Please Step Away From The Screw Driver

I think it's a bit of nonsense. Most people do not take their guitars apart as he says. Some do that shouldn't, others do that know their way around a little better. I wouldn't put a blanket proclamation on the practice, though; Leo designed these things to allow for easy maintenance.
Repeated removals of the neck will wear out the screw holes over time, though. It isn't a good idea to take it off just because.
I'd love to have some fun with that Jazzy, though.

 

I don't think it hurts to take a guitar apart if you know what you are doing, and are careful. However, I never take mine apart unless I have a good reason.

 

This^

 

Seems like common sense to me. I wouldn't take my guitar apart "just 'cause." I've taken my 60th Anniversary Commemorative apart 1x in four years. Because I wanted to keep up with you guys on the "identify my Strat" threads. I don't expect to ever have it apart again.

My partscaster has a 22 fret board that overhangs the pickguard. As I've done a half dozen wiring schemes, it's been off quite a bit. Isn't that what partscasters are for?

 

He implies that people do this just as a matter of course, makes it sound like something people do as soon as they get it home or something. I disagree. Most players will never have the neck off.

 

I hardly ever do anything. Never taken a neck off. I adjusted pickup heights once and thought I was a master luthier.

 

I swapped in a new neck on a Squier Tele one time. That's as close as I've gotten to any kind of major changes.

And I never touch a soldering iron.

 

I think it’s a more common practice today. In the age of the internet everybody thinks they are a expert. In the old days we were terrified to work on our guitars or take a neck off. Plus now we have all kinds of parts we can swap out or upgrade. Pickups, pots, pick guards or tuning keys people always changing stuff. Sometimes it better to leave them alone..

 

Seems like, if you are going to work on your own guitars, you should just get a DIY, and build it from scratch. It's about 175$(USD), and it helps you to learn your way around the axe, before jumping in, on a really nice guitar, and possibly turning it into firewood.

 

As long as you're careful and don't go damaging the finish or try to remove wood, there really isn't much that isn't reversible. It's always good to have some basic know-how though, even it it's just to define what you're comfortable doing and if not, take to a pro. There's a lot of wisdom in admitting that you just don't feel comfortable taking on a task yourself.

 

The junkers and clunkers I put together.. who cares.

But if I happened onto a truly vintage strat or tele, yeah other than whatever it took to confirm age, I'd be leaving it alone.

 

I buy used guitars mostly.
One of the first things I do is tear into them and see whats under the hood. I dont like surprises.
After that I only take guitars apart for adjustments.

 

Seems like an infomercial about selling your guitar through Willies guitars.

 

For me, it would depend on the level of provenance. The Jazzmaster we see obviously has a very high level of provenance. I'm good with that...and the neck would never be removed. I got a banjo like that...made in 1895, been under somebody's bed since before WWI. I pulled dust bunnies out of the case that were older than George Burns. No need to take it apart. I put on new strings and play the hell outta it.

However, it wouldn't take much less to make me insist the neck date be verified...and I would expect them to agree. Evidence the thing's been apart? Neck off. A replaced screw? Neck off. Broken chain of ownership? Neck off.

Once that "perfect" level of provenance has been busted, any intelligent collector/owner will want to see the numbers (neck, pots, etc.).

 

I think it is a great idea and that his points are valid.....I posted a Joe Bonamassa (hope the spelling is correct) video a couple of weeks ago and Joe basically said the same thing....Joe stated that if you are looking at purchasing a guitar and have concerns about that guitar....just walk away....something else will come along...

 

Lets face it, we want proof that what we see is what we get. It is pretty simple to collect a bucket of parts and assemble a vintage partscaster. Even the ones we see that should be original, like the jazzmaster could be a put together. Paperwork and hang tags sell on Reverb and EBay all the time. Makes a great story but if it were my 20k I would want it apart infront of me.

 

If he does have a point, why did he take apart the black strat?

 

That's a good point. The problem with modular guitars like these is that they're a lot easier to fake.

 

When i buy a used fender I take it completely apart to verify everything (and make sure it was put together correctly in the first place). After that, it only gets taken apart if it needs to be taken apart.

The only sensitive parts I see on a fender are the 4 screws for the neck and the truss rod.