How to measure neck thickness

[benderking]

Thinking of a USACG neck order...i want a straight 9.5 C,
but im not sure what i want to do with the thickness.

A friend of mine has a Suhr that i LOVE....i want to measure the neck thickness at different frets.

1. Do i have to go buy a digital caliper to do the measuring
2. If i said ".XXX" at the 5th fret" does that mean .x" exactly bewteen the 5th and 6th fret?

anybody know thickness of the american standard teles, or the deluxe MIM teles?

thanks,
jerry

 

[Mark Davis]

The Fender necks really arent all the exact same size.

I have played 4-9 of the same model and each neck felt a tiny bit different.

Your best bet to clone a neck you really like is send that neck to Tommy at USACG and he can program its exact profile into his cnc machine and make you an exact clone that way.

I think Suhr also keeps records of the neck profiles he sells might be able to get the dimensions from the owner.

The way the neck feels is the most important thing on any guitar.

 

[Rick S]

I think the digital caliper is the best choice for this. You can tape over the sharp jaws and close them up with the tape on and zero them with just the touch of the calibration button.

Be extremely careful. It's really easy to scratch up a neck doing this.

 

[winny pooh]

A normal precise caliper is fine, just tape over edges as mentioned.
Remember that Width is very important, if you were just measuring then measure:

1 width of neck at nut
2 string spacing at nut
3 string spacing at bridge (you will need to find the same bridge if its a new body obviously)

loosen strings and measure depth at nut and 12th fret.
Then you will have to describe what kind of shape your neck has.

Also if you are used to vintage frets, jumbo frets will make your neck feel thicker, so be aware of this or even specify 1mm off the measured neck's depth for this (1mm is alot!)

 

[Michael Murphy]

The depth measurement is taken directly *behind* the designated fret.

Generally it's measured at the first and twelfth frets to establish the 'taper' of the neck...


-Michael
Charter Member S. Texas He-Man Emoticon Haters Local #316