wanting a replacement maple neck for my strat...opinions please

[Zeppelinfan8790]

Hey,

I really really want a maple neck strat but theres no way I can afford a new guitar, so I want to put one on my Squier. Dont care about brand, just want one that isn't too cheap or too expensive, looks nice and feels nice, has 22 frets, and will fit my Squier. Will the 21 to 22 fret thing be a problem?

I can't think of anything else to ask now so I'll ask later if I think of something.

Chris

[jmv]

Re: wanting a replacement maple neck for my strat...opinions please

You can check out www.warmoth.com, they have lots of options.

[Zeppelinfan8790]

Re: wanting a replacement maple neck for my strat...opinions please

Yeah I've been looking there...kind of overwhelmed by all the things theyre saying. I'm kinda dumb when it comes to technical stuff.

[jmv]

Re: wanting a replacement maple neck for my strat...opinions please

Well, you want a 25 1/2" scale neck. 21 or 22 frets won't be a problem, because its not dependant on the size of the neck pocket, just the size of the fretboard.

Most strat necks are either maple with maple, or maple with rosewood, so unless you feel confident venturing out into exotic woods, those are safe bets.

As far as warmoth construction, total vintage, or vintage modern.... The warmoth and vintage modern have a compound radius fretboard, which to most (its subjective, there ARE some people who don't like it) is better. This has to do with how flat or curved the fretboard is.... with the compound radius, its curved near the headstock to make chord work easier, but flat near the pickups to make soloing easier. The total vintage is all one radius, and its a pretty curved one, which to some can make it hard to play bends in solos. The warmoth has a 2 way truss rod, which can bend the neck either way. This could be seen as not nessesary, and many say it drains tone. The vintage modern would be the most like the neck you have now, in terms of the trussrod.

My squier (and most likely yours too) has a 1 and 5/8's inch nut... unless you have problems with catching other notes with one finger on accident, or you just find the fretboard too cramped, i'd suggest sticking with the same measurement.

Back profile is up to you, depending on what you want. Some of the custom options, like the 'wizard' or 'SRV' shapes, you can play on existing guitars (ibanez and SRV signature, respectively). From those, you might be able to decide better what you want.

Your fretwire is i'm GUESSING a 6105. Up to you, but i'd stay away from extremes like 6230 or 6100, unless you're shure thats what you want.

As far as the nut goes... they describe the different ones fairly well on their website... its really up to you. But you want to make sure you have a pro do it for you, because an improperly set up nut can cause lots of problems.

For keyholes, just figure out what kinda tuners you want to use, and specify that. I don't know what type the stock squier ones are, but i'd reccomend getting new ones anyway.

I think that about covers all aspects of it, you might wanna get a 'second opinion' so to speak on some things, just in case. If there's anything i can help clarify, just say the word.

[jmv]

Re: wanting a replacement maple neck for my strat...opinions please

Oh, and BTW.... another website some people have had good luck with, but that i'm not familiar with is www.usacustomguitars.com. Worth checking out to compare prices.

[kmcguitars]

Re: wanting a replacement maple neck for my strat...opinions please

You can try www.musikraft.com I got a J-Bass neck from them. IMHO they
are as good as warmoth. You don't get all the opitions like you do with
the big guys. But it's a good product for a good price.