Fender MIM Strat neck, Allparts body. Should be OK, right?

[Diego]

On wednesday I'll be the happy new owner of a Fender MIM Strat neck from a Classic Series 60s Strat in mint condition, to pair with an Allparts Strat body I've currently got attached to a crappy, skinny,
unstable neck made by some irrelevant ****ty brand nobody cares about anymore, that I can't ****ing stand.
It's a flexing, uninspiring piece of crap that makes the whole guitar unsufferably unstable tuning-wise.

The MIM neck has 21 vintage frets with 7.25" radius and a rosewood fretboard, but it's supposed to be a bit chunkier than most Standard MIM necks and eventually I'll refret the damn thing with jumbos anyway, so I should be happy.
I don't see any problem with the radius since I don't like Strats with silly low action anyway. I just want it and need it to be a dependable unit overall.

Anything I should be aware of? Everything indicates it should be an easy match, but I'll still take it to a tech to check the frets, nut and make sure the damn thing doesn't go out of tune.
Any tips are welcome.

 

[AlexR]

Re: Fender MIM Strat neck, Allparts body. Should be OK, right?

The amount of roundover at the end of the neck seems to be quite different between makers. This can make for quite sloppy pickguard fit or it fitting tightly/loosely at the end of the neck pocket.

 

[treyhaislip]

Re: Fender MIM Strat neck, Allparts body. Should be OK, right?

Allparts is a licensed Fender provider so you shouldn't have an issue with the fit.

Allparts are great necks for the price (though I prefer Warmoth and Musikraft.) I've had two and with a little bit of fret work they were great playing necks (no prob for you if you are looking to replace the frets anyways.)

 

[ehdwuld]

Re: Fender MIM Strat neck, Allparts body. Should be OK, right?

I like the floppy skinny necksthat move round as you play
It's like a chorus or wah pedal

 

[Diego]

Re: Fender MIM Strat neck, Allparts body. Should be OK, right?

Aaaaaand it's arrived.

I've got the Fender neck, however I bought it tunerless and now I have the choice of two sets of tuners I have stashed:
Vintage-style, made in Japan, Allparts tuners, or locking, made in Korea, Jin Ho tuners.

It will requiere a visit to a tech anyway, so what would you have it installed with?
I think I'm going with the Jin Hos.

 

[LonePhantom]

Re: Fender MIM Strat neck, Allparts body. Should be OK, right?

Aaaaaand it's arrived.

I've got the Fender neck, however I bought it tunerless and now I have the choice of two sets of tuners I have stashed:
Vintage-style, made in Japan, Allparts tuners, or locking, made in Korea, Jin Ho tuners.

It will requiere a visit to a tech anyway, so what would you have it installed with?
I think I'm going with the Jin Hos.

I just got some Jin-ho locking tuners on my Bullet Strat project, which I've got a thread about it on here. go with those, they are quite good. I've been quite impressed with them.

https://forum.seymourduncan.com/showthread.php?322120-New-project-number-one-with-a-bullet!!!

 

[Will S-T]

Re: Fender MIM Strat neck, Allparts body. Should be OK, right?

Aaaaaand it's arrived.

I've got the Fender neck, however I bought it tunerless and now I have the choice of two sets of tuners I have stashed:
Vintage-style, made in Japan, Allparts tuners, or locking, made in Korea, Jin Ho tuners.

It will requiere a visit to a tech anyway, so what would you have it installed with?
I think I'm going with the Jin Hos.

Given that the tuner holes on this neck will be for traditional Kluson type tuners
I'd stick with the Allparts ones or you will have to enlargen the holes for the locking tuners.

Tell us why you will need a tech?

 

[MetalManiac]

Re: Fender MIM Strat neck, Allparts body. Should be OK, right?

I've had some Gin- Ho's, but never any Jin-Hos, sorry. J/K..i had a set of Jin-Hos..I don't really use anything but premium tuners now, but the Jin-Hos did function adequately.

 

[Diego]

Re: Fender MIM Strat neck, Allparts body. Should be OK, right?

Tell us why you will need a tech?

I can't fix nut slots to save my life, man.
That's the only reason, the nut seems to be bone but with some rather "stock" looking slots, no way they'll take an 11-50 set.
The frets are in pretty good shape on this thing, minor wear in the lower register and shiny new from 10th and up.

And as you mentioned, my Jin Hos don't fit the current slots. Sadly the bushings on the AllParts tuners are too small, so I'm checking how to make them stay.
I'm thinking chipped matches and some superglue.

 

[dystrust]

Re: Fender MIM Strat neck, Allparts body. Should be OK, right?

The Jin Hos don't fit? I have a set of those on a Tele neck and they seem to have the same 10mm hole as the Fender/Ping tuners or Gotoh SG38s.

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: Fender MIM Strat neck, Allparts body. Should be OK, right?

How does the neck pocket fit? I had an issue with a Warmoth body and a Fender neck being too tight. I ended up just using the neck on another fender body and it fit perfectly.

On the topic of tuners, I really like the vintage style, but if the hole is too big I think the ship has sailed.

 

[Diego]

Re: Fender MIM Strat neck, Allparts body. Should be OK, right?

The Jin Hos don't fit? I have a set of those on a Tele neck and they seem to have the same 10mm hole as the Fender/Ping tuners or Gotoh SG38s.

Strangely, nope. A few mm. too tight. Used to have these on a Squier I think and that required modifications as well.

How does the neck pocket fit? I had an issue with a Warmoth body and a Fender neck being too tight. I ended up just using the neck on another fender body and it fit perfectly.

On the topic of tuners, I really like the vintage style, but if the hole is too big I think the ship has sailed.

Haven't taken the neck off the Strat yet, I'll do that if I manage to get the tuners right by myself. I'm surprised you had that issue to be honest, isn't that supposed to be the wonder of Fender licensing parts to other brands?

 

[AlexR]

Re: Fender MIM Strat neck, Allparts body. Should be OK, right?

The licencing tends to cover heel size and bolt pattern. The eventual fit is as much to do with the finish on both as anything else. A MIM body and neck will be mated and shaped with the knowledge of the typical finish thickness on both.
No random neck and body will have that taken into account.

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: Fender MIM Strat neck, Allparts body. Should be OK, right?

Yeah, the Warmoth was beautiful, no finish on the pocket and probably tuned to some exact measurements. The Fender neck had thick poly all over the heel with stickers, etc. With the extra slop of the Fender pocket it fit perfectly.

 

[Diego]

Re: Fender MIM Strat neck, Allparts body. Should be OK, right?

I decided not to wait any further:

What a difference! The fit was extremely tight, but correct.

I far prefer the feel of this neck to the regular MIM Standard necks I've played. This one is a bit fatter, and the combination of the vintage wire with the rosewood fretboard (no lacquer as a maple fretboard would have) makes it very easy to play. I had no issues adapting to the 7.25" radius.

It's thicker than my 339 neck, almost as thick as my Les Paul and man, the TONE!

It really livened up this guitar. I quickly noticed when setting it up it was much louder acoustically, and into my amp it rings in a much deeper, throaty, richer way now.
It was way plinkier, thinner and had less sustain.

I'd never experienced how much a neck can shift the tonal response of a guitar. It's like my Strat hit puberty!
Man I'm happy now! I won't be putting this guitar down for a while.

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: Fender MIM Strat neck, Allparts body. Should be OK, right?

Great! I agree it's amazing how much tone the neck brings to the table.