necks on diy bodies

[tce0528]

Hi,
New to all of this and doing some preliminary plotting/planning about designs, parts etc. I thinking building the body should be within my skills (finishing is a different story). I am assuming that before I do any real work I will want a neck and pickguard in hand to make sure everything covers and fits. I am hoping to use this plan
http://terrydownsmusic.com/Archive/t...awing_revD.pdf
for my template. Looking around at necks, I am getting confused.

Will basically any 25.5" tele style new work for with the plans from Terry? or only those necks for anything prior to a 1969 model?

I am seeing thinline and squier necks, etc.

I understand the pocket width issues, but besides that are there any other dimensional issues that will affect a scratch body build that are not personal preference or cosmetic? and the neck width/radius
I think my general plan is to create a psuedo blackguard style with a natural finish on doug fir. I have the fir and if I hack it too much I am out very little then body-wise.
I am scanning through the forum as much as I can and gathering info.
I am very impressed with everyones build skills on the forum, so I am jealous of you all and bummed I didn't win a guitar in the fundraiser.
thanks for any help or suggestions.
Tim - Seattle

[tce0528]

POKE-
Can someone just answer the one question?
I am assuming all tele necks work on Terry's plans, but that could be
an expensive assumption if I am wrong.
Just need "a 25.5" tele neck is universal" or "they are specific look here"
sorry to bug you guys.

[LocustPlague]

You could get the drawings to work (with some modification) for any neck at all. You will obviously have to get the pocket shaped such that the neck will fit snugly. Also, you will want to place the bridge so that the center of the travel on the saddles is 25.5" away from the fretboard-side of the nut. If you wait to route the bridge pup route until you can be certain of this, you will be fine.

[KevinB]

Any 25.5" neck will work with Terry's plans, but neck pocket routes may have slight variations. They are supposed to all be standard but there are often some slight differences between bodies and necks made to inch specs (MIA, MIM) and those made to metric specs (MIJ, MIK, MIJ). If you get the neck first this really shouldn't be an issue as you can just measure it to be sure.

The "most" standard necks will be Fender, Fender licensed (Allparts, Musikraft, Warmoth) or top quality boutique makers like USACG. The "least" standard will be from Asian imports.

[Mark F]

Im looking at making a couple of guitars soon, and have a cheap neck ill be using for my first build just for practise, as people have said above, necks can vary, but you should find some consistancy with licensed parts, but if your in any doubt, try routing a neck pocket on a scrap offcut and test fitting whatever neck you buy to that scrap (no need to bolt it in, just see if it fits nice and snug) before you route the pocket on your body.

If a little modification is needed then measure the neck, then measure again, make another test pocket and try again, it won't take long to get things right, and then you can route the body :)

One thing i know from my job is to measure at least twice, and cut once (take it slow, and you can use scrap as test pieces until you feel more confident)

[tce0528]

excellent, thanks guys.
I have the wood for my body and I can start glueing that up and then start looking for an affordable neck. Project is going to take a long while, but at least I have a much better idea of what order I need to do everything now.
appreciate the help.
Tim

[bubba105]

Do yourself a favor, get the neck & paper template together before doing anything else. Make sure of the dimensions so that your MDF template will fit the neck well. Then route away.

Good luck

Richie

[hackworth1]

What bubba said is gospel. You must have the neck in hand before you go routing a pocket for it. Mostly, the standard tele neck pocket will fit even the chinese necks. But you got to be sure before you commence routing.

Why waste MDF or other template material when it isn't necessary?