How Do i make the Neck Fit

Hi Guys

I have a Strat body that has been stripped down to the wood.

The neck is ok but the tint is too dark so i was thinking of getting a new neck.

If the neck is too big for the pocket i know i just sand the pocket a bit until it fits.

But what do i do if the neck width is too small for the pocket?

Hope that makes sense

Alan

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Comments

  • imaloneimalone Frets: 748
    You measure the pocket and make sure you get a neck to those dimensions, to the millimetre. The strat neck pocket has particular dimensions, a replacement strat neck should fit snugly, but make sure you check the dimensions before ordering.
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  • WezVWezV Frets: 16543
    edited March 2014

    thats the sensible answer.  But a large part of working on guitars is often overcoming issues like this.   there is no such thing as "standard size"  for guitar parts, especially once you move away from brand name parts.

     

    So yeah,  buy stuff you know will fit, especially if you want to keep it easy.  But if you carry on working on guitars sooner or later (it will be sooner) you will come across some parts that need a little modding to fit properly.   Being able to do the appropriate mods massively widens the choice of parts available to you

     

     

    For me, on both these theoretical situations i would look at altering the pocket rather than the neck.   Routing the pocket wider   if the neck was too wide or gluing in some blocks or veneers of wood and re-routing to the correct size if the neck was too narrow.   I may consider sanding the sides of the neck if it was a tiny amount to remove.

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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71957
    asimmd said:
    But what do i do if the neck width is too small for the pocket?

    Use it to store spare picks in, like people did with Fenders in the 70s!

    Don't worry about it too much. As long as the pocket isn't so big that the neck can really move around it it (see 70s Fenders…) the tightness of the fit is not critical. Snug is best, but a small gap is OK too.

    It's much harder if the neck is too big for the pocket - widening the pocket neatly and accurately without either making it too big again or making it look a mess is much trickier than it sounds, and really needs a proper routing jig, if it's more than a whisker that needs to come off - you'll never get it straight by sanding.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • asimmdasimmd Frets: 115
    Thanks for the replies,it is obvious i know to get the correct neck in the first place
    but as WezV say's that's not alway's possible.

    There are Mighty Mite necks that have 54.5mm heel width,and cost around £90.

    Then there are chinese cheapies on easy that also have a 54.5mm heel and are only £28.


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  • The neck pocket on my recent tele build was maybe 1mm too small for the neck I had so I widened that using a sharp chisel rather than messing with the neck.

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  • imaloneimalone Frets: 748
    edited March 2014
    asimmd said:
    Thanks for the replies,it is obvious i know to get the correct neck in the first place
    but as WezV say's that's not alway's possible.


    Sorry, didn't mean to sound like I was talking down to you, but I try not to assume what someone might already know. There's no standard size, but if there was it would be the strat neck heel, and odds are it should fit without messing about, which is the point I wanted to make before power tools entered the discussion. If you are getting a sub £30 chinese neck you might want to start reading up on fret dressing.
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  • asimmdasimmd Frets: 115
    Hi imalone I didn't think you were talking down to me,it was the obvious thing to say,but I have read about others having to alter the neck pocket and I wondered what to do. I take your point about Chinese necks,and it looks like a Mighty Mite neck might be cheaper in the long run. Alan
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  • MajorscaleMajorscale Frets: 1553
    edited March 2014
    Width is one thing I guess but what about preserving the scale length? I would assume that that part is harder...I need a replacement neck for a 90s Washburn and was thinking of ordering an aftermarket neck(rather than buy someone's old beater and cannaballise it) but was worried about it screwing up the scale length as the heel might sit in a different place from the original neck (that I don't have anymore for reference)
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71957
    Width is one thing I guess but what about preserving the scale length? I would assume that that part is harder...I need a replacement neck for a 90s Washburn and was thinking of ordering an aftermarket neck(rather than buy someone's old beater and cannaballise it) but was worried about it screwing up the scale length as the heel might sit in a different place from the original neck (that I don't have anymore for reference)
    *Most* - but not all - bolt-on necks do conform to the standard Fender 25.5"-scale, 21-fret neck dimensions - even those with 22 frets, which are done with an overhang (or even 24 like that sometimes).

    But some exceptions are a lot of the Japanese guitars from the 80s from factories like Matsumoku, which were sometimes true 22-fret necks and aren't interchangeable with Fender-style bodies.

    Measure the distance from the bridge saddles on your Washburn body to the inner face of the neck pocket, then measure a standard 21-fret Strat (where you can see the end of the neck clearly) and if it's within about 3mm it should be possible to maker a Fender-compatible neck fit OK.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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