How many of you have changed the neck on your Favorite Strat (or any guitar)?

[meat cheese meat]

I had 5 different Tyler necks on a James Tyler S-style guitar. Experimenting - looking for a sound I couldn't get. Tonally, the neck that made the biggest difference was a mahogany version. Didn't want that tone. I ended up selling the guitar. An excellent instrument but not right for me.

 

[Youka]

I stole Squier neck from my Tele to my thomann Strat body. The Tele neck is much narrower and when I got used to it (in Strat) I cannot go back. But that thomann Strat neck is perfectly straight(which Squier is not) and I wonder if I could mold it to narrower somehow....

 

[dvto2]

I have two tele's with non original necks, The first was an 2017 American Professional Deluxe that was fitted with a re-fretted 2016 American Professional telecaster neck. The add said it was re-fretted with stainless steel medium jumbo frets but when I got it it had jumbos. Never having played them before, I discovered how much I like jumbos. In fact, I liked them so much I bought an American Performer neck for my American Standard tele that needed re-fretting, as the Performer has Jumbo frets. I also switched over from maple to rosewood. The American Professional Strat I have has narrow talls, which I also find more playable than medium jumbos.

 

[spiritguitar]

My neck replacement story: I bought this '65 Strat in 1969. I had the neck shaved as advised by a guitar player I was recording with at the time. About 15 years later it needed its 2nd re-fret so for variety I put a Chandler Tele neck on it instead. Used it that way for another 20 years or so. Then I decided to bring it back to stock but the original neck had warped beyond repair, most likely due to having shaved it back in '69, so I couldn't use it. (still have it, tho').

A few years later I bought an AmDeluxe Ash Tele that had a great neck on it. Something about it. The ash body was so heavy I eventually decided to sell the Tele, almost kept the neck, but thought I should keep the guitar stock to sell it. Afterwards I regretted losing that neck. So I set out to buy another Tele of the same model and year to get the same neck. I eventually found one, put the neck on my favorite Tele body, then searched out a 2nd one and put that neck on my '65 Strat. Both guitars now have the same neck, and feel great in my hands. So for me, the neck is key!

 

[Intune]

My neck replacement story: I bought this '65 Strat in 1969. I had the neck shaved as advised by a guitar player I was recording with at the time. About 15 years later it needed its 2nd re-fret so for variety I put a Chandler Tele neck on it instead. Used it that way for another 20 years or so. Then I decided to bring it back to stock but the original neck had warped beyond repair, most likely due to having shaved it back in '69, so I couldn't use it. (still have it, tho').

A few years later I bought an AmDeluxe Ash Tele that had a great neck on it. Something about it. The ash body was so heavy I eventually decided to sell the Tele, almost kept the neck, but thought I should keep the guitar stock to sell it. Afterwards I regretted losing that neck. So I set out to buy another Tele of the same model and year to get the same neck. I eventually found one, put the neck on my favorite Tele body, then searched out a 2nd one and put that neck on my '65 Strat. Both guitars now have the same neck, and feel great in my hands. So for me, the neck is key!

View attachment 515067

Wow, really cool story and history to that one you have. This however is exactly why I keep the original neck on the guitars I buy. The neck is the key to the guitar for me. I could care less what colour it is, how it plays or sounds. All those can be fixed if not right. The neck just has to feel right.

Not saying guitars today will be worth what that 65 Strat would go for but damn wouldn’t it be nice to have the original neck in working order. No one can predict the future but I’d be kicking myself for shaving down the original neck. The 65 thicker C shape is just perfect.

 

[Sparque]

 

[Youka]

Mine is going to be lovely at some point. I'm working on pickups right now but pots will be there too.
View media item 34795

 

[batchld75]

How many of you have changed the stock neck of your Strat (or any guitar) for a different one?

I did a temporary swap, it was supposed to be until I had my original American standard neck repaired, that was about ten years ago. the Warmock neck with scalloped fretboard is still doing just fine.

 

[Stratoman10]

Nope. If I don't like the neck then I don't like the guitar enough to get it in the first place

 

[Bakelite1]

I have heard this about Leo before.

Here’s my question, if this is so, then why did Fender never offer parts for sale except to authorized dealers and repairmen?

I’m referring to the era of the mid seventies when I launched my now dormant guitar parts company. It’s actually the reason there was opportunity to establish this totally new segment of the guitar business.

When I started making parts there was only two companies doing it, me and Boogie Bodies, marketed by Wayne Charvel made by Ken Warmoth.

For the 5 or 6 years I remained in business Fender steadfastly refused to alter their approach to selling parts.

When the distributors of the Asian (mostly Japanese at that time) guitars saw there was a growing market and increasing interest in the segment they began importing their parted copy guitars.

I left the industry about 5-6 years after launching so I’m not sure when Fender changed their approach to selling parts.

Mr. Fender sold his company to CBS in the sixties. I was referring to Mr. Fender's original business plan which influenced the design. As I understand it, he later abandoned this when the market showed they would just buy new guitars.

 

[ToneRanger]

Most of my strats are partcasters, so no sacred cows.

I actually did a 3-way swap a while back - I have a CAR EJ strat, but really would have preferred a 2TSB, so I ended up putting the EJ neck on my 2TSB JLV strat, which had been my #1 for years, put the JLV neck on my black strat and turned it into a Clapton blackie, and put the '57 RI neck off the black on the red EJ, which basically turned it into a clone of Gilmour's red strat.

 

[Binaltech_Robot]

I recently changed the neck of my 2010 Fender Telecaster | Blacktop series. The stock neck had a rosewood fretboard and a GLOSS urethane finish on the back ... which I always found to be "sticky".

So I got a replacement Maple Telecaster neck with SATIN urethane finish on the back ... which is very smooth and playable especially for Slide Guitar. Besides, I am digging the overall look of my Fender Telecaster (Partscaster) .

 

[Maplelover]

How many of you have changed the stock neck of your Strat (or any guitar) for a different one?

I have had probably 15 Stratocasters , starting with a 1963 shoreline gold in 1973. Slowly I've learned my left hand knows best.
Modern 9 1/2 radius is a misnomer, they are not traditional measure. I can tell by bending the strings "up the hill". I'm spoiled I guess.
Stratocaster on the left is 1994 7 1/4 black label MIM Squier. Right is a true 9 1/2 radius on the 1998 Telecaster.
The 10" radius on a Fender is foreign to my hands, even though my hands are x-large

 

[gigabloke]

I have just ordered my second Warmoth neck -- the first was so good. I especially like the 'modern construction' option with truss rod adjust at the side of the heel. That plus stainless frets and the exact width at the nut that I want, all for $200 make them superior to Fender imo.

 

[Dudeman7]

I'm in between the two choices in the poll. Swapped out the neck on an FSR MIM Strat that had a pretty healthy ski jump thing going on. The guitar was free and I thought it was worth the effort and money for a replacement neck. Changed the pickups in that one too. It's really nice to play now and sounds great.

The only other neck swap I did was on an MIM P-Bass that I bought as a project bass. It was in terrible shape and I ended up changing the neck, electronics and hardware, and I refinished the body.

This is the bass:

 

[Ongo Gablogian]

It's a tool to convey emotion, that's it. I have zero concern about originality, resale or provenance. So I will change/hack any part on any guitar for whatever reason I choose is best to get the job done. Last guitar I bought a 2010 '59 Todd Krause Masterbuilt was parted and all I have left is a neck that was then paired with a real 59 body. OMG the HORROR! So I bought it for the neck. The original 59 neck was toast. Guitars around here go into a meat grinder and sometimes never make it out the other end as a whole guitar again. Been going on since the 70s. Need proof? Yes that is a 63 Strat neck sitting right there on top waiting for a match. No nothing is for sale. View attachment 514588 View attachment 514589

Two things. 1) Your place looks like a fun place to hang, I wish I had a friend like you. 2) You using a tonerite on that stack of bodies?

 

[gogaterz]

Why would I change a neck on my "favorite" guitar? If I did, and it was better, wouldn't that now be my favorite?

 

[davidd47]

My question is what is the OCD about changing necks?

What happened to the adventurous experimental nature of the 70s and 80s?

Remember, when we called a Mighty Mite body and neck a "partscaster", not a Strat with all Fender parts from different era's. That was still a legit Strat. We only cared about the end result. WAY too much time is spent on haggling over the tool and not the job or the end product.
Neck changes come with changes in player preference of wood type, radius, finish, neck shape and thickness and fret size. As you mature as a player you notice a difference acoustically and a difference in resonance and sustain.

Notice I said nothing about tone since tone is part of one's own perception.

These all change over time and thus the need for someone to change their neck and what ever else they feel is necessary to complete the job. Without buying a whole new guitar.

Hey if you have found your ultimate set up I am happy for you. I am very close but will ALWAYS experiment. The journey for me is what's key, I will always keep searching for inspiration in whatever form it presents itself and if that means going to a vintage radius from a 10 or even a 22 then that is what I will do.

Necks warp, twist, backbow and even dry rot if stored improperly and sometimes they just suck. So change what you want and concentrate on your music not your gear or your monster technique.

 

[Dreamdancer]

If you have a "favorite" guitar and you wanna change the neck, that guitar is impossible to be your favorite cause the neck IS the guitar....its not the body or pickups or the tuners etc etc etc....just sayin....

 

[dspellman]

How many of you have changed the stock neck of your Strat (or any guitar) for a different one?

Not ever.

Over fifty guitars in the stack at the moment, all with original necks.