Q: I have noticed that some Fenders being made today have darker necks, fingerboards, and headstocks than others. Is this caused by aging? Will my new American Standard Strat's maple neck get darker with age? I like how it looks now.

A: Generally, the maple necks (along with the fingerboards and headstocks) on most modern Fender guitars won't get darker with age. Vintage Strats and Teles often have maple necks that have turned almost a dark amber color. This occurs for two reasons. First, older Fender guitars (i.e., those from the 1950s and '60s) had a nitrocellulose lacquer finish that tends to darken with age. This is accelerated when a guitar was played consistently in smoke-filled clubs and halls. Today's Fender maple necks usually have either a polyurethane or polyester finish. These provide excellent protection for the underlying paint or stain, but won't significantly change over the long run, so in most cases, what you see on the guitar today is what you'll see a few decades from now.

However, on some special edition models or reissues, Fender does use a nitrocellulose lacquer finish for the sake of authenticity, and you can certainly expect that to darken somewhat over the years. However, we're living in an age where most clubs and halls ban smoking, so that will not contribute to the overall coloration over the long haul. With that in mind, Fender has applied what is called an aging toner to some models. This is an oil finish with a slight tint to it. Once the final nitrocellulose coating is applied, the toner will help make the neck and fingerboard even darker as it ages. Sometimes you'll see a Fender guitar with a dark amber headstock, but a lighter neck and fingerboard. This is because, for a while, the headstocks continued to be finished using lacquer, while the rest of the neck got a polyurethane or polyester finish. Again, Fender has released several reissues and limited editions with this combination.