My Strat neck warped...

JordanM82

JordanM82

New member
Well after sitting in it's soft case in the closet for about 3 weeks while I was doing some recording with my other guitars, I brought my baby back out to play her. I immediately noticed a SIGNIFICANT change in the sustain of the guitar, especially on the D and G strings, the notes died VERY fast on a guitar that I have always said has more sustain then any other Strat I have ever played. I thought well maybe the strings are just really dead so I put a new set of .10's on there tuned her up and tried to play again to the same result. What was strange to me was that if I play a D (on the G string at the 7th fret), it dies unnaturally fast, but if I play that same note and bend it up to E, it rings out like the guitar did normally. So I began to inspect the guitar; bridge, saddles, nut, everything looked in order. Then I eyed the neck... and I gasped.

I tried to catch it on camera but it doesn't seem to show well, however, the neck clearly is twisted upward on the Low E side. It was a serious kick in the gut, I know I can replace the neck, but this neck as been like home for me and is a huge part of why this Strat has been my #1 guitar for almost 3 years now. The match between the body and neck were magical and I am afraid it won't ever be the same...

Has anyone had this happen before and had to change out a neck? What the heck caused it to happen? Was the guitar the same afterwards? Where should I start looking for necks with custom options like hand-rolled edges, vintage tint etc. Warmoth?

Someone give me some hope here...
 
Re: My Strat neck warped...

Nothing? No recommendations on places to get a nice neck? Who has had experience with Warmoth and what was it like?
 
Re: My Strat neck warped...

I'd have the guitar set up around the twist and see what happens. Who knows; you may discover the benefits of having your strings higher this way! :D

You can also wrench twisted necks back sometimes by twisting them back the other way, around the truss rod, like wringing a towel. I've done it a few times with my Melody Maker, as it can twist a bit when you go up in string gauge. You can even build a jig to hold it in that reverse twist for a bit. My old acoustic guitar repair guy, Larry Brown, had made one.
 
Re: My Strat neck warped...

Well my Warmoth necks are very well made, but as far as I know, they don't do rolled edges, but will do just about anything else. You could try USACG though, they'll do the rolled edges, but I've never tried one of their necks. They have a good rep round here though.
 
Re: My Strat neck warped...

ItsaBass said:
I'd have the guitar set up around the twist and see what happens. Who knows; you may discover the benefits of having your strings higher this way! :D

You can also wrench twisted necks back sometimes by twisting them back the other way, around the truss rod, like wringing a towel. I've done it a few times with my Melody Maker, as it can twist a bit when you go up in string gauge. You can even build a jig to hold it in that reverse twist for a bit. My old acoustic guitar repair guy, Larry Brown, had made one.
Click to expand...

That's good advice, going to try that tonight... thanks man...
 
Re: My Strat neck warped...

As was said, you can sometimes bring them back. I have heard of heating the neck itself a bit just to encourage the wood, and then pushing it back to where it was. Good luck with it. Hopefully you can get that neck back into shape and not have to change it. A different neck would be almost a different guitar.
 
Re: My Strat neck warped...

If it is twisted upward, it is mostly due to heat....
If they warp backwards, they are mostly dried up....
Keep instruments where you wanna be yourself:)
Well within reasonable levels;)
 
Re: My Strat neck warped...

I have what was an '88 strat plus that the neck developed a kink in. I replaced it with a WD neck (12" radius, ebony fretboard). My only complaint on it was that I needed to have a fret level done right away. I also had to put a nut on it too (it didn't come with one). It was and still is an excellent neck after all the work.
 
Re: My Strat neck warped...

I agree with everyone above, make sure the warped one can't be fixed. If you don't want to mess with it yourself, have a good repairman look at it.

If you go decide to replace it, Warmoth is great but won't do rolled fretboard edges. You could try USACG or you could browse eBay for another Fender neck.
 
Re: My Strat neck warped...

If you think it is settled now you simply have the frets removed, the fretboard re-radiused and refretted. New nut, maybe have to deepen the nut slot a bit.

Shouldn't cost much more than a good refret.
 
Re: My Strat neck warped...

When the old neck is more important than the cheapest solution then there certainly are ways to fix it.

I haven't heard of a neck being returned to its' previous position (though I guess it is possible) but like uOpt said, I have heard of re-radiusing the fretboard as a workaround. Here, the additional cost is about 40€ to what a refret costs (which is about 160€).

The final cost is about the same or even a bit more than getting a new neck but when retaining the old guitar is more important then, that's prolly the best solution...
 
Re: My Strat neck warped...

Man, that's a bummer. Is this the neck from the Road Worn?

I have heard nothing but good things about USACG necks if you have to go the replacement route. I don't think their guitars come with nuts, but I have found a tech that I feel very comfortable with.

Chad can definitely install a nut and do a first class set up if you need it.

Good luck, J-Man.
 
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Re: My Strat neck warped...

Living in the same climate as you, and in the same general area, where are you storing it when it is in the case? I have all of mine in the house and haven't had one twist on me. A setup in the spring and fall isn't uncommon on a few but never a twist.

The wacky spring we've been having I'm sure hasn't helped. Wet, dry, warm, cold, wet, dry, TORNADO!!!, warm, mild. You get the drill. ;)

Take it to Charlie's and see what they say.
 
Re: My Strat neck warped...

Unfortunately flat-sawn necks with a round truss rod can have a tendency to 'corkscrew' sometimes.

A neck press, which uses heat, might work, but my first thoughts were, as has already been suggested, to remove the frets, re-radius the board and install new frets.
 
Re: My Strat neck warped...

with the guitar on a flat solid table loosen the rod off a bit... put a soft cover book under the headstock... give the center of the neck a CPR style press a few times... see if it will adjust back to playing condition...

if that don't work it will need more attention from a pro for sure... unless the neck is a complete pretzel it can be refretted or fret dressed... hopefully the neck has done all it's moving...
 
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