Changed the neck ,- the vibe is back !

[viking]

The subject is not only Tele , but its often discussed what a change of neck will do in here , so :

My no1 guitar is a Rockinger Strat , a German " partscaster".....Ive had it for about 5 years , and the RW neck ( very similar to the Allparts necks , if not the same ) developed several flat frets , causing the strings to buzz all over the neck.....

I could have it levelled and crowned, but the price for a job like that over here , is almost the same as a Warmoth neck incl shipping to Europe !

I never got around to order a set of files to do it myself , so I tried to order a cheap neck from EDEN ( Hong Kong ).....22 fret Maple cap , it showed up with a VERY high 17th fret , I had to take it out and glue it back in.
It was also quite wide at the heel , I had to sand of all of the finish to install it in the body..........The action was ok ,but it felt completely dead to play , no vibrations could be felt in the fingers while playing , weird.....The neck weighed about 100 grams more than the old one , so its not because of less mass. The neck was also a rather un-attractive dark Vintage Tint .

I lived with it for a few weeks , and tried adjusting a few things , but never felt satisfied with it.

I have several Tele builds under construction together with my son , and yesterday my eye caught one of the Tele necks , one of 2 Squier Telecaster Standard necks , 22 frets , one piece maple. It took me about 20 minutes to reshape the heel , drill the holes , and hey presto : Once again the Strat was a vibrant , responsive instrument !
Intonation was spot on , and to me , the Tele headstock on a Strat looks much nicer than vice-versa .....

[fullerplast]

Amazing the difference that a neck can make, isn't it?

Even without any fret issues, I've had guitars go from dogs to favorites with just a neck swap. The neck wood, fingerboard wood, frets, tuners, nut, and truss rod all contribute to the tone and resonance of the neck, which in turn directly contributes to the tone and resonance of the guitar.

[boris bubbanov]

Glad to hear that heel reshape worked one hundred percent.

Tell us a little about your reshaping technique.

Much obliged

Bubbanov

[viking]

Not much to it , Boris!
I simply matched the original Rockinger neck up against the Squier neck , and made lines with a pencil. After that a coarse file did the work. Since this is a 22 fret neck , there is no need to match everything excactly as long as the neck heel goes against the back of the pocket.....Theres not THAT much difference between a strat and tele neck....
I just adjusted the action today , and took a bit of relief out of the neck. The nut was given some attention too , slightly lowering the action , and it was a bit rough around the edges ....This neck is the thickest neck I have ever had on a Fender - type guitar , and I like it very much !
Funny thing is , that I bought two almost identical necks on E-Bay , the other one has the same decal , nut , frets etc. , but it is a fair bit slimmer near the headstock......Didnt think there would be such a difference these days in shape......Maybe its a diff from year to year ?