Just recieved my Eden neck. Let's see what we've got here.

[boneyguy]

I ordered this neck from the Eden Ebay store. It came from Hong Kong and got here in 10 days.

It cost me a total of $64.60 CAD. The neck was listed at $39.99 USD and I used the 'make an offer' option and got it for $34.99 USD. The bonus is that I didn't have to pay any customs or duty when I picked it up today! Got lucky this time.

It was packed quite well.

Real purty stamps they've got in Hong Kong.



Wrapped in newspaper and foam.

[boneyguy]

Truss rod cover and hex wrench included.


Well you do get what you pay for and for $64.60 there are some quality issues for sure.
The tuner holes are pretty messy.

[boneyguy]

The truss rod access cavity is pretty messy and the nut is made from what appears to be a form of tofu perhaps.

It does appear however to be some type of mahogany like advertised.

[boneyguy]

The fret ends are a bit ragged and will need tidying up. I won't know about the rest of the fretwork until I actually install and play it I guess.

My main concern actually is the end of the fretboard and the last fret. If you look at the photo below you will see that the last fret and the end of the neck are not parallel to eachother. It's out of whack by approx. 1 mm. I'm gonna guess that it's not the frets that are crooked but the end of the neck is out of whack. This could cause some problems however in aligning the neck in the pocket.




So I got what I paid for indeed but it may turn out to be quite a funcitonal neck with some tweaking. We'll wait and see.

[hackworth1]

Simple test: Put a straight edge on her and see how straight the neck is and how level the frets are. A little fall off at the lower frets is ok. Turn the truss rod screw to set her dead straight and check again.

[spannerman]

the mahogany is nice... but i'd rather hav paid that for the materials looking at those tuner holes =/

I actually bought a pre-made tele neck off ebay recently for about the same price, maybe a little less and it's surprising how simple u'll find it to fix all these issues.

Pretty much any neck that's still in one piece can be sorted out with a good bit of setting up: file flat, re-crown, new nut (if it's no good), adjust truss rod and you're away! As long as the frets are the right distance apart you should have no worries, and once you're through with it i'd put good money it turns out as good as any neck you pay double or triple that price.

Good find in my opinion :)

[boneyguy]

Originally Posted by spannerman

the mahogany is nice... but i'd rather hav paid that for the materials looking at those tuner holes =/

I actually bought a pre-made tele neck off ebay recently for about the same price, maybe a little less and it's surprising how simple u'll find it to fix all these issues.

Pretty much any neck that's still in one piece can be sorted out with a good bit of setting up: file flat, re-crown, new nut (if it's no good), adjust truss rod and you're away! As long as the frets are the right distance apart you should have no worries, and once you're through with it i'd put good money it turns out as good as any neck you pay double or triple that price.

Good find in my opinion :)

Yes. I'll get this neck sorted out and working fine. Most everything these days is done on CNC of course so fret spacing is probably a non-issue.

I would say that if a person had the finanaces to buy a quality neck (Warmoth etc.) then they should go that route rather than trying to save some bucks buying one of these cheap necks. If not then going the route I have and putting in some time and elbow grease to get the neck playing well is a viable alternative.

[originalmatthew]

I've used several strat type necks from Eden. Every single one of them needed fretwork (edges files, leveled, re-crowned after leveling) but the end up being pretty decent necks after the tweaking. For the price, I am willing to do a little filing, and a couple of them I have gotten actually had some real nice flame going on. It's like a little surprise when you open the box.

[hackworth1]

Surely, some of you saw them. I bought three unfinished Chinese maple necks (with rosewood fingerboards) off ebay for around $90 with shipping (they are located in the USA). They need to at least be radiused, fretted, and nutted. I shall reshape the headstocks in our favorite style. I'll keep one and list the other two when they're completed. Might be a while.

[boneyguy]

Originally Posted by originalmatthew

I've used several strat type necks from Eden. Every single one of them needed fretwork (edges files, leveled, re-crowned after leveling) but the end up being pretty decent necks after the tweaking. For the price, I am willing to do a little filing, and a couple of them I have gotten actually had some real nice flame going on. It's like a little surprise when you open the box.

A surprise in every package!!

I've now got the frets feeling nice and smooth. Now I just need to find the time to install it on a body. I may not get around to that for a while.

[olaftheholy]

I have a $15.- maple capped paddle neck from EDEN that came packed in chinese newspapers and with that same satchel with a hex key and a gibson size piece of bone for the nut.

It is 21 frets, maple cap,dual action truss.

Actually it is pretty nice AND has marker dots on both sides of the neck so it's to be used as lefty or righty.

From all i've seen from EDEN this is the best bargain... it's actually pretty stable.
Frets look good, it's straight and well made.
Neck heel is stratty so it can be used as one or if squared off as tele




on the first three frets there is flame and it has a dark blemish streak higher on the neck.
But hey, it's a fifteen buck neck....whatya expect?

[iansmitchell]

how much did it cost ya to ship the $15 paddle?