I need a neck for my new 70th Ann Esquire Body

[Wound_Up]

This is my conundrum.. A large part of me just wants it like it left the factory.. I am not much of a partscaster type person.. The most Ill do is replace pickups and that has been only 3 times in 3 decades..

If I could find an Esquire neck Id be all over it.. but they are vapor wear right now.. So It looks like Ill have to match the specs with All Parts or Warmoth... All Parts are odd though as they only offer Vintage narrow 41mm nut or Wide 43mm nut.. Not the 42mm 16/8th that Fender is using on all there RI guitars..

Edited: sorry. Nevermind. I didn't read everything before I posted. I see you ordered a neck.

Vaporware? Sweetwater has one. Fender has multiple in stock. I'm sure there are more places than just those two. I just, stopped after the first 2 links in my search results had them in stock.

Replacement Guitar Necks | Sweetwater

Looking for Replacement Guitar Necks? Sweetwater has FREE Shipping and FREE Tech Support for Replacement Guitar Necks!

www.sweetwater.com

50's Esquire Neck, 21 Vintage Frets, 7.25", U Shape, Maple | Parts

50's Esquire Neck, 21 Vintage Frets, 7.25", U Shape, Maple

www.fender.com

 

[MelodicBend]

"I went ahead and ordered the MIM Esquire 50s replacement neck from Fender as the specs are identical minus the frets being a bit smaller.. I ordered it from reverb from an authorized seller, and glad I did, because upon arrival I was not happy at all.."

Sorry if the problem is me and I have to relearn how to read, but this paragraph is all over the place. Did you order the neck from Fender or Reverb and why were you "glad" but "not happy at all?

Don't mean to bug you. Just a little bit invested because I've been actively shopping for a neck going on a year now. Ha!

 

[Wound_Up]

There's an American Esquire neck on Ebay right now. Heel adjust. Walnut truss rod plug. It's a Brad Paisley neck that they want $599 for

Fender Brad Paisley Road Worn Esquire NECK +TUNERS Maple Enhanced "V" | eBay

<p>Description: Official Fender Brad Paisley Road Worn Esquire Neck & Tuners- 1-Piece Maple- Enhanced "V" Shape- 9.5" Radius (241 mm)- 25.5" (648 mm) Scale Length- 1.650" (42 mm) Width at Nut- 21 Medium Jumbo Frets- "Road Worn" Fender Treatment- Genuine Fender</p> <p>Condition: Mint (relic)</p>...

www.ebay.com

 

[giogolf]

There's an American Esquire neck on Ebay right now. Heel adjust. Walnut truss rod plug. It's a Brad Paisley neck that they want $599 for

Fender Brad Paisley Road Worn Esquire NECK +TUNERS Maple Enhanced "V" | eBay

<p>Description: Official Fender Brad Paisley Road Worn Esquire Neck & Tuners- 1-Piece Maple- Enhanced "V" Shape- 9.5" Radius (241 mm)- 25.5" (648 mm) Scale Length- 1.650" (42 mm) Width at Nut- 21 Medium Jumbo Frets- "Road Worn" Fender Treatment- Genuine Fender</p> <p>Condition: Mint (relic)</p>...

www.ebay.com

Thats a MIM neck.. take a look at the pictures, you can see the Made in Mexico plus serial number

 

[Recce]

Update: Dec 14th

So I can find the neck that belongs to this guitar yet.. But Im sure over the years one will pop up..

I went ahead and ordered the MIM Esquire 50s replacement neck from Fender as the specs are identical minus the frets being a bit smaller.. I ordered it from reverb from an authorized seller, and glad I did, because upon arrival I was not happy at all..

I don’t know if it’s because I have been playing, working on and/or buying higher end American instruments for the last 2 decades but this was disappointing.. The finish looked so fake, as if the tint was airbrushed on, the nut had the sides covered in finish as well.. was supposed to be a bone nut but clearly was plastic.. The back of the neck was satin and the fingerboard and headstock face was high gloss.. The icing on the cake was the incredibly small frets.. I don’t know how someone can play a gloss neck with fret heights below .40”..

Anyhoo, I returned it and did what I should have done to begin with (buy something cheap from Allparts and use it until the original pops up)

So I got a smoking deal on an Allpart TMO-CR ( roasted maple) the neck orher than being maple has close to identical specs as my AO 60…

The plan is to use Tru-Oil finish.. Ill post pics of my step by step as I get a long..

Not that it’s my business but I think the Warmoth neck speck’d how you like would be a better choice.

 

[giogolf]

Not that it’s my business but I think the Warmoth neck speck’d how you like would be a better choice.

They would, but I rather get something “good enough” and hold out for the actual neck when it pops up rather than drop $400 on a spec’ed Warmoth neck

 

[giogolf]

"I went ahead and ordered the MIM Esquire 50s replacement neck from Fender as the specs are identical minus the frets being a bit smaller.. I ordered it from reverb from an authorized seller, and glad I did, because upon arrival I was not happy at all.."

Sorry if the problem is me and I have to relearn how to read, but this paragraph is all over the place. Did you order the neck from Fender or Reverb and why were you "glad" but "not happy at all?

Don't mean to bug you. Just a little bit invested because I've been actively shopping for a neck going on a year now. Ha!

Let me clarify…

I bought on Reverb from a Fender authorized dealer.. “glad I did” because of the return policy.. I could have gotten it used for less with no option to return, that would have been a big mistake..

Ill make do with the Allparts neck for now until I find the actual one.. At least I can finish the AP neck myself and do a better job than the MIM one i just returned.. plus I can put a proper nut on it… Who knows, it may turn out to be great.. If these necks are good enough for $2000+ Nash guitars Im sure I can make it work

 

[AndrewG]

I guess it depends on whether you plan to play it a lot. If you want to LOVE it, I suggest you get a neck that fits your hand very well.

For me, the "60s" necks are much more comfortable than the "50s" necks. So, no matter what it came with, I'd be shopping for a 60s neck.

That said, my very favorite neck ever is the soft V Classic Player Baja neck that is on my Deluxe. I got it used here for a great price and I just love it. I'll probly end up buying a Classic Player Baja at some point so I have the same neck on a standard Tele.

View attachment 1059312

Not just the great necks but the whole Baja concept was, in my opinion, the best Fender Tele ever-outside the stratospherically-priced Custom Shop models. Used prices reflect their popularity.

 

[drmordo]

Not just the great necks but the whole Baja concept was, in my opinion, the best Fender Tele ever-outside the stratospherically-priced Custom Shop models. Used prices reflect their popularity.

The funny part is almost immediately after I posted that, I found a Baja Tele online for a pretty good price. It arrives today.

 

[giogolf]

Phase 1: The assessment..
Received my Allparts TMO-CR neck today and first impressions are very good.. For a B-stock item the quality is really good. This neck is miles away from the MIM Esquire neck I returned.. Neck pocket fit is just right, frets need little work and the neck is just a hair back bowed with the truss rod lose (perfect as there will be tons of room for years to come)

Fret works is pretty darn good for a company that says fret work will be needed.. Honestly 80% of people would be happy with just a dressing on the ends to smooth them out; Ill obviously do a full dress and level where necessary.

So phase 2 will be the first coats of tru-oil, cure, then dress the fret ends, more coats, cure, then fret level.. Wrap it up with pilot holes, tuners etc.. Then a setup.. Fun holiday project but ill post details.. Unfortunately my Acoustic refret job will take priority, but Ill balance the 2 jobs..

Pics of course…

 

[Clifton C]

According to the Fender Schematic Manual the Esquire and AO50 have identical neck shape, dimensions and contours.. Only difference is the 7.25 radius vs 9.5 on the AO50

Yes, the radius is larger on the AO neck.

 

[giogolf]

Ok, so finally got around to giving the Esquire some attention.. I needed to get my acoustic re-fret completed first..

Also sorry for the crappy picture.. My workshop/ basement is lite over warm and the amber 1970s pine walls just make it worse.. Ill get more pictures after its nearly complete..

To date this whats competed:
1. Fret dress and level (hardly any, but figure I get it perfect)
2. Fret end clean-up (hardly any as well)
3. 4 coats of Tru-Oil, let dry for 4 days then knocked back with #000 Steel Wool
4. 4 more coats of T-O then evenly buffed with #00000 Steel Wool (this left a beautiful satin luster)
5. Cotton T-Shirt buff with a bit of wax
6. Fitted a crappy Corian nut to determine string spacing and neck pilot holes (Ordered some Bone blanks for the final build out)
7. Clamped the neck, loaded a High and Low E string, aligned the neck and marked the pilot holes.
8. Drilled the pilot holes, added a bit of wax and ran the screws in and out a few times to establish the threads
9. Put the neck on, strung it up, checked alignment, all was perfect, snugged the neck up.
10. Neck relief set to .004" with 10 gauge, Got the nut setup as best as I could (will swap it next week), action set at 4/64-3/64th and then a test drive.

First observations:
1. Love the Satin finish, feels fast and smooth
2. Roasted maple is very delicate/ brittle.. be very very careful when drilling and screwing
3. This thing is light as a feather.. I need to weigh it.. but it feels like a 5 pounder
4. Never played an Esquire, this thing is so weird in a good way..

Next steps:
1. Round string tree install
2. Build a proper bone nut
3. Take better pictures

 

[giogolf]

Another crappy picture.. this time with guard and string tree..