Hohner ST-57 - will a Fender neck fit?

[Mike V.]

Just picked up a Hohner ST57 Strat copy for cheap ($89). The body on this guitar is beautiful! It is solid alder in a vintage (2 color) sunburst. It has a vintage amber tinted neck that looks and feels awsome! Anyone know what radius these necks are? Anyone know anything about where these guitars were made? The sound and sustain unplugged on this guitar is great! The bad part is the pickups don't sound too good, and I don't like the pointy headstock on the neck - thinking of buying a vintage 50's Strat style neck....what am I getting into-anyone know if Fender licensed necks will fit? I guess the only way is to measure and try one....Mike

[tigerfanlsu]

If you have the guitar I think you have you want to keep that neck. The Fender one is yes a little more rounded at the top but you will lose your locking tuners by switching necks. The Hohner has locking tuners if you've ever restrung it then you know it's a headache. Each tuning peg locks the string down before turning it so the tremolo will not mess with the tuned in strings since they are locked. Besides that is a maple neck on the Hohner guitar which is what you want in a strat. I have the same guitar in left hand and it has served me quite well. I would suggest bringing it in to a music store to get a real professional tuning done and then see if you really want to change the neck. You're opening up a huge can of headache to do what you want. I suggest getting used to the way that headstock looks. Look at a Gibson Explorer-it looks like that headstock- which is cool !!
Besides they're easy to reach while playing since they're all right there in line.

[tigerfanlsu]

If you raise those pickups a little closer to the strings they will sound great.
They were made in Korea by Hohner harmonicas Co. At that time Hohner was making a few acoustic and electric guitars but no strat. These st 59's and 57's were introduced in the 80's for around $500-$700. If you found one for $89 you stole it. Fender sued Hohner for copying it's design which is exactly what Hohner did. They got thier hands on some Fender blueprints for popular strats that were selling like crazy thanks to Clapton and Hendrix. Hence the name "ST 57" (Stratocaster 1957)

[StratDen]

I know the '83 to '85 Ibanez Roadstar Necks fit the Strat Bodies like a glove... That is because Ibanez basically copied the Strat right down to every detail with the exception of the headstock shape...

[thaus]

Welcome to the forums and what are the measurements of the pocket? Most Fender necks will fit but you may have to do a little sanding.

[StratDen]

Yeas, it usually a better situation to begin with if the neck is on the larger side to the body pocket. (Easier to take away). To answer the question about the Hohner, it would probably best to try it first anyhow. But not every having a Hohner strat-copy I don't know where it would stand in terms of sizing to accept a 50's classic neck.

A suggestion would be to see if one is for sale on eBay and ask the seller to do some measuring for you....