Re-shaping a Strat into a Tele headstock...

jaymenon

I have a nice Allparts unfinished Strat neck that I really like the feel of - but I'd like to fit it to a Tele body.

Would you experts advise me please if you might be so gracious as to re-fashion the headstock into a Telecaster outline please?

And what would be the cost involved?

Funkfingers

21 frets or 22? This will be significant at the neck pocket end for several reasons.

Personally, I'd leave the headstock as is.

ICBM

Cooler not to!

paulnb57

You can do it, I have,  but I think it will be a compromise, as I seem to remember the Tele shape doesn't quite fit the Strat headstock footprint….don’t forget that the shape of the heel on each neck is different too, but you can also square off the end of the Strat heel to fit the Tele neck pocket with no effect on intonation, there is enough adjustment on the bridge saddles to compensate
Cost! Who knows?, not much as its pretty easy to do and your neck is unfinished, so there is none to damage in the process
You can find headstock templates online that you can print off, cut it out stick it to the headstock you want to mod with pritt stick after lining up the tuner holes, cut the waste away and sand to shape, pretty easy….

ICBM

paulnb57 said:

don’t forget that the shape of the heel on each neck is different too, but you can also square off the end of the Strat heel to fit the Tele neck pocket with no effect on intonation, there is enough adjustment on the bridge saddles to compensate

You don't square off the end of the Strat neck - the overall length is the same, it's just that the Strat is rounded and leaves gaps at the corners, but a custom pickguard will cover them. (Or if it's a 22-fret overhang neck, no problem at all.) It's the other way round which is a problem, Tele neck on Strat body - that doesn't fit properly without modifying either the neck or the body.

jaymenon

22 frets - so neck pocket will be covered.

But I think I'd like it to look like a tele headstock :-)

Roland

I’ve done this. As several people have said, you have to compromise the outline slightly. The problem with doing it yourself is keeping the new edge at right angles to the top, which can be difficult to do with hand tools. I used a scroll saw and a bobbin sander, and it took 20 minutes cutting and sanding, plus re-finishing. That was easy for me because it was oil finish. Polyurethane wouldn’t be too difficult to match yourself. Nitro needs someone with the right equipment. So the answer to “how much” depends a lot on the finish you need. Personally I’d leave it as it is.

GoldenEraGuitars

I’d sell the neck and buy a tele allparts one instead tbh.