The other day I bought two necks from Partscaster, which seems to be a small (perhaps one-man) operation in the North of Scotland near Inverness that's been going since 2004. I had never heard of them, but it came up in web searches.
There is also a Reverb and eBay store according to the website, but I haven't looked at them.
They / he / she has a limited range of items and unfortunately no bodies or hardware other than own-brand and Wilkinson pickups (at the moment anyway), but they have 22 fret Satin Nitro finished roasted maple Tele and Strat heel fit replacement necks with truss rod adjusters at headstock or heel and with rosewood or maple boards. Three unfinished necks are also available with half-paddle headstocks: rosewood or maple board for Strat, and maple board for Tele.
and the Nitro finished Tele fit one with rosewood board for £129:
The first is described as having "hidden fret ends" and the second as having "semi-hemi frets". I assumed that the "hidden ends" would just have colour-matched infill or even a very thin binding of maple or rosewood to cover the tangs, and that the solder blob "semi-hemi" ones would just be better finished bevels than on most affordable necks. After really close inspection neither is true. The "hidden" ends are actually the same as the "semi-hemi" ones in that the slots appear to have ended just inside the wood of the fretboard. I can't see binding or infills. The ends are indeed polished to solder blob shininess.
Here's the stock photos of the fret ends, and the necks I received are exactly as shown.
I wasn't sure what to expect when I bought them, but I am VERY pleased with the quality of the necks. I don't think you can buy anything as well made for that low a price anywhere else, but I haven't shopped around extensively. They aren't hand made by the seller, because they came in boxes with the same kind of sticky yellowed sellotape, protective thin foam bag, elastic bands, and Allen key in pouch, as Far East guitars.
There are two very slight issues, but neither is significant enough to cause any problems.
The top edges of the fretboard are at a fairly sharp angle. The extreme sharp edge is sanded off, but it itsn't rounded. Some fine emery paper run down the fretboard edge will round them over as long as I'm careful not to scratch the nice shiny fret ends.
The frets end very slightly in from the fretboard edge. This will be beneficial to sandingg the fretboard edge less sharp without leaving islands where the frets normally have a bevel, but they aren't far enough in as to necessitate using a nut with closer string spacing or a narrower spaced bridge.
Although the spec on the website says that the heels are 55.6mm wide, I measured the unfinished one at 55.1mm wide. If lacquered that would increase it by a hair, but I am oiling this one, so to fit it to my 55.5mm neck pocket I will have to shim it either side with wafer thin wood veneer to take up the very slight slack of 0.2mm either side. That's about the thinnest wood veneer you can buy, and fortunately I have some. The heel of the finished neck measures exactly 55.5mm, which is perfect.
The upper side of the half paddle headstock is an exact outline of the top side of the finished neck, and has enough wood to cut it to a Strat or a Tele. [EDIT] You will NOT be able to cut a large '70s headstock from the half-paddle. It won't fit. Only a standard sized one can be cut from it, or a Tele (obviously). You could JUST cut a 70s Strat headstock outline on the unfinished neck I have if you reduced the width of the widest point by about 4mm. The bulbous end would fit. I don't know if the unfinished necks for "Strat fit" would have a slightly wider half paddle, but I don't think so. I think it's only the heel shape that is different.
The unfinished neck is fine sanded perfectly where I could start applying lacquer or immediately oil it after wiping off some very fine dust. The fretboard surface of it and the rosewood one are perfectly sanded and the Nitro finish on the "finished" neck feels quite thin and has a lovely satin feel. The roasted maple on the unfinished neck is a nice shade that will darken fair amount with oil and, although it has a darker "knot" spanning the bass side of the first two frets, the grain is quite nice and the darker bits don't detract from the appearance. The rosewood board on the finished neck is unexpectedly nice and quite close-grained rosewood, and the lacquered neck and headstock are a lovely biscuit brown shade.
The fretwork is excellent. I have found only three frets on each up above the 10th fret that are high, but that's being very, very nit-picky and precise with a fret rocker because it's almost undiscernible and probably wouldn't make any difference on a normal setup. The fretwork feels luxurious for the price. As best as I can determine with my vernier caliper, the frets are 2.7mm wide by very approximately 1.2mm high, although they may be 1.1 to 1.3mm high.
I would say these necks are a real bargain and perhaps something any of you might want to consider if you're building a partscaster and want a good neck for minimal outlay.
Comments
I've just recently purchased a Guitar Anatomy Roasted Maple and Rosewood Telecaster Guitar Neck Unfinished Paddle Headstock neck https://reverb.com/item/36637044?utm_source=android-app&utm_medium=android-share&utm_campaign=listing&utm_content=36637044. ;
I paid £132.99 (originally £139.99) after adding it to my shopping cart on reverb for a week before getting an offer come through. The neck is excellently crafted and a great quality.
Would be great to meet up and compare our necks (bahaha, that's the weirdest thing I've typed in a while) but it appears you are the other end of the country from me.
flanging_fed “
I'll have to email them. Might as well before sending money to Warmoth!
I’m so bored I might as well be listening to Pink Floyd