over 10 years. Which again shows that the factors that make a guitar enjoyable are not easy to determine.
Now the '54 -er is back in its original condition (only with jumbo frets) and with its blonde appearance a picture to behold.

In 2014 I used the 54-er for the Greyhound Blues Band CD. In 2017, a US Standard Telecaster was the favorite. I bought it for the Blues, Rhythm and Love CD (2007). I needed a Tele and it had a nice open sound. This guitar also disappeared in the attic for years, but after a facelift I performed with it from 2015 onwards. Although the guitar was bought as new in 2006, I later saw on the basis of the number N8 that it had already been produced in 1998. Incomprehensible that nobody wanted him in the meantime. Incidentally, the Tele has a C-profile with a compound radius.
I bought the Squier for 350 guilders in the 1990s. I already knew then that those first Japanese Fenders were well built. I also had a Japanese 57s Reissue Strat (JV00126)* with a large fender logo on the headstock, but I got rid of it, because someone had chopped the body for placing humbuckers. Because the Japanese Fenders were not expensive, they were treated lightly. My Squier is also quite damaged.

In 1982 the JV Fender Squiers were only intended for the Japanese market, but some containers were still shipped to England. I bought my JV in a guitar shop in Amsterdam, which only sold used guitars and given the low number that guitar is one of the first to reach Europe. The second series, the SQ guitars, were sold on the European market and were almost from the same time. They were rare in the American market, Canadian blues guitarist Jeff Healey was the lucky one to own one.

• 7.25" (round)
• 9.50"
• 12.0" (more flat)
• Compound: 9.5” – 12,5” (from round to flat)

• Medium (like US vintage reissue)
• D (early 50th, baseball neck)
• V (later 50th)
• Soft V (custom ’54)
• Shallow U (standaard strat)
• Special V (Clapton)
• Special deep 50th (Beck)
• Special U (special tele's, now baseball neck)
• Oval (Vaughan, Cray)
• C (custom 60th, sparkle tele)
• Thick C (custom 60th)
• Special oval (Burton tele)

• A = 1  1/2"
• B = 1  5/8” (normal)
• C = 1  3/4"
• D = 1  7/8”

Loads of information about Fender guitars over the years: www.guitarhq.com/fender.html

Dating a Fender guitar by serial numbers and specific parts: www.guitarhq.com/fender.html#serial