Why do some Fender guitars have a darker strip of wood on the back of the neck? It runs down the middle starting about 1 1/2 inches from the headstock to the body.
The dark strip of wood (usually rosewood) fills the slot routed out of the neck (maple) to insert the truss rod. On some models the truss rod is inserted into the neck before the fingerboard is glued on to the neck. However, in the models to which you refer, they’re inserted into the neck after the fingerboard is glued on to the neck. Fender uses a darker wood so that the strip looks appealing rather than hokey–as it would if they tried to plug the slot with a strip of maple (the varying grain would give it away).
I would have thought that the only necks with the truss rod inserted in the back of the neck would be those that are one piece, which do not have a rosewood fingerboard. rmbnxs, are you saying that some necks with the rosewood board have a truss rod inserted from the back? Just curious.
I’m saying they all do–that’s why the strip of wood is there.