Designing a custom Strat neck: All the vintage feel without the vintage problems.

[Diego]

Hey guys,

I'm planning for my Partscaster, which is kind of my número uno at this point of my life.
It has a crap, unstable, uninspiring, too flat and too thin korean Hamer neck and a rather good, if maybe a bit heavy Allparts body, with great hardware and great tone that I think is a keeper.

I definitely wanna upgrade the neck to something nice, but I'm not really interested in a vintage-correct repro here.
I'd like an updated version of it. And by updated I don't necessarily mean tall frets and flat radius.

I mean convenient things like locking tuners, a nut that works and a good headstock angle/tuner placement that won't make me need ****ing string guides and all that crap that adds friction and tuning issues. I want a chunky ass neck that works like things in 2016 should work.

So I guess that rather than going with an Allparts neck, I'd rather pay a luthier to build me something nice.
Given my considerations, what do you think I should consider as options? What should I get away from?

Forget stuff like radius and neck profile. I'm thinking in the design of the other features I mentioned.

Thanks!

 

[Clint 55]

Re: Designing a custom Strat neck: All the vintage feel without the vintage problems.

Heck yes, chunky does = better tone. Another feature that I really like is UNFINISHED. I think unfinished sounds way better than gloss. Don't pay more to finish the neck when it sounds worse.

 

[AlexR]

Re: Designing a custom Strat neck: All the vintage feel without the vintage problems.

Staggered tuner heights help with string trees......but there are roller trees about too should the need arise. There is a fine line of 'good' between too much break angle and not enough.....just getting a thicker neck blank and offsetting the 'tuner face' further back from the nut might cause more issues than it is supposed to solve.

Nuts are the key really. Some form of Tusq and well cut with extra graphite or similar nut sauce will do plenty for ease of string movement there.

Be aware that locking tuners add weight. There is a definite correlation between tuner mass and tone. The heavier ones seem to give more low end emphasis.

 

[Wildkat]

Re: Designing a custom Strat neck: All the vintage feel without the vintage problems.

Warmoth.

 

[stevie_bees]

Re: Designing a custom Strat neck: All the vintage feel without the vintage problems.

For inspiration have a look at the G&L Legacy specs. The reason I got my Legacy over a Strat was because it's a great balance between vintage and modern. Flatter radius, bigger frets, excellent 2-point bridge but still has that vintage feel and sound. I added Schaller locking tuners, and it has undergone a few pickup swaps over the years, although that was me finding tones for specific projects. It currently has Stack Plus pickups and the Clapton mid-boost.

 

[darthphineas]

Re: Designing a custom Strat neck: All the vintage feel without the vintage problems.

Warmoth.

This

 

[ehdwuld]

Re: Designing a custom Strat neck: All the vintage feel without the vintage problems.

Warmoth or Carvin
The Carvin comes with a tilted headstock and "graphite" nut

 

[Diego]

Re: Designing a custom Strat neck: All the vintage feel without the vintage problems.

Warmoth isn't all that reasonable pricewise to me on this side of the world.
I might consider it if something exceptional turned up, but I don't see much chances of that.

 

[Chris Pile]

Re: Designing a custom Strat neck: All the vintage feel without the vintage problems.

WARMOTH - none better since the late 70's. (ask an old guy - he'll know)

Get the shape you want with an angled headstock - best quality woods and fabrication.

Would I lie to you?

 

[Chickenwings]

Re: Designing a custom Strat neck: All the vintage feel without the vintage problems.

warmoth.
You'd be silly to go anywhere else, although i know allparts make a good fat neck too.
I know shipping is expensive, but in the end you will get a great neck made to your specs.
You can even see the neck before you buy it if you order from the showcase so you wont have any surprises.
I have ordered three different warmoth necks posted to australia. Not the cheapest sure, but all have been perfect.
Locking tuners don't help tuning stability, I've had lockers on mt strat plus deluxe since 1991 and various low friction/roller nuts. They just make string changes faster. Cool tho if you want that.
Gotoh make staggered height tuners if you want to eliminate string trees. Tusq nut and keep some chap stick in our guitar case. Get it cut for your string gauge.
Normally id say go for a "vintage modern" due to weight/balance and cos i like light weight axes, but seeing as you have a pretty heavy body and cos it is a strat, it would be worth looking at the modern "pro" necks with the dual truss rod and side adjust. They are a bit heavier so they dont pair well with a lightweight tele body, but a heavier strat body is a good match. All that extra metal in the neck really does give a powerful, defined tone and ton of sustain - especially if you play leads, they sound particularly strong when playing up high. Definitely worth looking at in your case.
In 2016, getting the perfect neck is easy from a company that builds custom necks day in day out. They even have a good warranty. Worth it even with expensive postage.

 

[Wildkat]

Re: Designing a custom Strat neck: All the vintage feel without the vintage problems.

Warmoth isn't all that reasonable pricewise to me on this side of the world.
I might consider it if something exceptional turned up, but I don't see much chances of that.

Trust me, you get what you pay for. Warmoth quality is excellent. I have multiple partscasters with Warmoth necks and they're some of my best playing guitars.

 

[Chris Pile]

Re: Designing a custom Strat neck: All the vintage feel without the vintage problems.

Locking tuners don't help tuning stability, I've had lockers on mt strat plus deluxe since 1991 and various low friction/roller nuts. They just make string changes faster.

You're not one of those guys who still wraps string around the posts of locking tuners, are you?

 

[S100]

Re: Designing a custom Strat neck: All the vintage feel without the vintage problems.

Hey guys,

I'm planning for my Partscaster, which is kind of my número uno at this point of my life.
It has a crap, unstable, uninspiring, too flat and too thin korean Hamer neck and a rather good, if maybe a bit heavy Allparts body, with great hardware and great tone that I think is a keeper.

I definitely wanna upgrade the neck to something nice, but I'm not really interested in a vintage-correct repro here.
I'd like an updated version of it. And by updated I don't necessarily mean tall frets and flat radius.

I mean convenient things like locking tuners, a nut that works and a good headstock angle/tuner placement that won't make me need ****ing string guides and all that crap that adds friction and tuning issues. I want a chunky ass neck that works like things in 2016 should work.

So I guess that rather than going with an Allparts neck, I'd rather pay a luthier to build me something nice.
Given my considerations, what do you think I should consider as options? What should I get away from?

Forget stuff like radius and neck profile. I'm thinking in the design of the other features I mentioned.

Thanks!

I'd recommend you check out Musikraft. I just had a neck built by them and it's the best neck I've ever played. Their website isn't great, but the level of customization they offer is unparalleled. Worth checking out, at least.

 

[aleclee]

Re: Designing a custom Strat neck: All the vintage feel without the vintage problems.

Might check out USA Custom Guitars, too. Same sort of deal as Warmoth (started by some form Warmoth guys) but with some different points of emphasis.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Designing a custom Strat neck: All the vintage feel without the vintage problems.

Warmoth has really good prices if you look at their 'Screamin' Deals' section. It might be affordable to you in your part of the world. I also go for an unfinished or roasted maple neck. I like staggered locking tuners and graphite nut, too. However, I like smaller necks.

 

[Wildkat]

Re: Designing a custom Strat neck: All the vintage feel without the vintage problems.

Warmoth has really good prices if you look at their 'Screamin' Deals' section. It might be affordable to you in your part of the world. I also go for an unfinished or roasted maple neck. I like staggered locking tuners and graphite nut, too. However, I like smaller necks.

I always forget about the Screaming Deals section. Looks like that'd be the way to go.

 

[Diego]

Re: Designing a custom Strat neck: All the vintage feel without the vintage problems.

Wasn't expecting so much support towards Warmoth!
I would imagine the fit to the Allparts body won't be an issue.

Not something I'll decide today or tomorrow, but I'll keep all of this archived. Thanks!

 

[DrNewcenstein]

Re: Designing a custom Strat neck: All the vintage feel without the vintage problems.

If you do go with Warmoth, and you want a chunky neck, go for the Boatneck profile. It's the fattest one they have, and it's definitely meaty, but not so much you can't handle it (unless you've got the baby hands). They also offer an offset neck profile, which is something similar to EVH's old Frankie neck which was worn down on one side from years of play. It's a combination of the boatneck and something a bit thinner, but not "shred stick" thin.

A tilt-back head will help about as much as staggered tuners, but the critical issues will be how well the nut is cut and where the tuners are located. If you're having it custom-built, you will want an absolutely straight string path from the bridge to the tuners, with the noted exception of downward angle to the tuners. Any travel side-to-side is going to cause tuning issues.

Roller string trees are also a good idea, but go for good ones.


If you know someone locally who can build a neck from a blank, and you can find a scrap log to do a rough shaping with (without sacrificing a good piece of neck wood - preferably something that was going to be set on fire anyway), then you may be able to mock something up so he knows what you want. Then again, if he's a luthier, he may have something on-hand already.

 

[treyhaislip]

Re: Designing a custom Strat neck: All the vintage feel without the vintage problems.

I have a super nice Allparts 1 piece Roasted Maple neck–very nice BUT it needed a bit more fretwork than the Warmoth (the Musikraft was the best quality out of all of the necks I've had.)

Cheaper options like WD and Mighty Mite may require more fretwork but are certainly great options.

 

[Diego]

Re: Designing a custom Strat neck: All the vintage feel without the vintage problems.

What on Earth is going on in your signature GIF?