Time to choose a new neck: USACG or Musikraft?

[craigfowler]

Thought I'd pick a few brains over in this neck of the woods. I've used a bunch of Warmoth necks and like them well enough, but feel like a change. And truth be told, it's starting to bug me that Warmoth have jacked their prices up so much recently.

So, I need to decide whether to order my new tele neck from USACG or Musikraft - I've bought bodies from both, and have liked them all.

Is there any good reason to choose one over the other? I'm not especially concerned about headstock accuracy, and aren't in a hurry! They both seem to make great products at fair prices. I guess I'm curious about things such as fretwork right out of the box, and that sort of thing.

[KokoTele]

I don't think any of the popular aftermarket manufacturers do anything to the frets besides press them in and trim them flush, which means you'll probably want to do a level & crown on any of them. Modern manufacturing techniques make it so the frets are pretty even, but you can always do better.

I love my USACG neck. The only thing I'd change is that I want a double-action truss rod, which they don't offer.

[micpoc]

I can't say anything about Musikrafts, but I would definitely give a thumbs up on USACG.

[kovachian]

Have you checked out Soul Mate Guitars?

[Jeffscreamedcorn]

I love my USACG neck.

[craigfowler]

Originally Posted by kovachian

Have you checked out Soul Mate Guitars?

Yup - his stuff looks great. But, the last time I looked he wasn't taking orders that needed the headstock shaping. I'm not hung up on having an exact tele shape, but I don't want to have to do any shaping myself.

Thanks for the comments so far, am much obliged!

[ramblinmike]

What about allparts? I have an allparts tele neck and it's great! Got mine from http://www.grguitars.com/

[craigfowler]

Thanks for the allparts tip, but there are specific things I want (Mahogany/Rosewood; 24.75" conversion; 7.5-9.5 compound radius) that mean it needs to be one of the 'custom' aftermarket sources!

[Buckocaster51]

Somebody just sent me a Musikraft neck that looks and feels absolutely sensational.

It hasn't gone on a guitar yet, but from initial inspection I am totally impressed.

Of course I am totally impressed with the USACG necks that have touched my life.

I don't think either of them would be a bad choice.

Now wasn't that a big help!?

[Vizcaster]

Musikraft is slow (I have to say that before going nuts with praise for their products). They have double-action trussrods. Note that their standard profiles are either a little fatter or a little thinner than a modern Fender neck. I had one of each made for a pair of parts-teles and I love both. Thin one is for my nephew whose hands aren't quite full sized yet, and the fatter one is mine and its really comfortable. Fretwork was very good - no gaps under the wire, cleanly trimmed and beveled. I expected to have to level and crown them so to be honest I didn't even try to play them without doing that first. However, they really only needed a kiss of the plane iron (with 400 glued to the bottom) to ensure they were level, and since there wasn't much material removed from the tops, it didn't need much to re-crown them. Action is just a hair over 3/64" measured at the 12th fret with no buzzing. And nice sustain. And I believe they're licensed headstock profiles so you don't need to do any shaping before finishing. Also they chose nice dark abalone for the fret marker dots so they do show up on the maple neck - no filler that I can see around the inlays on the face or side of the neck.

Musikraft doesn't put graphite rods in bass necks, so that's a consideration, but their regular guitar necks are fantastic.

[RomanS]

Originally Posted by craigfowler

And truth be told, it's starting to bug me that Warmoth have jacked their prices up so much recently.

Sorry, but that's NOT TRUE!

I just checked (because you gave me a shock - I want to order another one of their necks in the near future), and the price is exactly the same as it was two years ago, when I bought my first neck from them - still starting at the same 157 $ for the basic maple/maple Pro neck, and going up from there with the fancier woods.

[craigfowler]

It may not be true on *everything* but it's true on some areas of their product line.

I'm not suggesting they're not a great deal on certain things - I've picked up *killer* deals from the showcase - I can beat your $157 with a $125 for a sweet maple strat with kingwood board, and $139 for an equally lovely tele neck with pau ferro board. BUT, they're screwing the living daylights of anybody who wants figured woods.

They'll charge you around a grand and up for a neck Musikraft will sell you for under $400 - that didn't used to be the case. Add to that the fact that they'll list something as flame or birdseye with nary a touch of figure in it, I think it's fair to say they're both more expensive and less honest than they used to be in this regard.

I remember a conversation with Tommy at USACG that really impressed me; I had asked for the premium flame (at a pretty hefty upcharge) and he suggested I didn't bother because the standard flame was pretty enough for almost everybody. And they've kept their prices low even while they include options the turtle will add upcharges for!

I'd still happily buy Warmoth products and have never had a cause to complain. But I want something a little fancy, they're now out of my price range (which is sad for many reasons)

[boris bubbanov]

I agree with Roman S, I think for what one gets at $ 157, that's a whole lotta neck ( I think with exchange rates Roman's price has come down.)

What happens to me is I have 4 I paid $ 200 or less for, now I want to try more options, but those always have cost more.

Unless you happen to snag a webspecial neck from Tommy with lots of upgrades, the USACG neck will cost more just like the Warmoth. The bargains at USACG are really the webspecial bodies, woah.

Bubbanov

[craigfowler]

Oh - I agree with this completely. I guess I'm not expressing myself very well. I couldn't possibly be happier with the "cheap" necks I've bought from them - they play great, look great, and I'm under no illusions that anybody else would have touched $125-157 for a great, basic neck. I don't mean to be bashing them on that.

I just feel as though they're gouging on the fancy woods. But, I can accept that I might be wrong, might be grumpy, and might be bitter that I'm not benefiting from that weak dollar anymore now I live on this side of the pond.

How 'bout those webspecial bodies though...never thought I'd snag one for under $80, but have managed it twice! Ahhhh, the beauty of opaque colours!

I think for this neck, I'll go Musikraft. People seem very happy, and they're selling the $250 voucher for $200 on ebay...seems as good a time as any to try one!

Thank you all for your input - and Roman, I hope you like your next Warmoth neck! Do you have a favorite profile? I'm wishing I could switch my thins to boatnecks!

[RomanS]

Craig,
I was just comparing prices for their stock necks, as mentioned in their price lists, where they definitely did not raise prices in the last two years - you didn't mention that you were looking for fancy woods in your original post, and I have no experience with those...

As for my favorite profile - their standard thin profile feels really comfortable to me; but I did order my necks with 1-3/4" nut width, so maybe that's why - I'm not sure whether a boatneck with that extra-wide nut wouldn't be a bit too much...

[craigfowler]

You're right, I should have been clearer!

The 1 3/4" + a boatneck sounds pretty hefty...

[mowcheeba]

If you are getting a neck with rolled edges I have to warn you. My USACG neck had too heavy rolled edges which is resulting in a high E string falling off the fretboard too easy.

[reddart]

I love the musikraft neck on my Strat...fat C shape, nice light flame, nitro finish, and got it for $179 new on one of their Ebay auctions...I would not hesitate to buy another again.

[BroadMaster]

Originally Posted by craigfowler

Yup - his stuff looks great. But, the last time I looked he wasn't taking orders that needed the headstock shaping. I'm not hung up on having an exact tele shape, but I don't want to have to do any shaping myself.

Thanks for the comments so far, am much obliged!

Craig, Musikraft has made it ANY way I ask. Jim Jamerson is a great guy and the rest of the folks there are very helpful. Email is about 24 hour return. Phone is same day to me...... The craftsmanship is excellent. True to vintage specs or any variation/ mixture thereof. I can't say enough good about those folks in New Jersey! They have a 3-4 week turnaround currently. Not bad for your custom specs.
Michael

[craigfowler]

Thanks again to one and all for your input. I ordered a neck from Musikraft last night, and actually exchanged 3 emails with Jim on a Saturday evening which I was both grateful for, and guilty about.

Michael - thanks for the feedback. Based on the website it looks like we're up to about a 4-5 week turnaround which is perfect as it gives me have time to get some color and clear coats on the body.

Will post a couple of pics once it gets here. I only realized today that this is the first time that I've ordered a custom neck, so I'm pretty excited to see how it turns out!