Mounting a Neck

[Also, what do you mean when you say "proper finishing"? I'm looking into getting a fret file so is there anything else you'd recommend to make this neck as good as possible?]

Well I mean the whole neck itself. There is no clearcoat although the wood is smooth and perfectly playable. If you look closely you may also see a little glue near the fretbars. The nut seems made of plastic.
It is only a copy as I said and it is production machine made and the reason they cost under $100 is they are not finished.

I won't be clearcoating my neck but I will file the bars. It is only a project guitar for clowning around and I changed everything on this guitar.
It is also the guitar I will throw into the car for lessons.

You really cannot beat it for the money. I would just fix the guitar with it and if it bothers you your guitar is not a fender anymore, just keep your eyes out for a fender neck down the road. There is no reason for you not to enjoy your guitar.

If you like, I can send you pics through email of my project guitar and try to get a couple close-ups so you can see it is not finished but also nothing to be embarrassed about either, put your mind at ease. If you want the pics, send me your e-address. - Joe 8)

Have you asked a luthier if he could correct that?

Joseph, I am following you now. I figured it wasn't clearcoated at the price I got it for. I paid more than $100, but I also got a set of locking Grover tuners with it (neck and tuners cost $126 shipped).

I'd love to see some pics of the project. [email protected]

greybeard, I didn't have a luthier look at it, but I did have a tech look at it. It could be repaired, but the initial cost estimate was $250. More than I wanted to pay for a MIM strat neck repair.

At this stage of the game, I just a playable guitar with no dead spots on the neck. I think this MightyMite neck will work just fine and once I put some new electronics and pups in it, it'll be a great player.

Guys, thanks so much for the help!

Jason

Jason...6 pics should be in your mailbox. - Joe 8)

Thought I'd give an update.

Since I last posted, I ordered two necks. I had originally ordered a Mighty Mite neck with locking Grover tuners. It was the cheapest neck I could find. After I had already ordered it, I found a guy selling brand new, OEM Fender necks on eBay. It was a bit more than I paid for the MM neck, but it was an original so I bought it.

The MM neck came in yesterday and I'm hopeful that the OEM neck will be in today. So this weekend the Strat gets a new neck! :)

I have also decided not to sell or return the MM neck. Instead I'm going to keep it and build my own guitar. After looking around on eBay, I'm pretty sure I can put together a guitar rather cheaply. That way I can pick out exactly the components I want, colors I want, etc. I'll post more about the project as I find parts.

I'll also post some pics of the Strat once it has it's new neck.

Jason

I assume you mean he was selling MIM OEM necks on eBay? You can usually get a used MIM neck on eBay for about $135 or so... if you are getting a NEW one for $150 or so I'd do it.

If you want the 22 frets, you can usually look for a USA Fender neck on eBay for about $200.

I, too, bought a Mighty-Mite neck ($91 new) to use on a project. It was a nice neck, but there were a few difference between the 22-fret MM neck and my USA Fender neck:

- finish, no final coating on the MM
- frets, not even close
- nut, plastic on the MM
- headstock, while it was "close enough" to the Fender headstock, there is definitely a difference when you put them side-by-side
- tuners, if you want to put on Fender Schaller tuners it is a pain in the butt because you have to drill the two small holes PERFECTLY to accomodate the Fender tuners (they don't have a screw, they have two small prongs)

I put a Fender USA logo on the MM neck and it turned out pretty nice. From 2 feet away looks 100% authentic. I have an extra USA neck that I was going to sell (about $220) and use the MM neck (since it was only $91 +$11 for the logo) but then when I figured in a nut replacement and fret file I was up in the $180 range, so I might as well use the real deal!

I assume you mean he was selling MIM OEM necks on eBay? You can usually get a used MIM neck on eBay for about $135 or so... if you are getting a NEW one for $150 or so I'd do it.
Yes, it's a MIM OEM. It was brand spanking new and I got it for $151. Unfortunately, the guy lives in IN so I had to pay taxes as well. I was hoping it would arrive today but it did not. I got the MM neck yesterday and I did compare it to the neck currently on my Strat. They are very different. The MM neck reminds me of the neck my Squier Tele had. Not bad, mind you, but not as nice as the MIM OEM neck. I'm glad now that I did order the OEM.

Jason

Just curious, what does OEM stand for???
I'm kinda embarrassed that I don't know.
Also, wouldn't it be okay to put a fender decal on the mighty-mite neck, as long as you indicated(maybe on the back of the headstock) that it was in fact not a genuine fender neck?

OEM = Original Equipment Manufacturer.

Just curious, what does OEM stand for???
I'm kinda embarrassed that I don't know.
Also, wouldn't it be okay to put a fender decal on the mighty-mite neck, as long as you indicated(maybe on the back of the headstock) that it was in fact not a genuine fender neck?
I had considered putting a decal on the MM. I even bid on a Fender Strat decal on ebay (which then got yanked). It was all going to be more hassle than it was worth. Now I'm going to keep the MM blank and build my own strat with it. The guy I ordered the OEM from said my neck should be here Monday. I had originally did a BIN on a maple board and then the next day the same seller had a rosewood board available. I emailed him asking if he could switch since I'd rather have rosewood. He did but it delayed my order. Cool. :)

Jason

I have what I hope is not a silly question.

The Splattercaster you bought was brand new, ordered from a Fender dealer. When you got it you found out it had a twisted neck.

Now if it was me there would be no question what to do. Fender should be providing a brand new OEM neck at no charge. Or is there no warranty on this type of guitar?

Did I miss something somewhere?

I have what I hope is not a silly question.

The Splattercaster you bought was brand new, ordered from a Fender dealer. When you got it you found out it had a twisted neck.

Now if it was me there would be no question what to do. Fender should be providing a brand new OEM neck at no charge. Or is there no warranty on this type of guitar?

Did I miss something somewhere?
No, the Splattercaster was used. I swapped a Blackout Tele with a forum member. I noticed a lot of fret buzz and dead spots (string completely deadening on lower position frets) from the 14th fret down. I then saw the twist in the neck. I contacted the guy I swapped with and he said he hadn't noticed the twist but had noticed some buzzing. He agreed to pay half on a new neck. In the end it all worked out.

I put the new neck on this afternoon. Was a very easy thing to do. I think it only took me 20 minutes. Here's a few pics:

Pic 1

Pic 2

Pic 3

Jason

Nice work, Crank.

Nice work, Crank.
Thanks! I like this neck better than the old one anyway. 8)

The original neck has the gloss finish and this one has the satin. Good stuff.

I'm very happy with this guitar now. Just gotta get use to the single coil hum. :)

Jason

Future shielding project?