What's to expect from a chinese neck?

[NorthenLights]

I'm looking at a couple of really gorgeous flame maple necks from China on ebay. Sub 80 euro for such nice looking necks is really tempting. I guess I'm not the only one that has considered this, so I'm wondering whether there is a general consensus regarding chep necks bought from China? Is the quality consistent, or does it wary alot? Are they stable or prone to warping. How close in feel to stadard fender products do they tend to be?
I guess the thing I am most worried about is that the wood will be of low quality or badly dried making the neck too soft. What say you that have experience with ebay necks?

 

[netgear69]

Hit and miss you take your chances could be fret issues etc besides that considering what is going on in China at the moment don't expect fast delivery i bought a couple of motors on Aliexpress just over 2 months ago still no sign of them in fact they have not even left China yet

 

[Freeman Keller]

My only experience is with Mighty Might necks which I don't consider particularly cheap. They have all required fret work, I refinished them as part of the construction of the guitar and I threw the nuts away and made new ones. They seemed reasonably close to the Fender pocket standard, tuner holes were adequate. These all had the big paddle head that allow you to make your own shape. I felt they were reasonable necks for the price, certainly less than necks from domestic suppliers such a Warmoth (which I felt were better quality)

It is my understanding that Mighty Might ships maple from the east coast of the US to China, has the necks fabricated and shipped back. I don't understand how they do that.

There is a concurrent thread by someone who bought a really cheap Chinese necks and it sounds like he had to futz around with about every part of it - frets, tuner holes, heel shape, finish. I guess I haven't seen the advantage of that.

 

[jfgesquire]

The truss rod installation is sloppy and hit or miss. The tuner holes are typically not spaced correctly and not in a straight line. Two of the three Chinese necks I've purchased from eBay have had alignment pins sticking up through the fretboard (two piece necks). One had the nut slot cut crooked. They all needed fret work.

In my opinion they are NOT worth the effort if you're buying them blind. I know your choices may be fewer if not in the US, but AllParts really seems like the best low cost option after my experience.

Sent from my LG-H932 using Tapatalk

 

[old wrench]

I don't have any doubts that there are good, qualified craftsmen in China who can build good necks, but unless you know who you're dealing with (just like any other country in the world), you are taking your chances.

I'll second the AllParts necks. I think they are made in Japan. For the money, they are very good necks. To put a little finer point on it, they are good necks regardless of the price .

 

[rolandson]

What's to expect from a chinese neck?

That, despite what the seller describes, tells you, promises, swears is true...

The neck will not fit. It will either be a millimeter too large or small for the neck pocket you intend.

Then the seller, who is now referring to you as "friend", will suggest that you take a saw to it, or glue additional pieces of wood to it, to make it fit. They'll even discount the price by 1% to compensate you!

In my experience, from which the above is derived, Chinese necks are good for only one thing...

Learning to cut nuts and do fret jobs on.

 

[UjwalB]

I bought one when the first neck I was working didn't go as planned.
I paid $33 AUD for a cheap Chinese neck so that I could still carry on building the guitar.
It had "rosewood"....but looked like some low quality lookalike but it's very serviceable.

I think if it was an all maple neck, there wouldn't be any problems. The neck was dead straight, frets were pretty much level and hardly had any sharp edges but had 16 inch radius which isn't my cup of tea.
Quality wise....they are way good for something so cheap. The nut needs to be changed.....but even the poly finish was great.

It's scary how good it was for something that cost the same amount of money as a KFC family lunch box.

I am going to use it to build a "gigging" guitar for my 6 year old son who is pretty rough with all his toys.

Few pics of the chicken bucket priced neck while is was playing with it:

 

[bgmacaw]

Hit and miss you take your chances could be fret issues etc besides that considering what is going on in China at the moment don't expect fast delivery i bought a couple of motors on Aliexpress just over 2 months ago still no sign of them in fact they have not even left China yet

Shipments from China are delayed. Apparently, a lot of people there aren't showing up for work right now. Not sure why that is......

 

[tdoty]

I'll somewhat agree with everyone else: it's hit or miss. I've got one good and one bad. The bad one isn't horrible, and the good one is better than a Squier, both at around $30US delivered. I think it all depends on who is programming the CNC machine, who is touching it off, and whose specific design they are copying.

I firmly believe that the Chinese people are capable of doing work every bit as good as the rest of the world's people. However, at that quality level, you won't be saving any money. When everything is made to a price point, you get what you pay for........though you can get lucky sometimes.

Just like Chinese made guitars, there are good and there are not so good.

 

[EsquireBoy]

I don't have any doubts that there are good, qualified craftsmen in China who can build good necks, but unless you know who you're dealing with (just like any other country in the world), you are taking your chances.

This is so true!

 

[aging_rocker]

...I know your choices may be fewer if not in the US...

That's a big problem for a lot of us out here in the wider world, our choices are reduced considerably, and shipping costs are often crazy.

...It's scary how good it was for something that cost the same amount of money as a KFC family lunch box...

I don't have any experience with the cheap necks personally, but I've been tempted...and I accept that for that sort of money it's going to be a lottery, due to the almost complete lack of any quality control, which, to be fair, it would be unreasonable to expect at that price level.

I always think it's a bit much to pay so little for a neck and then complain about the quality, like some folks do And I doubt any after-market neck regardless of cost requires zero work before it's 100% to your liking.

 

[netgear69]

Shipments from China are delayed. Apparently, a lot of people there aren't showing up for work right now. Not sure why that is......

I hope if and when they arrive no one has sneezed on them

 

[3-Chord-Genius]

I bought a $35 (shipped) telecaster-ish neck from China a couple of years ago and there was nothing wrong with it. I assembled it with a GFS body into this guitar.

 

[davenumber2]

I’ve bought two. One was really good and plays really nice. The other had really rough frets and the tuners holes were off but I was able to make it work. Different sellers.

 

[Goldenshellback]

Make sure that you receive free egg rolls with your purchase.

 

[mfguitar]

I used to import necks from China, do a simple fret job, adjust, and buff them out. If you stick with the flame maple higher end you will be fine. The only problem I ever had was with the cheaper basic maple that were around $35, I had a couple of these warp. The measurements are not always right on and can vary a bit. When I resold I would supply all measurements and everyone was happy. With the added tariff (which you will owe) it really is no longer profitable for me. I also had to buy 20 to maximize profit and it was just not worth tying up the cash.
All of the ones I had were similar in feel, I would say a modern "D" close to some Fenders I have but not typical.
Ask for detailed measurements, and pictures of the actual item you will receive. You won't want to return it so protect yourself the best you can.

 

[Norrin Radd]

There is a concurrent thread by someone who bought a really cheap Chinese necks and it sounds like he had to futz around with about every part of it - frets, tuner holes, heel shape, finish. I guess I haven't seen the advantage of that.

For me the advantage was learning a whole lot without experimenting on a more expensive neck!

Now I’ve collected almost all the tools I need so I can do my own future work on all my necks. That will save me tons down the road. Plus, the quality of the one I got is pretty darn good. I’ll get another one for sure.

 

[crazydave911]

Shipments from China are delayed. Apparently, a lot of people there aren't showing up for work right now. Not sure why that is......

Coronavirus

 

[mkdaws32]

In my experience, from which the above is derived, Chinese necks are good for only one thing...

Learning to cut nuts and do fret jobs on.

This is precisely why I bought one - 39$ CDN - that’s just under $30 USD, so really cheap. It’s pretty good, but has at least one major flaw that will take some work to fix. It’s a Kmise neck with a rosewood-like fretboard.

Pros:

• Nice piece of maple - one piece and nice grain throughout;
• Very nicely cut with smooth contours and no sharp edges on the headstock;
• Very, very nice finish. Thin, but not too thin satin poly. My favorite neck finish and feels identical to the finish on my lite ash Strat and Tele. Smooth and fast, but doesn’t have that bare wood feeling - does not feel like a cheap neck;
• Dot inlays and fret markers are placed well;
• 10mm spec peg holes are actually 10mm and placed properly/straight - the Wilkinson - 10mm tuners I bought for it slide in the holes just snug enough not to move, but were not forced in;
• Without having it installed on a body yet, it feels very comfortable;
• Neck is straight and frets are properly spaced - I checked these closely.”;
• Dual action truss rod!

Cons:

• Rosewood-like fingerboard is about as dry as anything I’ve ever seem - easily remedied, though;
• Frets look decent and the ends are cut well, but razor sharp - again, easily remedied and expected;
• Nut is very thin and cheap plastic - probably too soft - needs replacement, but this was also expected;
• Nut placement is wrong . This was the biggest disappointment. I will have to cut the slot wider by at least a couple mm - I haven’t done a precise measurement, but it’s definitely too far back away from the first fret. I will have to shim the slot behind the new nut. Oh well, I wanted to practice nut work
• Of course, it will likely need a level and crown when everything else is done, but that is expected with any neck.

It just arrived last night, so I haven’t tried to fit it to a body yet, but it looks close to being right. Some fitting was expected. I also haven’t tried adjusting the truss rod yet.

This is for a summer project so it will be a couple of months until I get back to it - all of my guitar and non-guitar projects are on hold during “Canadian winter”, since the garage/workshop is otherwise occupied and not heated.

 

[Dismalhead]

I've bought five. Like someone said above, it's very hit or miss. One was unusable and hangs out in my workshop, another required me to shave about an inch off the butt to get it to sit in the neck pocket right, and the other three were fine after some minor fretwork.

I've noticed that a lot of the cheap ones have copper frets, which I believe will wear pretty fast. You want nickel alloy or steel and that will rule out most of the necks that go for under $50 or so.