Neck for Squire Telecaster

[Bill Moore]

I have not played my Thinline for a few months, and got it out last night to play some. When tuning I noticed the little E buzzing, and looking down the neck, it looks like the neck is twisted down on the lower frets. Any fretting from the 2nd fret up play fine.
Will a Mexican/USA, or WD Tele neck fit the Squire without too much fitting?

 

[archetype]

Probably If I were me I'd assess the neck properly and see about correcting it.

 

[nickmsmith]

If it’s a modern-ish tele, a MIM/MIA or Squier Strat or Tele neck should fit pretty easily. I’ve done it tons of times.

 

[kennl]

I don't know about New Mexico, but here in Pennsylvania, any Tele that has not been played in 3 months is a candidate for a truss rod adjustment
Temperature and humidity changes can cause some buzzing

 

[Bill Moore]

Thank you all. I've been going to take it to my friend to set it up, but was putting options together. Years ago he was able to straighten a Gibson bass neck for my wife that had been stored in the garage.
Here things are mostly dry, I remember last week the news talking about 2% humidity!
I took my MIM Tele out and played it for a while, no problems, and I haven't had problems with other guitars we've stored in our "music room".

 

[ricardo1912]

I bought the paranormal Cabronita thinline recently and decided to swap the rather slim neck with a chunkier one from a Fender cab that i wasn't playing much. It dropped straight in, the intonation was spot on and all i had to do was slightly adjust the string heights.
Having done all that I ended up changing back to the original neck as it seemed to work better.

 

[Controller]

I dropped a MIM Cabronita neck into a Squier Bullet Tele (thinner body than MIM) with no problems, no corrections or shims needed. I did use the neck screws from the Squier in case the MIM screws were longer.

 

[John Stephen]

I dropped a MIM Cabronita neck into a Squier Bullet Tele (thinner body than MIM) with no problems, no corrections or shims needed. I did use the neck screws from the Squier in case the MIM screws were longer.

Just curious, why the neck change? Do you like the MIM Cabronita neck better?

 

[drmordo]

FWIW, I love combining Squire bodies and MIM necks in my partscasters.

 

[John Stephen]

FWIW, I love combining Squire bodies and MIM necks in my partscasters.

How come? How are the necks different?

 

[bobio]

Before you go to the extreme of swapping necks, double-check the relief and the string action at both ends.
There is no guarantee with any neck/body combination, but you should be able to swap a MiM neck without any issues.

This is one of my favorite partscasters, Squire Classic Vibe 50s body with a Fender Highway One neck.
The neck fit the body like it was made for it.

 

[drmordo]

How come? How are the necks different?

Better fretwork and overall fit and finish. I also buy loaded bodies off of ebay, so it's not like a I have a pile of discarded Squier necks sitting around.

 

[John Stephen]

Makes sense, thanks.

 

[Solaris moon]

I too would take the neck off and see if it can be salvaged. I don't know if you have luthiers in your neck of the woods but I have had great success in straightening necks with steam. Sweetwater just sold a brand new Axis model MADE IN USA from the Jeff's Gear page on evilbay. I'm sure that someone got a great deal. The neck was supposedly warped and twisted on a roasted maple neck. I wouldn't doubt that whoever bought it did the same thing or had a new neck made for it. It shouldn't be more than maybe around $50.00 - $75.00 altogether to have that neck straightened.

 

[tho618]

I’ve got a Warmoth neck on my 2013 Squier Thinline. No issues. So glad I did that. Exactly the specs I like and made that guitar my #1.

 

[mystichands]

I’ve put a mim ‘51 U shape on my 2015 CV 50s Tele. It’s much nicer to play with the fat neck. Only other mods are StewMac saddles and Gotoh vintage style tuners. I’m very happy with the mim neck.

 

[Controller]

Just curious, why the neck change? Do you like the MIM Cabronita neck better?

Yes, the MIM Cabronita has a beefy 9.5" radius maple board neck. Curiously, the Squier Bullet Indian Laurel neck is also nice but not as thick. I put it on a partscaster.

Before


After


Partscaster

 

[John Stephen]

Looks great. Does the MIM Cabronita fingerboard have rolled edges, or is the fingerboard squarish, like the Bullet Tele? Also, I take it the fact that the Cabronita has 22 frets instead of 21, didn't pose a problem?

 

[Controller]

Looks great. Does the MIM Cabronita fingerboard have rolled edges, or is the fingerboard squarish, like the Bullet Tele? Also, I take it the fact that the Cabronita has 22 frets instead of 21, didn't pose a problem?

No rolled edges but not sharp either, think of a C shape thicker than a modern C. The scale was the same, so the 22 frets posed no problem at all compared to the Bullet neck. It screwed right on and didn't really need anything else. I knew I liked the Cabronita neck because I have a MIM Tele Cabronita and bought another Cabronita neck from a TDPRI member to use on a project like this.

Cabronita, came pre-reliced:

 

[John Stephen]

That all sounds great. I may hafta try to find me one of them.