Telecaster neck heel wrong? Advice greatly received!

4114Effects

Hi guys, 

Bought a body off @drbob for my upcoming LaCab tele build, great guy to do business with, and a nice chap all round. Anyway, I also ordered a neck, which just arrived. Problem is, the two don't seem to want to get on... 

As you can see from the pictures, the heel of the telecaster neck is far too square to fit in the pocket, which has nicely radiused corners. The body is a Guitarbuild.co.uk and the neck is a generic one - so I'm 99% sure it's the neck that's been cut wrong, I'd just appreciate a second opinion! When the neck is pushed as far in as it will go, there's approx 3-4mm gap to the body, which I'm sure would throw out the intonation and scale length. 

What do you reckon - sand the corners of the neck to fit the pocket ( which I'm reluctant to do as that will remove the finish from the neck) , or just send it back and buy a decent one?

All advice greatly received!

Pics below:

See how square the heel is

Here's the gap I get when it's fit ...

And here it is compared to the pocket

GuitarMonkey

Yes, the neck heel should have a radius to match the body.

4114Effects

Thought as much, serves me right for cheaping out on a neck ... sigh

GuitarMonkey

As you say, send it back and buy a decent one.

As the neck is arguably the most important part of any guitar it's always best to buy a quality item.

DrBob

Not that it helps you right now Dan but I can confirm that I test fitted a USACG and a Fender Mexi Tele neck into the neck pocket on that body and they were both a snug 'proper' fit.

So if nothing else it shouldn't be too much of a faff to get your hands on one that fits

4114Effects

Yeah, I actually just sent pictures to the supplier - they went and had a test and realised that none of their telecaster necks correctly fit their bodies! Someone in manufacturing has slipped up somewhere ...

So it's getting sent back and I'm on the hunt for another one  

ICBM

Yes, I would probably send it back. The lack of any radius on the fingerboard corners makes it really ugly too, like a Suhr.

Megii

So who sells a decent, but not too expensive tele neck these days?

GuitarMonkey

AllParts, WD Music. Still not cheap mind but you do get what you pay for.

Zodiac51

Fuck me - Looks like it's been dipped in a bath of polyurethane several times, bit like making a candle @-)

4114Effects

Anyone got any experience with the mighty mite necks? They look reasonable for the price.

asimmd

Not Tele necks but i have a Strat neck and its excellent.

Axecaster.co.uk usually sell them,and if it doesn't fit,its not too far to return it.

Megii

4114Effects said:

Anyone got any experience with the mighty mite necks? They look reasonable for the price.

I used a one-piece maple, 22 jumbo fret one on my most recent strat build. I would say for the price it was indeed pretty reasonable. The frets were well installed, although certainly benefited from a level and dress. Also the wood used is as good as anything I've seen, and the general construction standard is good. The truss rod on mine is excellent also, works smoothly and easily, and produces instant and clear change in the neck relief setting.

There are some downsides - one thing you might see as such is that they use a very thin kind of finish (not sure what it is) which actually looks a lot like bare wood when you initially look at the neck. But it isn't bare wood - they describe it as satin, but I think very thin and matt would be more accurate. I managed to improve my neck (IMO) by carefully smoothing it with very fine wire wool and then buffing with paper - it does look satin now. But if you want the classic gloss-finished maple look, forget it. Also the standard of finishing is a little rough, though there is some scope for tidying up and improving. The fretboard edges were just a little sharp, so I softened them a little. Another bad feature in my view is the cheap plastic nuts they fit - I was able to remove the nut on mine, clean up the slot, and fit a decent bone one.

The MM neck shortly after I received it:

So I'd say the basic quality is there, but with a few downsides which can be overcome to some extent - certainly in terms of getting something which functions well, the neck was a good buy, although it will never be quite the last word in quality. I now do remember @JookyChap telling me that Northwest Guitars sold good necks - maybe worth a look here: http://www.northwestguitars.co.uk/all-necks/

4114Effects

The Northwest guitar necks to look very nice indeed. Unfortunately they don't appear to have a single neck of any type or model in stock!

Megii

4114Effects said:

The Northwest guitar necks to look very nice indeed. Unfortunately they don't appear to have a single neck of any type or model in stock!

Apologies, I hadn't noticed that, and rather annoying of them!

4114Effects

Inconsiderate I'd say. Will drop them an email see when they're likely to have some back in stock.

Megii

There is a custom neck order thing on there too, where you can specify pretty much all the details - maybe worth trying that to get a quote and likely waiting time?

Megii

Another thought is @GSPBASSES has sold some of his nice-looking tele necks on here in the past, perhaps send him a pm?

JookyChap

Yes, the North West ones are nice, and the one custom one I had from them was excellent - really top notch. the downside it that it took about 9 months to arrive, and the stock ones only seem to come in every 3 months or so and then disappear shortly after..