'24 Partscaster Project

[JD01]

What you think of these? Bit too knocked about? I don't mind the body looking a bit tatty as long as its functional
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/256329643195 ... R7btzeeHYw

This one looks tidier and is an unusual colour too
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/335144797751 ... R7rtzeeHYw

[CeeBee]

The blue one looks better, there is a nice big pocket for whatever pickups you want to use. Don't worry about holes not lining up, just fill them in with wood and glue and drill them as needed.

[JD01]

The blue one looks better, there is a nice big pocket for whatever pickups you want to use. Don't worry about holes not lining up, just fill them in with wood and glue and drill them as needed.

Yeah, once I have a neck connected to a body and I've checked the scale length I'll quite enjoy taking my time tinkering over the rest of it, fitting hardware etc. Soldering the electronics will give me an aneurysm. But I might just take that to someone else to do.

[muttley]

I just prefer the way they look and want something a little unusual. I'm comfortable with routing a slightly bigger pickup cavity.

Ok so it's about headstock shape. That's cool. It doesn't address cramming the flat tele neck end into the strat's curved pocket. While it will physically fit, there will be a gap and the screw holes won't line up. Maybe you could use a pickguard that covers the gap. Paging @muttley

First thing to do is make sure that the scale length is right when adding a tele neck to a strat body. You may need to reposition the screw holes very slightly if you don't have enough slack on the saddles (easier than shifting the bridge position although that is possible too). You maybe lucky and the neck gives you the right string length.

As far as the rounded vs square neck ends, that will depend on the body route but most Strat pockets have rounded ends so you will have to square them off. Many times that will be ok but even if you take out a little too much you can cover it with careful cutting of the scratch plate. Get it to me and I'd do it in an hour for you.

[muttley]

What you think of these? Bit too knocked about? I don't mind the body looking a bit tatty as long as its functional
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/256329643195 ... R7btzeeHYw

This one looks tidier and is an unusual colour too
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/335144797751 ... R7rtzeeHYw

The first one looks like it has already been squared off after a fashion.

The second listing is a pool route so that would help with your pickup placement and selection.

Those things normally sell quite cheap so just grab them if they fall in your budget.

Let me know if you need some affordable pups as I am having a clear out and may have some old ones of mine or old squire or OEM ones at a knock down price.

[muttley]

Ok so it's about headstock shape. That's cool. It doesn't address cramming the flat tele neck end into the strat's curved pocket. While it will physically fit, there will be a gap and the screw holes won't line up. Maybe you could use a pickguard that covers the gap. Paging @muttley

I was assuming that I'd have to just square off the strat's neck pocket.

Kind of. A lot will depend on what neck you get. They aint all the same and you have curves and shit to think about if you want a super sung fit. The original design of Fenders wasn't about that though and the scratch plate and fingerboard where used to cover any needed alignment and geometry issues. The most important part is the right neck so I would really focus on that first then look for a body that will need the least tinkering. With a bolt on neck as long as it's fitted right you can live with a little gap here and there and hide it with the scratchplate which you will almost certainly have to modify a little.

[JD01]

Finding a decent Fender neck is proving a bit more difficult that the body - there's really not many 2nd hand ones about. I'll find one though. The Bodies seem pretty cheap, so even if I destroy a couple I can get more!

If you have a spare tele bridge pickup and strat neck pickup that would be great.

[muttley]

Finding a decent Fender neck is proving a bit more difficult that the body - there's really not many 2nd hand ones about. I'll find one though. The Bodies seem pretty cheap, so even if I destroy a couple I can get more!

If you have a spare tele bridge pickup and strat neck pickup that would be great.

I'm pretty sure I have, at least the tele bridge pickup. I will root around in the next day or so. You have a bit of time so if not I may be able to spin up what you want now my work pressures have reduced. Pretty much at cost.

Some of the Squire necks were pretty decent TBF so you may be able to score one of them quite cheap and whip the neck off.

[JD01]

Cool.
I'm finding this weird thing at the moment where necks seem to be more expensive than guitars.

[CeeBee]

Cool.
I'm finding this weird thing at the moment where necks seem to be more expensive than guitars.

It is the only precice engineered part of an electric guitar . Even cheap ones have pretty good necks these days. I had a cheap Harley Benton Tele clone that had a great neck on it. I modified the body so often that I eventually scrapped it but I salvaged the neck to put on a new body I built out of light weight paulownia. The whole thing weighs in at 2,5 kg as opposed to 4,5kg.
Try ordering a couple of Tele clones to see if you like the necks. Send the ones you don't like back. Apart from the accuracy of the fretwork, the shape and feel of the neck is subjective. What is deemed by the experts to be good may not suit your playing, plus you'll be getting a neck with new frets.

[muttley]

Cool.
I'm finding this weird thing at the moment where necks seem to be more expensive than guitars.

Making by hand it takes longer to make a neck as it does the body unless you have a lot of binding and inlay work. Making with CNC or automated takes longer too. There are also more man hours in the detail.

[JD01]

@muttley This one looks tidy - although its just something random and unbranded.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/256339374839 ... R6jaqMeqYw
I don't mind random and unbranded provided that the screw holes are in the right place and the neck pocket is the right dims - what you think?

[muttley]

@muttley This one looks tidy - although its just something random and unbranded.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/256339374839 ... R6jaqMeqYw
I don't mind random and unbranded provided that the screw holes are in the right place and the neck pocket is the right dims - what you think?

Impossible to say how much work the neck pocket would need. The screw holes would be for a standard strat neck plate I would imagine. That would also need some routing to get a tele bridge pickup and plate in there as it is currently routed for three discrete strat pups. It really depends on what you confidence level is for putting it together with a tele neck and a tele bridge pickup.

Less work with something like this as it has a tank route.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/166570571305 ... R-q8wNOqYw

or this.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/225978824248 ... R-q8wNOqYw

[muttley]

If you want Bristol.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/256366095273 ... R8Cr6NOqYw

[Lt. Bob]

bought tons of stuff from these guys ... all of it very good for the price.
They do ding ya' on shipping though

https://www.guitarfetish.com/XGP-USA-Sp ... c_517.html

OIf my shitload of guitars I own, six are homebuilts ..... I like 'em

[JD01]

@muttley Any of them look fine - I'm just concerned that they neck pocket is the right width (I know I'll have to re-shape it slightly) and depth and that standard strat parts like the vibrato and scratch plate will fill. I knew I may have to do some routing under the guard - don't really mind about that.

[JD01]

bought tons of stuff from these guys ... all of it very good for the price.
They do ding ya' on shipping though

https://www.guitarfetish.com/XGP-USA-Sp ... c_517.html

OIf my shitload of guitars I own, six are homebuilts ..... I like 'em

I really like this, but as you said - shipping may be a disaster
https://www.guitarfetish.com/XGP-Premiu ... 43809.html

[muttley]

bought tons of stuff from these guys ... all of it very good for the price.
They do ding ya' on shipping though

https://www.guitarfetish.com/XGP-USA-Sp ... c_517.html

OIf my shitload of guitars I own, six are homebuilts ..... I like 'em

I really like this, but as you said - shipping may be a disaster
https://www.guitarfetish.com/XGP-Premiu ... 43809.html

https://northwestguitars.co.uk/products ... lacid-blue

They do a trem body but it's currently out of stock.

[muttley]

@muttley Any of them look fine - I'm just concerned that they neck pocket is the right width (I know I'll have to re-shape it slightly) and depth and that standard strat parts like the vibrato and scratch plate will fill. I knew I may have to do some routing under the guard - don't really mind about that.

TBH you wont really know until you get the parts you want to use. The neck pocket may need to be tweaked it may not except the end profile will definitely need adjusting unless it sits over the scratchplate.

The first thing you will need to do is mark exactly where the neck will sit in the pocket and then work from there. Most necks will be close at the very least. Strat and Tele necks rely on the bolt on rather than a precise fit of the pocket. I've seen really expensive strats with terrible neck pocket fit.

[Lt. Bob]

bought tons of stuff from these guys ... all of it very good for the price.
They do ding ya' on shipping though

https://www.guitarfetish.com/XGP-USA-Sp ... c_517.html

OIf my shitload of guitars I own, six are homebuilts ..... I like 'em

I really like this, but as you said - shipping may be a disaster
https://www.guitarfetish.com/XGP-Premiu ... 43809.html

I used that body for my purple strat ... unfinished in this pic but it's that body only in purple