I recently bought an Allparts neck and had it fitted to the body of my fender starcaster kit guitar (its made in indonesia, think squier but of lesser quality). I bought a vintage bone nut, seymour duncan pickups, a vintage fender trem bridge, tuners that lock at the machine heads etc, basically the works. The only thing in the guitar which isnt top quality is the body itself, which if im correct should only affect the sound. The neck is a fat C profile, 9.5" radius with 6105 frets and feels great but its super hard to play. The string tension is absurd, the frets buzz, fretting requires significant pressure, and I have to keep the action nearly 1cm off the fretboard to keep them from buzzing. When I play american strats at my local guitar center they feel like butter, even the ones with chunky necks like mine. Is it a poor quality neck, or did I just have a ****ty guitar tech set it up (I had it done at guitar center)? BTW the tech said he crowned and polished the frets before returning it to me.
Allparts neck
- Thread starter 4sapricky
- Start date
Clint 55
OH THE DOUBLE THICK GLAZE!
Re: Allparts neck
The price of a guitar has nothing to do with the fret work and set up.
To get a guitar to feel and play great, you must:
Level the frets! No new neck has completely level frets and all the setup in the world won't make a neck play right if there are high and low frets.
Set the nut action. I like .020" E - .016" e Too high and physically pressing down the distance to the fret will make certain notes in your open chords go out of tune. Too low and open strings will buzz.
Easier stuff: Adjust the truss rod, saddle height, and intonation. I like to set the saddle height so it's where I like it in the upper frets. Then adjust the truss rod so that the string height is about the same in the middle of the neck as the upper frets.
You can't mess up adjusting the truss rod, saddle height, or string length, so fiddle with those like crazy until you have it down. For the nut height and fret dress you can mess up. But you can replace nuts. Fret levels you can mess up once and then re do it if you need to. After that your frets will start to get low. So either practice up on a beater guitar, or find a good tech to do it for you. There are videos for all of these subjects on youtube.
I just read that you said the tech worked on the frets already. The frets can still suck balls after a tech works on them. When I went to work on the frets on my 335 after my teacher had done them. There was a low fret that I had sand away at for like a half hour to get to be even.
And by the way, just because a body is inexpensive doesn't mean it's poorer quality. The body to my affinity strat in my pic ($200) is alder just like a higher priced model. It sounds good! I did notice a difference in sound when I tried a bullet strat ($130) however. The body was super light and I have no idea what kind of wood it was. (Then again, people spend big bucks to get chambered bodies! So wtf I don't know.) I think that's the point when low quality starts to affect sound negatively.
The price of a guitar has nothing to do with the fret work and set up.
To get a guitar to feel and play great, you must:
Level the frets! No new neck has completely level frets and all the setup in the world won't make a neck play right if there are high and low frets.
Set the nut action. I like .020" E - .016" e Too high and physically pressing down the distance to the fret will make certain notes in your open chords go out of tune. Too low and open strings will buzz.
Easier stuff: Adjust the truss rod, saddle height, and intonation. I like to set the saddle height so it's where I like it in the upper frets. Then adjust the truss rod so that the string height is about the same in the middle of the neck as the upper frets.
You can't mess up adjusting the truss rod, saddle height, or string length, so fiddle with those like crazy until you have it down. For the nut height and fret dress you can mess up. But you can replace nuts. Fret levels you can mess up once and then re do it if you need to. After that your frets will start to get low. So either practice up on a beater guitar, or find a good tech to do it for you. There are videos for all of these subjects on youtube.
I just read that you said the tech worked on the frets already. The frets can still suck balls after a tech works on them. When I went to work on the frets on my 335 after my teacher had done them. There was a low fret that I had sand away at for like a half hour to get to be even.
And by the way, just because a body is inexpensive doesn't mean it's poorer quality. The body to my affinity strat in my pic ($200) is alder just like a higher priced model. It sounds good! I did notice a difference in sound when I tried a bullet strat ($130) however. The body was super light and I have no idea what kind of wood it was. (Then again, people spend big bucks to get chambered bodies! So wtf I don't know.) I think that's the point when low quality starts to affect sound negatively.
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JB_From_Hell
Jomo's Nimions
Re: Allparts neck
I'm beginning to be of the opinion that a Strat's neck has as much or more to do with tone quality than the body. Notice all the examples of oddball material guitars sounding good, like the Strat with a cardboard body? They all have regular necks.
Get the setup redone by a good tech, then learn to do it yourself.
I'm beginning to be of the opinion that a Strat's neck has as much or more to do with tone quality than the body. Notice all the examples of oddball material guitars sounding good, like the Strat with a cardboard body? They all have regular necks.
Get the setup redone by a good tech, then learn to do it yourself.
Re: Allparts neck
The Earnest packaging one had a cardboard neck:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Oo2H-W7d6A
The Earnest packaging one had a cardboard neck:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Oo2H-W7d6A
treyhaislip
Well-known member
Re: Allparts neck
Definitely a terrible setup. I have a Tele with an Allparts neck that plays like butter. Needed some fretwork but is a great neck. FYI...don't go to Guitar Center for repair/setups.
Definitely a terrible setup. I have a Tele with an Allparts neck that plays like butter. Needed some fretwork but is a great neck. FYI...don't go to Guitar Center for repair/setups.
treyhaislip
Well-known member
Re: Allparts neck
If you are in the Atlanta area, message me and I can get you in touch with several great technicians who can help.
Big Box Stores are great for getting deals on gear (especially used gear, IMO) but they have a terrible reputation as guitar technicians.
If you are in the Atlanta area, message me and I can get you in touch with several great technicians who can help.
Big Box Stores are great for getting deals on gear (especially used gear, IMO) but they have a terrible reputation as guitar technicians.
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Re: Allparts neck
unfortunately im in central New Jersey, but I appreciate the offer.
unfortunately im in central New Jersey, but I appreciate the offer.
treyhaislip
Well-known member
Re: Allparts neck
Sorry dude! Hopefully someone from NJ can send you a pm about a reputable tech.
Sorry dude! Hopefully someone from NJ can send you a pm about a reputable tech.
JB_From_Hell
Jomo's Nimions
Clint 55
OH THE DOUBLE THICK GLAZE!
Re: Allparts neck
I agree. A strat with a gloss finish maple fretboard with a crapload of lacquer all over it sounds like a different instrument to me than one with an unfinished neck with rosewood fretboard with just the bare wood.
PFDarkside
of the Forum
Re: Allparts neck
String gauge?
Fender ships with 9s, so they play easily.
String gauge?
Fender ships with 9s, so they play easily.
PFDarkside
of the Forum
Re: Allparts neck
Wait, 1 cm? That's ridiculous. Is the neck pocket the wrong depth since it's not a Stratocaster?
Wait, 1 cm? That's ridiculous. Is the neck pocket the wrong depth since it's not a Stratocaster?
Clint 55
OH THE DOUBLE THICK GLAZE!
Re: Allparts neck
That is correct. It needs a professional fret job. Check out the craftsmanship and precision that a pro fret job entails. When you fret a note, the string only clears the next fret by about .010"! That's how much precision is required. If you have frets that are super high and low, there's no way it's going to play without buzzing.
Re: Allparts neck
I've not watched the vid, but there are certainly a lot of aspects of a setup. Bolt-on necks are reliant on a matching neck pocket depth, but also maybe any subtle angling that either neck heel or pocket have.
Over the years of me having many parts based strats/teles of different origins plus home-made necks+bodies.........and ones using parts from Allparts/warmoth etc is that they are all a bit different. Some work well with thinner pickguards like vintage 1 ply. Some work better with 3 ply. Then you have different fretboard radii, plus the 1-piece neck vs separate f/b neck like with rosewood. Not all fretboards are the same thickness....especially ones trying to be vintage accurate.
So putting together partscasters is often not work for the 'tech'.....who is really only good for getting something setup that is already made from mating parts. You almost need a luthier-grade person doing your work. They are much more used to having to finesse parts together to make them work.
I've not watched the vid, but there are certainly a lot of aspects of a setup. Bolt-on necks are reliant on a matching neck pocket depth, but also maybe any subtle angling that either neck heel or pocket have.
Over the years of me having many parts based strats/teles of different origins plus home-made necks+bodies.........and ones using parts from Allparts/warmoth etc is that they are all a bit different. Some work well with thinner pickguards like vintage 1 ply. Some work better with 3 ply. Then you have different fretboard radii, plus the 1-piece neck vs separate f/b neck like with rosewood. Not all fretboards are the same thickness....especially ones trying to be vintage accurate.
So putting together partscasters is often not work for the 'tech'.....who is really only good for getting something setup that is already made from mating parts. You almost need a luthier-grade person doing your work. They are much more used to having to finesse parts together to make them work.
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Clint 55
OH THE DOUBLE THICK GLAZE!
Re: Allparts neck
If you can get the neck bow curved properly to where the string height at the 10th fret is slightly below the string height at the 21st fret then the neck heel and pocket are fine. Messing with the neck heel and pocket would be a last resort if it actually is screwed up. Chances are everything is in the ballpark. And the only problem is high and low frets which super high action is needed to clear.
If you can get the neck bow curved properly to where the string height at the 10th fret is slightly below the string height at the 21st fret then the neck heel and pocket are fine. Messing with the neck heel and pocket would be a last resort if it actually is screwed up. Chances are everything is in the ballpark. And the only problem is high and low frets which super high action is needed to clear.
